Enlightenment Portal
Wednesday 19 November 2025 – 31 January 2026
SIAF Official Opening (Lantern) Sharjah Art Museum
Department of Culture
Woven illuminated pages from green dye treated leather and gold leaf engraving with flowing patterns of floral motives from ancient book binding inspired on ancient folios and illumitaded pages from old manuscripts.
280 h x 390 w x 18 d cm
2025
Our recollections of places are rooted in experience. Some are immortalized in novels, studies, and critical essays; others are quietly internalized, becoming part of our subconscious geography. Whether they appear as mere points on a map or enduring monuments, beneath stones and concrete—beyond cracks and vast expanses—what truly remains of them? What etches them into memory?
Catalina Swinburn’s woven sculptures reimagine discarded books as vessels of migration, memory, and knowledge. Her material choices speak to narratives of diaspora, the transmission of cultural heritage, and the possibility of knowledge in motion. Her work is built on the idea of portability—not just physical, but conceptual—rooted in history yet responsive to contemporary global shifts.
Incorporating pages, book covers, marbled papers, and even the unprinted, discarded sheets, Swinburn addresses what lies between the lines—the invisible, the erased, and the forgotten. These hidden spaces become sites of interpretation and quiet revelation. Her practice extends into the realms of archaeological documentation, national treasures, vintage cartography, classical architecture, literature, opera, and sacred manuscripts. It is an ongoing investigation of cultural continuity and transformation—linking past traditions with present urgencies.
Her deep engagement with archives and institutions across the globe underpins a body of work that resonates with ecological awareness, scientific thought, and spiritual inquiry. Swinburn’s approach bridges ancestral knowledge with contemporary reflection, creating a dialogue between conservation and reinvention. Through the intersection of local craftsmanship and global narratives, her work reveals shared creative affinities across geographies.
For the 26th edition of the Islamic Arts Festival, under the theme “Lantern,” Catalina Swinburn presents Enlightenment Portal —a contemplative homage to sacred texts that have transcended time and territory. Specially conceived for this occasion, the piece draws inspiration from The Green Qur’an, attributed to Sultan Abu al-Ḥasan ‘Ali ibn Ismā‘īl of Morocco, dated 1735, and housed at the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization.
Renowned for its vibrant green-dyed parchment and intricate gold leaf embellishments, this manuscript reflects the Marinid dynasty’s reverence for sacred text as both spiritual guide and artistic artifact and commitment to preservation. Swinburn’s work channels this legacy through handwoven leather, tinted deep green and engraved with gold patterns reminiscent of historical bookbinding techniques. (please see link bellow). The result is a large-scale textile sculpture that captures the visual richness of illuminated manuscripts while intentionally omitting written language.
In her hands, the act of weaving becomes a sacred ritual, mirroring the meticulous devotion of artisans who once created these revered texts. Her sculptures, while devoid of legibility, speak through silence—inviting viewers into a meditative engagement with form, texture, and the immaterial. They echo the spiritual essence of sacred manuscripts without relying on words, embracing instead the silence between them.
Swinburn’s work communicates universal themes—identity, sustainability, gender equality, and globalization—through the physicality of weaving and the conceptual depth of historical documents. These materials, imbued with stories and memory, form bridges across time and culture, with a particular emphasis on the resilience of women and the richness of knowledge traditions.
Enlightenment Portal becomes a sacred space where the divine is encountered not through recitation, but through tactile presence and stillness. The piece fosters contemplation through repetition, silence, and the ritualized act of creation. It offers a profound invitation to engage with the divine in a space beyond language—an echo of the lantern’s light, which guides without speaking.
Illuminated Portal serves as a metaphorical beacon—revealing unseen spiritual dimensions through material craft and poetic sound as an immersive piece with the recording of the weaving in her studio plays hidden as a murmur in the gallery space. Swinburn’s woven manuscripts are vessels of light—transmitting knowledge, preserving memory, and inviting transformation. By reimagining sacred objects through a contemporary lens, Swinburn offers a profound meditation on heritage, faith, and transcendence.
