CONCEPT
Desert Flowers features three sculptures emerging from the sand—appearing like lotus flowers unfolding in the desert landscape near the Pyramids of Giza. Each flower holds a heart of hidden, untold stories, formed from scrap, while its petals bear patterns crafted from recuperated materials from Nadim Karam’s previous works. The installation reflects how history, space, and time shape which narratives are preserved, and which are forgotten.
A powerful symbol in ancient Egypt, the lotus represented the rebirth, sun, and creation. Once abundant, it has now largely vanished from its native landscape. The three sculptures visually narrate the lotus flower’s emergence: the first, REBIRTH, remains rough and closed in jagged metal; the second, SUN, begins to unfurl; the third, CREATION, blooms fully.
Inspired by Egypt’s rich past and the history of the world, the installation meditates on how official narratives coexist with unheard voices. Though Egypt’s history is carved in stone, many stories remain lost. Conceptually derived from Karam’s Stretching Thoughts, Neglected Thoughts, and Compressed Thoughts series, where discarded materials represent forgotten ideas and histories, Desert Flowers transforms abandoned fragments into symbols of resilience, suggesting that contemporary voices can reawaken the layered history of a place.