"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.
