Changing Facets

Reassembled A Nubian identity formed through fragments gathered across time. The work reflects on the process of piecing together memory from what remains, where histories affected by displacement, loss, and incomplete archives continue to shape the present. Reconstruction here is not about returning to an original state, but about forming new understandings of self from inherited traces. The dress embellished with crocodiles and stars carry references to protection, continuity, guidance, and survival, extending Nubian visual memory into the present. The body becomes a meeting point between what was lost, what survived, and what continues forward. 📷: @karimhosni__ Creative direction & styling: Dr Khanya Mthethwa Jewellery and dress: @changingfacets

The Withheld The concealed face turns the figure into a partially visible presence, suspended between recognition and erasure. Only the eyes remain exposed alongside the winged face piece carrying references associated with Isis, a figure linked to protection, restoration, and continuity after loss. Within a collection centred on Nubian identity, these layered references reflect the politics of visibility and the histories that remain pushed to the periphery. What is remembered, what is silenced, and what survives within fragmented archives become central to the work. Not everything hidden has disappeared. Some histories continue to exist in fragments. 📷:@karimhosni__ Creative direction & styling: Dr Khanya Mthethwa Jewellery: @changingfacets

Invocation A gesture reaching toward what has been fragmented, displaced, and left unresolved within the archive. Within Adorned Memory, this work reflects on the act of calling back histories that remain partially visible yet never fully recoverable. The body becomes a site of remembrance, holding the tension between loss and continuity. Rather than presenting a complete reconstruction, the work exists within the space between memory and absence, where identity continues to search for itself across time. 📷: @karimhosni__ Creative direction & styling: Dr Khanya Mthethwa Jewellery: @changingfacets

The Mourning A grief tied to histories that survive only in fragments. Within Adorned Memory, this work reflects on the erosion of archive, language, and identity through the displacement of Nubian people. The black veil becomes a gesture of mourning for what cannot be fully recovered, while also acknowledging a history that refuses to disappear completely. Even when the archive collapses, memory continues to exist through the body, through adornment, and through what remains carried across generations. 📷: @karimhosni__ Creative Direction & styling: Dr Khanya Mthethwa Jewellery: @changingfacets

ENGLISH BELOW في هذه المقابلة، تتحدث د. كانيا ماتيتوا عن ممارستها الفنية، وعن مشروعها “ذاكرة مُزَيَّنة” الذي عملت عليه خلال فترة الإقامة. يتناول الحوار علاقتها بالذاكرة والأرشيف، وكيف يمكن للحُلي أن تصبح وسيطًا حيًا لإعادة تخيّل هذه العلاقات. In this interview, Dr Khanya Mthethwa speaks about her artistic practice and her project Adorned Memory developed during the residency. The conversation explores her engagement with memory and archives, and how jewellery can become a living medium to reimagine these relationships. Videography: Dmitrii Makhonin A project funded by the European Union as part of the S+T+ARTS initiative. In partnership with CHRONIQUES.

There are histories AI cannot fully reconstruct. Fragments in, fragments out. Who are the Nubians in Egypt? Even when fed their images, something remains unresolved. Memory refuses to disappear. It shifts, it survives— sometimes held in jewellery, sometimes in the body itself. Exhibition opens today 18:00 @bsarya.arts in collaboration with @biennalechroniques . A huge thank you and appreciation goes out to @tamarashogaolu for providing much needed guidance creating this work.

Title of the image: The Unrecorded A body without a name. A history without a complete archive. This image forms part of Adorned Memory exhibition, where absence and fragmentation shape how identity is reimagined. Drawing from the Nubian gerga and traditions of adornment, the work reflects on what remains when histories are partially recorded, translated, or lost. Jewellery carries fragments of memory, holding traces of culture and continuity across time. This is not an attempt to define, but to reflect on how histories are reconstructed, and how material forms can hold what is no longer visible. Exhibition Opening 29 April | 18:00 Venue: B’sarya for Arts - Alexandria, Egypt 📷: @karimhosni__ Creative direction & Styling: Dr Khanya Mthethwa Model: The Forgetten One Jewellery: @changingfacets Wardrobe:@changingfacets

ENGLISH BELOW انضموا إلينا في افتتاح معرض إقامات ستارتس. بعد ستة أشهر من العمل والتطوير، تقدّم كانيا ماتيتوا وتامر الشبراوي نتائج مشاركتهما ضمن إقامات ستارتس. في هذا المعرض، تقدّم كانيا مشروعها "ذاكرة مُزَيَّنة"، الذي يعيد تخيّل الأرشيف من خلال الحُلي كوسيط حيّ للذاكرة، بينما يقدّم تامر مشروعه "وضع الإدراك"، وهي تجربة صوتية تفاعلية تقود الجمهور عبر مدينة الإسكندرية. الإفتتاح: الأربعاء ٢٩ أبريل — ٦ مساءً يمكنكم الزيارة حتى ١٤ مايو من ١٢ ظهرًا إلى ٧ مساءً عدا يومي الجمعة والسبت. --------- Join us for the opening of the S+T+ARTS Residency Exhibition. After six months of development, Dr. Khanya Mthethwa and Tamer Elshabrawy present the outcomes of their participation in the S+T+ARTS Afropean Intelligence residencies. In this exhibition, Dr. Mthethwa presents Adorned Memory: Reimagining Egyptian Indigenous Archives Through Jewellery, rethinking archives through jewellery as a living medium of memory, and Tamer Elshabrawy presents Peripheral Mode~, an interactive sound experience guiding audiences through Alexandria. Opens: Wednesday, April 29th — 6 PM On display till May 14th, from 12 PM to 7 PM. Fridays and Saturdays off. A project funded by the European Union as part of the S+T+ARTS initiative. In partnership with CHRONIQUES.

ENGLISH BELOW بعد ستة أشهر من تطوير مشروعها ضمن إقامات ستارتس، تواصل كانيا ماتيتوا العمل على المرحلة الأخيرة من مشروعها. كانيا ماتيتوا فنانة وباحثة متعددة التخصصات من جنوب أفريقيا، تستكشف في ممارستها الزينة والمعرفة المحلية والذاكرة. وبالاستناد إلى خلفيتها في تصميم الحُلي وحصولها على دكتوراه في تاريخ الفن، تدمج بين السرد الشفهي والتصميم التأملي والأدوات الرقمية لإعادة تخيّل الطرق التي تعيش بها الأرشيفات من خلال الجسد. خلال الإقامة، عملت كانيا على مشروعها "ذاكرة مُزَيَّنة" الذي يعيد تخيّل الأرشيفات المصرية المحلية من خلال الحُلي. ويحوّل المشروع عناصر من الذاكرة والأرشيف إلى أشكال قابلة للارتداء، بحيث تصبح الحُلي وسيطًا لحفظ الذاكرة وتفعيلها، وتقترح طرقًا بديلة للتفاعل مع المادة الأرشيفية وإعادة قراءتها. --------- After six months of development within the S+T+ARTS Afropean Intelligence residency, Dr. Khanya Mthethwa is now completing the final phase of her project. Dr. Mthethwa is a South African multidisciplinary artist and researcher whose work explores adornment, indigenous knowledge, and memory. With a background in jewellery and a PhD. in Art History, she merges oral storytelling, speculative design, and digital tools to reimagine how archives live through the body. During the residency, she developed Adorned Memory: Reimagining Egyptian Indigenous Archives Through Jewellery. The project transforms elements of memory and archives into wearable forms, where jewellery becomes a medium for preserving and activating memory, proposing alternative ways of engaging with and re-reading archival material. A project funded by the European Union as part of the S+T+ARTS initiative. In partnership with CHRONIQUES.