I see you brightest in the dark

I see you brightest in the dark (2022) by Muhannad Shono is a large-scale immersive multi-room intervention traversing the floors of an a 1980’s building in the heart of Riyadh Malaz district. 

Within the darkened space, an abundance of illuminated threads work their way through the edifice, moving from the basement to the roof. The audience is invited to follow these threads, and with them, a journey through loss, devotion and surrender unfolds. 

Starting in the basement, delicate strings of light spill into the dark room through its windows. A visitation that illuminates the obscurity, carrying messages from those we can no longer see. Each floor then becomes a stage, a sequential step in the narrative. The threads and stories they hold are “archived” on the second floor, wound back onto a library of spools, as a symbol of memories kept organized and safe, opening portals to doorways we sense but cannot pass through. On the third floor, the strings pass through a ‘loom’, in an attempt to weave back what has been fragmented, embodying the toil exerted in the futile effort of remaking memories, where some filaments inevitably tangle. On the rooftop, the threads pass above, transcended into a weaved single piece of fabric; here, Shono states, “We wash away our sorrow and hang it far and wide above us. A beacon of devotion, a light for all to see.” 

The process of welcoming in, archiving and looming these threads, are the stages of “dutiful and heartfelt acts of remembrance and acceptance”, the artist explains: “I miss you so I wove you a garment from threads of light.” 

Music and Composition by FaceSoul, Executive Produced by Sole 

Acknowledgments: 

Artur Weber 

Mika Revell 

Federico Acciardi 

Nawal Jorio 

Jana Ghalayini 

And the entire CRAFT team