At the heart of the exhibition is Isles of the Blessed (Oops!...I forgot Europe), 2022, presented in the United States for the first time after debuting at Bozar – Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels earlier this year. Featuring a new clay variation of Shawky’s archetypal marionette, the film is a recitation of a pivotal lore in the founding of Europe. The figurine narrates the classical Greek mythological story of Isles of the Blessed in Arabic, Shawky’s first language. The apologue follows Cadmus and Harmonia to the island, sent at the request of Zeus who seduces Europa, Cadmus’ sister, and brings her to Crete where legend explains she offered her name to the continent.

Previous works by Wael Shawky have re-interpreted the complex history of the artist’s native region of Alexandria, Egypt, inviting analysis into collective belief systems, from faith to the recording of history. Having previously explored the stories and traditions of the Middle East, Shawky turns here to the European fantasy. Through Isles of the Blessed (Oops!...I forgot Europe) he draws parallels between Greek mythology and Islamic and Judeo-Christian theology. Bearing in mind a shared tradition of oral storytelling, the Arabic narration indicates the historical alignment. Beyond themes of flood, clay, sacrifice, deity, the work alludes to the enduring tension between fiction and history and the perseverance of myths across eras and origins. Religiously and geographically antagonistic, the work interrogates the prevalence of Alexandria in Eurocentric parables and adds an alternative perspective on the traditionally Western historiography.

Presented alongside the film are new paintings that offer an apparatus for storytelling. Originally trained as a painter, Shawky employs the canvas as a space “where fictions become realities”. The paintings delve further into the realms of the magical, layering mythological scenes onto historical narratives. Shawky points to history as a construct and the paintings explore the fantastical facets of the stories echoed in the film.

The works in the exhibition point to myths that once became beliefs, only to eventually dwindle once more as fantastical fiction. Weaving predominant western denominations into the mythological drama, Shawky invites the viewer to navigate today’s truths, myths and stereotypes.