Artwork

“Sensla fi sensla, Sensla metkessla, fiha khouk, fiha bouk w fiha soultan elmoulouk”

This is an Algerian riddle that I remember well from my childhood. It translates roughly to: "A chain in a chain, a lying chain, in it is your brother, your father, and the ruler of angels." What is it? The answer is—the graveyard. Not only does the riddle rhyme in the Algerian Arabic dialect, but the answer carries a less dark and morbid connotation in Arab cultures than in the West, I think. Instead of viewing life and reproduction as a chain, this riddle presents the graveyard, hosting family ancestors, as links in a chain.

The Khamsa, also known as the Hand of Fatima, is a symbol used to protect against the evil eye—a malicious stare believed to cause illness, death, or general misfortune. Khamsa fi ainyk ("five [fingers] in your eyes") is a saying used to verbally deflect the evil eye (or, literally, just the eye). The symbol even appears on the cover of my Algerian passport, offering me protection internationally—whether I want it or not. Aside from superstition, it seems to me that amulets and talismans can offer protection against very real fears: the fear of ill-intention and, in the case of the Khamsa, envy from others. The fear of losing connection to roots, nationality, and identity—closely tied to affiliation and pride—can manifest through pendants in the shape of national borders, or even in the shape of an entire continent, as in the case of Africa (not that there is a comparable continent). The fear of classist discrimination, perhaps, is reflected in the icy chains of Hip Hop culture… maybe? The fear of poverty is countered by savings and wealth represented through jewelry, which is less volatile to market fluctuations. And, of course, the fear of death is addressed through religious symbols.

Terror Management Theory proposes a basic psychological conflict arising from the evolutionary instinct for self-preservation combined with the realization that death is inevitable and, to some extent, unpredictable. This conflict produces terror, which is managed through escapism and cultural beliefs that counter biological reality with more significant and enduring forms of meaning and value, often through symbolic immortality. For example the values of national identity, lineage, posterity, superiority over animals, legacy, and work. This relates closely to the human need to find, assign, and maintain meaning. Particularly in the more abstract art disciplines, we nervously search for meaning and reason. If there is no meaning, it becomes a problem.

Reading through the articles in this current issue of Umbau, I felt not only a continuous anxiety when dealing with the conflicts and challenges of our times, but also a protective and hopeful tone in the texts, condensed in the titles. Inspired by this, I made a necklace with amulets (providing protection from danger) and talismans (attracting good luck) as a way to cope with my own fears and those of my generation. A middle-finger Khamsa for all the EU’s right-wing xenophobia, an upside-down Africa to challenge the idea of it being cartographed as the Global South, the shape of the Mediterranean Sea and Pangea for places of transition and belonging, the ghost of the German eagle, the Stuttgart horse, a raging bull—all derived from the stamp-clustered invalid visas on my old Algerian passport.

Other charms include an AI-trained human 3D model, a creepy baby, a derpy elephant, a burning flower, a branch or a scar, a scorpion, a spiral galaxy, a bird or a missile, a symbol for tax money, and a cute bunny. These motifs reference other articles in this issue, reflect on my own national identity, draw inspiration from my sister’s and mother’s pendants, and include designs from my sketchbook that bring me joy. Some are charged with deep meaning, while others are not.