POETICS OF IDENTITY AND MATTER IN KUNST HALLE SANKT GALLEN
A double exhibition brings together the artistic approaches of Majd Abdel Hamid (b. 1988 in Damascus/SY, lives and works in Paris and Beirut) and Sofía Salazar Rosales (b. 1999 in Quito, lives and works in Amsterdam). Both artists share a poetic focus on themes of identity, time, fragility, and materiality. Additionally, both Salazar Rosales and Hamid have created new works for their presentation at Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen, each finding their own references to resonate with in the local context.
Majd Abdel Hamid works with textiles and embroidery. His objects are distinguished by their minimalism and precision, creating small-scale worlds of philosophical depth. The Palestinian artist deliberately chooses to work slowly. With impressive patience, he crafts detailed embroideries and cross-stitch works that embody a decelerated, profound reflection and a resistance to a fast-paced world.
Hamid has created a body of new work for Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen, which will be displayed in the first room of the exhibition space. Against the backdrop of the region’s industrial textile history, the artist explores what he calls a “de-automatisation of fabrics”. His meditative miniatures reflect fragile roots in politically charged environments.
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Majd Abdel Hamid, «Ode to the Sea», exhibition views at Marfa' Projects, Beirut, 2025. Photo: Studio Tajareb. Courtesy: the artist and Marfa' Projects, Beirut
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Majd Abdel Hamid, «Ode to the Sea», exhibition views at Marfa' Projects, Beirut, 2025. Photo: Studio Tajareb. Courtesy: the artist and Marfa' Projects, Beirut
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Majd Abdel Hamid, «Ode to the Sea», exhibition views at Marfa' Projects, Beirut, 2025. Photo: Studio Tajareb. Courtesy: the artist and Marfa' Projects, Beirut
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Majd Abdel Hamid, «Ode to the Sea», exhibition views at Marfa' Projects, Beirut, 2025. Photo: Studio Tajareb. Courtesy: the artist and Marfa' Projects, Beirut.
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Majd Abdel Hamid, «Ode to the Sea», exhibition views at Marfa' Projects, Beirut, 2025. Photo: Studio Tajareb. Courtesy: the artist and Marfa' Projects, Beirut
Sofía Salazar Rosales transforms the middle and third rooms of Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen with a show titled Imagínate vivir en Suiza y perderte esto (Imagine living in Switzerland and missing out on this). The title references a popular Latin American meme that humourously contrasts Switzerland—often seen as a very orderly country—with chaotic events happening in everyday life in Latin America.
While the Ecuadorian artist works with a diverse range of materials—including glass beads, paraffin, epoxy, bronze powder, polyester resin, fiberglass, vinyl glue, plant seeds, construction paper, copper, concrete, pigments, oak wood, iron filings, plaster, cotton wool, gauze, and glass aggregate, to name just a few—she foregrounds crafts as a form of aesthetic resistance. Her sculptures and installations are charged with political and sociological meaning, questioning notions of productivity and value. Imagínate vivir en Suiza y perderte esto marks the first exhibition of Salazar Rosales‘ material poetics in a Swiss institution.
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Sofía Salazar Rosales, Il y a des corps fatigués par le voyage qui cherchent à s’enraciner, installation view at 17th Lyon Biennale, 2024. Photo: Estefanía Henríquez Cubillos. Courtesy: the artist and ChertLüdde, Berlin
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Sofía Salazar Rosales, The desire to dance with someone who is not here, installation view at ChertLüdde, Berlin, 2024. Photo: Marjorie Brunet Plaza. Courtesy: the artist and ChertLüdde, Berlin.
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Sofía Salazar Rosales, Tal vez la urgencia del arribo extienda mi lenguaje, installation view at School of Fine Arts of Paris (ENSBA), 2023. Photo: Tiphaine Popesco. Courtesy: the artist and ChertLüdde, Berlin
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Sofía Salazar Rosales, Hay cuerpos cansados por el viaje que buscan enraizarse (There are bodies tired from the journey seeking to root), installation view at BUNGALOW/ChertLüdde, Berlin, 2022. Photo: Andrea Rossetti. Courtesy: the artist and ChertLüdde, Berlin
Sofía Salazar Rosales (b. 1999, in Quito) is based in Amsterdam/NL. Solo exhibitions (selection): Simulacros de cimiento, EL CHICO, Madrid (2024); The Desire to Dance with Someone Who Is Not Here, ChertLüdde, Berlin (2024). Group exhibitions (selection): Les voix des fleuves, Crossing the water, 17th Contemporary Art Biennial of Lyon, Lyon, France (2024); Des lignes de désir, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Paris (2024); Pays rêvé, pays revers, Petite Galerie—Cité internationale des Arts, Paris (2023).
Majd Abdel Hamid (b. 1988 in Damascus) is based in Beirut and Paris. Solo exhibitions (selection): Ode to the Sea, Marfa’ Projects,Beirut (2025); Muscle Memory, Centre for Contemporary Art, Glasgow (2022). Group exhibitions (selection): Les voix des fleuves, Crossing the water, 17th Contemporary Art Biennial of Lyon, Lyon, France (2024); Memory Sews Together Events That Hadn’t Previously Met, display of the Barjeel art collection, Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah (2022); Debt, Qalandiya International, Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center, Ramallah, Palestine (2018).
Imagínate vivir en Suiza y perderte esto and Resonances will be on display until May 18, 2025 at Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen, located in Davidstrasse 40, CH–9000 St. Gallen (Switzerland).
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