Monia Ben Hamouda
Theology of Collapse (The Myth of Past) I-X (2024), the winning work of the MAXXI Bvlgari Prize, is an installation consisting of ten laser-cut iron panels featuring patterns inspired by Islamic calligraphy and mosque forms. The signs have been reworked by the artist using artificial intelligence. Painted with mixed techniques, including fragrant spices such as paprika, cinnamon, and hibiscus, the panels are installed inverted against the wall of Zaha Hadid’s gallery, acting as an impassable curtain to passage but not to view. The work, rather than rising, seems on the verge of collapsing, inviting reflection on the decay of cultural and religious structures, while highlighting the fragility of contemporary identities.
Monia Ben Hamouda (Milan, 1991) is a Tunisian-Italian visual artist working between al-Qayrawan and Milan. Following the belief that each individual is inextricably connected to their family tree and the psychological universe of their ancestors, she attempts to master her influences in a contemporary and constantly changing landscape. Her visual language, which translates into a broad range of formal approaches, is steeped in cultural-religious symbology and rituals.
Ben Hamouda earned a BFA at Brera Academy of Fine Art in Milan. She was awarded with the Maxxi Bvlgari Prize (2024), the Vordemberge-Gildewart Foundation Grant (2024), the Fondazione Merz Prize (2024), the Museion Audience Award (2024), the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant (2022), the Italian Council for Contemporary Art (2023; 2024). Her work is featured in public collections such: MAXXI, Rome; FRAC Bretagne, Rennes; Museion, Bozen; Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin; FRAC Corsica, Corse.