RAGHAD RESRES
Talismans & Enchantments on Unveiling the Lords of Empire

What if we turned to talismans to reveal the Lords of Empire and the means of seeking protection from their evil?

Historically, talismans were not used solely for protection. They also served to guide those who carried them through forces and afflictions beyond their control.

This exhibition brings together a series of anti-colonial talismans that reveal to those who seek their counsel the demon Jinn of the colonizers, their forms, and the means of protecting oneself from their violence.

Each talisman bears materials whose own biographies emerged from histories of colonial resistance, including wild clay gathered from Palestinian refugee camps, documents affirming the Palestinian right of return, revolutionary songs, and the names and sayings of Palestinian resistance fighters. These are interwoven with Qur'anic verses calling for resistance against oppression, enchantments invoking the believing Kings of the Jinn who protect the righteous servants of God, and symbols historically used in Arab spiritual medicine to guard against the tyranny of unjust rulers.

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Raghad Resres is a Jordanian Palestinian research-based artist. She holds an MFA in Fine Arts from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and a BA in Literature and Cultural Studies from The Hashemite University, Jordan.

Her practice operates at the intersection of conceptual art, spiritual medicine, and liberation psychology. Through talisman-making, ritual gatherings, and the writing of spiritual mujarrabāt/ tested spiritual prescriptions, she investigates how the epistemic-healing logic of Arab spiritual medicine can continue operating to confront colonial violence on cognitive and psychological levels.

Her work has been presented in diverse contexts, ranging from refugee camps to solo and group exhibitions both locally and internationally, including in Sweden, Lithuania, France, and Jordan.

Her art has been acquired by Göteborg Konst, Tobison Foundation HDK -Valand Archive Collection, and private collections in Jordan and Sweden