Mounira Al Solh Solo Exhibition – Stray Salt

Mounira Al Solh — Return to Lebanon

After representing Lebanon at the 60th Venice Biennale, Mounira Al Solh returns with a new exhibition. It continues her feminist exploration of national narratives and myth-making.

Through sculpture, film, painting, drawing, and textiles, the show revisits the myth of Europa. Forced to leave from the shores of Tyre in South Lebanon, she travels to Crete. This ancient journey mirrors today’s stories of exile and migration.

A Female Voyager

Referencing the Statue of the Lebanese Emigrant, Al Solh presents a striking ceramic figure. Instead of a male traveler, she sculpts a nude woman standing in a shell-shaped boat called Time (in Arabic).

With brightly polished toenails and a bent knee mid-step, the figure appears caught in motion. She pulls a modern suitcase behind her, confidently reclaiming the idea of the voyager.

Blending Past and Present

Throughout the exhibition, ancient and modern elements are skillfully intertwined. Ceramic wall pieces and trompe-l’œil paintings combine Phoenician mosaics, inscriptions, and feminine symbols.

Al Solh uses earthy colors to ground her mythic references in today’s reality. In one large painting, Europa no longer appears as a victim. Instead of being abducted by Zeus, she cradles him tenderly, reversing the narrative.

Ritual and Reflection

Two sculpted heads cover their faces with their hands. They transform crying into a symbolic and performative act. Their hollowed tops turn them into vessels for grief.

At the center of the gallery, a wooden boat pays tribute to Lebanon’s deep connection with the sea. Inside it, a flat screen displays Two Airplanes and the Luggage, an animated film by Al Solh.

Flight, Sound, and Survival

In the animation, Europa flees across the sea. She abandons her suitcase—and the bull—escaping war and the weight of her own myth.

Al Solh herself creates the film’s soundtrack. She hums, whistles, and buzzes to mimic birds, airplanes, and explosions. The effect is at once haunting and playful.

Women as Origins

In her latest painting series, Al Solh celebrates women as life-givers. Using acrylic on canvas, she recalls Courbet’s Origin of the World. These works challenge centuries of male-dominated history, placing women at the heart of cultural transmission.

Trauma and Resistance

The exhibition draws connections between ancient myths and modern violence. It maps out a persistent trauma that has long driven people into exile.

Yet, through her playful interventions, Al Solh weaves a fragile link between past and present. The works move between grief and resistance—held in balance by her uniquely poetic voice.

About the Artist

Mounira Al Solh (b. 1978, Lebanon) lives and works between Beirut and Amsterdam. Her multidisciplinary practice spans installation, painting, video, sculpture, embroidery, and performance.

She often uses irony and wordplay to explore memory, displacement, women’s lives, and political conflict. Her process is rooted in oral history, social engagement, and collaboration.

In 2008, she launched NOA Magazine (Not Only Arabic) and later co-founded the NOA Language School in Amsterdam, a project that explored migration through language.

Exhibitions and Recognition

Al Solh has held solo shows at:

• Serralves Museum (Portugal, 2025)

• Museumsquartier Osnabrück (Germany, 2022)

• BALTIC (UK, 2022)

• Mori Art Museum (Tokyo, 2020)

• Jameel Arts Centre (Dubai, 2018)

• Art Institute of Chicago (2018)

She also participated in:

• Centre Pompidou-Metz (2025)

• Stedelijk Museum (2024)

• Sharjah Biennale (2009 & 2023)

• Documenta 14 (2017)

• Venice Biennale (2015)

• Istanbul Biennale (2009)

• New Museum Triennial (2012)

Her awards include:

• ABN AMRO Art Prize (2023)

• Derek Williams Trust Prize (2023)

• Uriôt Prize (2007)

• Black Magic Woman Award (2007)

Her film Rawane’s Song received the Jury Prize at Videobrasil.