The Cannibal Paradox expands across two rooms, exploring trans-species relationships between birds and humans, drawing on research into avian intelligence to question ideas of domestication while reflecting on the human pursuit for shelter and nurture on one hand, and the descent into violence and domination on the other.
On the building’s façade, a large semi-transparent window sticker – showing bird’s plumage emerging or colliding with an architectural form – anchors the installation, accompanied by works evoking nests that have become flesh-eating cages, or songbirds attempting to swallow their own traps. Inside, 3D-printed sculptures, Marrow (2025), rests on stainless-steel pedestal; a large painted mural stretches across the walls of the exhibition space, conjuring both archaeological excavation sites and the internal structures of complex machinery.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Mona Marzouk (b. 1968, Alexandria) is an artist currently based in Helsinki. In her paintings, sculptures and installations she looks into concepts, patterns and forms recurring across disparate histories and territories, reconfiguring them into abstract depictions where past and future converge. Her solo exhibitions include BARK, Gypsum Gallery, Cairo (2018); Renovabitvr (Renewal), Villa Romana, Florence (2015); The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Energy’s Evil, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead (2008). Group exhibitions include Alexandria: Past Futures, Mucem, Marseille and BOZAR, Brussels (2022); Very Sustainable-Environmental Revelation, MOCA Yinchuan (2017); 36th EVA International, Limerick (2014).
EXHIBITED WORKS
Mona Marzouk (b. 1968)
The Cannibal Paradox: Marrow, 2025
3D print
70 × 70 cm
Courtesy of the artist
Mona Marzouk (b. 1968)
The Cannibal Paradox: Pecking Order, 2025
Vinyl print
177 × 227 cm
Courtesy of the artist
Mona Marzouk (b. 1968)
The Cannibal Paradox: Artificial Womb Project Headquarters, 2025
Acrylic on wall, semitransparent print on elevator window
Wall 1: 1180 × 343 cm
Wall 2: 636 × 343 cm
Wall 3: 1158 × 343 cm
Elevator window print: 160.5 × 236 cm
Courtesy of the artist
