Hannah Elsisi on Limen: Thresholds / ليمين: الجير وعتبات اخري
Limen: Thresholds, is the solo exhibition of Egyptian multidisciplinary artist Mohamed Monaiseer, curated by Hannah Elsisi.
In Limen, Monaiseer and Elsisi explore space-times of in-betweenness: of being neither here nor there, of belonging to this world while existing irretrievably beyond it. Central to the exhibition is the concept of liminality in ritual anthropology which resonates with the artist’s long-time meditation on barzakh—an Islamic theological term describing a realm of in-betweenness and transformation. Often associated with the space between life and death, barzakh also evokes broader thresholds: between land and sea, saltwater and freshwater, root and tip, the material and the metaphysical.
Monaiseer’s practice combines the architectural and artisanal motifs of the Islamicate world with deeply personal reflections on personal and collective loss, thwarted revolutionary aspirations, and universal themes of enclosure and migration. In Limen, these threads converge through a multidisciplinary exhibition featuring painting, sculpture, installation, sound, and video—each traversing new thresholds in his evolving practice. With this show, Monaiseer’s work transcends specific times or places, resonating universally across moments and contexts.
Elsisi’s curatorial framing situates the barzakh as fertile ground for examining personal and collective loss, migration, colonialism, and ecological degradation. Her interpretation extends Monaiseer’s work through the lens of heterotopias—space-times layered with unseen meanings—exploring themes of forced migration, natural cycles, and the Anthropocene.
The exhibited works engage liminal states through material and conceptual experimentation. A series of 3D-printed installations resemble fragmented tombstones, imagining barzakh as a site of temporal and material disjunction. Layered canvases evoke ancient scrolls or burial shrouds adorned with motifs inspired by Quranic ornamentation and burial garlands. These reflect barzakh as a site of renewal, connecting spiritual and ecological cycles.
Monaiseer and Elsisi independently explored the concept of barzakh before collaborating on this show—Elsisi through academic and poetic enquiry, and Monaiseer through his artistic practice. This shared territory forms the foundation of Limen as they navigate charged in-between spaces together.
