This monument is dedicated to the thousands of Black African Muslims who were murdered in Darfur, many of whom were buried anonymously in mass graves and have largely been forgotten by the world.
It poses an uncomfortable question:
What does religious brotherhood—the Ummah—mean when those who share the same faith, profess the same creed, and pray towards the same qibla systematically destroy one another? What remains of the ideal of a community of believers?
This work is an indictment of the collective failure of the international community, of political expediency, religious hypocrisy, and the silence that enables genocide.
It is not Islam itself that is being put on trial, but the question of what remains of the ideal of the Ummah when Muslims remain silent while fellow Muslims are exterminated.
The work therefore does not question faith itself, but the gap between faith and human conduct.
A Philological Confrontation
At the heart of this work lies *Qur’an 3:54.
The artwork examines how the meaning of the Arabic verb makara has been translated and interpreted throughout history. Classical Arabic dictionaries, including Lisān al-ʿArab and Lane’s Lexicon, document meanings such as cunning, deception, stratagem and calculated counteraction. Modern translations often choose more neutral renderings such as planned or devised.
This tension between language, interpretation and theology forms an essential part of the artwork.
Its purpose is not to ridicule religion, but to demonstrate how interpretation inevitably shapes the ways in which people understand power, violence and moral responsibility.
Darfur as a Mirror
On one side lies the attacked village; on the other, the road network through which looted natural resources were transported.
Both are covered with burial shrouds.
The opened mass graves marked by white burial shrouds refer to more than 150 suspected mass grave sites documented through satellite imagery. Facing Mecca, they serve as a posthumous tribute to victims who disappeared anonymously, often without names, graves or funeral rites. Within this artwork they are symbolically laid to rest.
The circle refers to the earthen embankments constructed around villages before they were destroyed.
The Arabic gum and gold incorporated into the work refer to natural resources for which economic interests have too often outweighed the value of human life.
An Indictment of Both East and West
Where was the Arab world?
Where was the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation?
Where were the religious authorities?
Where was the African Union?
Where was Europe?
Where were the United States?
Where were the media?
Why was Gaza followed day after day while Darfur once again disappeared from public view?
Why did the mass murder of Black African Muslims provoke so little global outrage?
The Question
This artwork does not claim to offer answers.
It asks one profoundly uncomfortable question.
When economic interests, geopolitical strategy and religious loyalties become more important than the protection of human dignity—
what meaning do brotherhood and peace still have?
When the Ummah remains silent while Muslims kill Muslims…
when the West remains silent because other wars command greater attention…
when international institutions remain silent for political reasons…
who, then, buries the dead?
*
Qur’an 3:54.
The Arabic source text reads:
وَمَكَرُوا وَمَكَرَ اللَّهُ وَاللَّهُ خَيْرُ الْمَاكِرِينَ
A literal rendering is:
“And they used cunning, and Allah used cunning, and Allah is the best of cunning ones.”
Classical lexicons such as Lane’s Lexicon and Lisān al-ʿArab list meanings such as cunning, deceit, misdirection, and strategic shrewdness for the root m-k-r. Modern translations often opt for more neutral formulations such as “plans” or “counter-plans”. The artwork explores this tension between literal meaning, translation, and theological interpretation.
Neo Spaziale mobile 2026.7.6 DARFUR FRATRICIDE
Mixed materials 85 X 85 ( 130 ) x 3 cm
Unique piece
Price on request