23/06/2026
KABSH QRUNFOL, WEARING CLOVES ⏐ Solo Exhibition by Mirna Bamieh
Curated by Jule Kurbjeweit
・Opening: 25th of June, 6pm
・At Hangar
In some parts of Palestine, before a bride leaves her family home, the women of her community come together to make her a necklace of cloves, as part of a henna gathering: a pre-wedding celebration for the bride that weaves together making, music, and ceremony. The necklace contains an enclosed prayer, a beaded lantern symbolising the light that the bride will carry into her future, and cloves – historically prized as the "gold of spices" for their medicinal and preservative qualities. Bearing these various blessings, the necklace becomes a keepsake woven with protection, prosperity, and the collective wish for a flourishing life. This tradition, in the process of disappearing, is at the heart of Mirna Bamieh’s new installation, opening at HANGAR (Lisbon) on 25 June.
"Kabsh Qrunfol, Wearing Cloves" comprises a large suspended ceramic sculpture, paintings, and a film shot in Palestine that follows women as they come together through shared labour and singing, stringing the bride’s necklace. The ceramic sculpture reimagines the bridal necklace, transposing it into a larger-than-life composition. Rather than a literal representation, it shifts scale, material, and structure while retaining the form’s ceremonial presence. Echoing devotional bead necklaces found across different religions, the work also gestures toward the necklace as an object of repeated prayer, a dimension echoed in the songs of its making, which include repeated calls.
・From: June 25 to September 5, 2026
・Open: Wed-Sat, 3pm-7pm
・Location: Rua Damasceno Monteiro 12, 1170-017 Lisbon
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Supported by Direção-Geral das Artes and NIKA Project Space
Structure financed by the Portuguese Republic - Culture / Directorate-General for the Arts