This solo exhibition of Egyptian artist Wael Shawky (born 1971 in Alexandria, Egypt) presents I Am Hymns of the New Temples, a film shot in 2022 in the archaeological park of Pompeii, along with a selection of multi-material works and drawings produced by the artist between 2022 and 2024. Shawky’s investigation focuses on the complex layering of Mediterranean cultures: ancient Pompeii, a hub of intense commercial exchanges, housed not only temples connected to Greco-Roman religion but also Egyptian ones. The exhibition project is conceived as an ideal dialogue between different spaces and times, where contemporary works coexist with archaeological pieces and the historical halls of Palazzo Grimani. Wael Shawky is also the artist representing Egypt in the national Pavilion at the Giardini. (see p. 32)