She Who Sees The Unknown: Aisha Qandisha

“Across much of her work, Moreshin Allahyari looks at the concept of digital colonialism. She is interested in the concept of digital technologies as a way of colonizing artifacts by western tech companies and institutions within the MENA and other historical sites, by claiming ownership of the files and data from these historical artifacts and places. The concept parallels the theme across much of her work. Just as some artworks show us who we are, many of her works capture the implications of unintended consequences of who the west is and the larger western ideologies which destroy so much of the rest of the world. ‘She Who Sees The Unknown’ is Morehshin’s image of the supernatural being Aisha Qandisha.” —Addie Wagenknecht
“Aisha Qandisha is one of the most honored and fearsome jinn in Islam (originally from Morocco). She is known as ‘the opener’ and the jinn of rivers. When Aisha possesses men, she creates a crack on their body. She does not take over the host but rather opens them to the outside; to a storm of incoming jinn and demons; making them a traffic zone. She never leaves; she resides in the man to guarantee their utter openness. The only way to stay sane when possessed by her is to participate with her, to listen to her. If one does not open up for this process of destruction and rebuilding, it will result in incurable delirium and madness.” —Morehshin Allahyari
Morehshin Allahyari has shown new work within two Feral File shows to date: For Your Eyes Only curated by Domenico Quaranta, and WETWARE curated by Mindy Seu, an exhibition in support of the Cyberfeminism Index.