"Empower Her Return" prompts the audience to contemplate the significance of repatriation, particularly focusing on the Ancient Egyptian artifact Nefertiti. It explores the use of an empty room to convey the concept of repatriation and how 'impossible objects'—intangible artifacts—can be presented to deepen audience experience and engagement. The project also highlights the actions and decisions of museums and exhibitions that perpetuate concealed colonialism in their practices.
Through audience participation and engagement, the story of Nefertiti's bust unfolds in a sequential and accessible manner, fostering empathy between the audience and Nefertiti. The one-sided narrative heard from Nefertiti addresses the bust's discovery, smuggling, its emotional impact being taken away from Egypt, and the ongoing dispute between Germany and Egypt. It examines reasons cited for the bust's retention and sheds light on the bust’s 3D scan controversy. The project concludes with a call to action, urging the audience to support a petition for Nefertiti's repatriation.
More about this project can be found here.
Empower Her Return: THE COMMEMORATIVE COIN
Extending from the thesis 'Empower Her Return' and in celebration of the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum, a design of the opening's commemorative coin was proposed to the museum. The design was inspired by Queen Nefertiti’s long-awaited return, a symbol of cultural repatriation and continuity.
The opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum was highly anticipated to captivate global attention, making it the ideal moment to advocate for the repatriation of Nefertiti’s iconic bust. Featuring Nefertiti’s profile on a coin would send a powerful message, challenging colonial narratives and asserting Egypt’s rightful ownership of its cultural heritage. The coin would serve as a reminder to all who possess it that her artifacts belong in Egypt, where her influence continues to inspire contemporary design while her return is awaited.
Uniquely, the coin reimagines Nefertiti’s cap crown as a representation of the Grand Egyptian Museum’s trapezoidal architecture, seen from a bird-eye view, due to its resemblance to her actual cap crown. This symbolizes her rightful place at the heart of this monumental site and highlights Egypt’s steadfast commitment to bringing Nefertiti home. The coin’s design also mirrors the museum’s distinctive alignment with the nearby Pyramids of Giza.
