In 1860, the priest Gustav Emanuel Beskow returned to Sweden after a year of traveling through ancient cities and biblical sites. Among the objects he brought back was the mummified body of an Egyptian princess—or at least, that was what he believed.
One hundred and fifty years later, the remains were re-examined, revealing that the "princess" was, in fact, a boy. Since its arrival in Sweden, the body has been moved and studied multiple times, eventually ending up in a display case at the Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities.
Last year, Sara Sallam participated in an artist residency at the Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities, where she focused on the exhibition about ancient Egypt.
Born in Cairo, Sallam often reinterprets Egyptian history in her artistic practice as a way to reclaim and decolonize the country’s cultural heritage. In her new installation, she takes inspiration from the mummified boy.
The artist residency has been part of the National Museums of World Culture’s ongoing efforts to decolonize their collections. Through this work, the museum aims to make visitors aware of the historical context, circumstances, and perceptions of humanity that shaped the collection and trade of antiquities and human remains.
The artwork will be displayed in the section of the Egyptian exhibition. In a video piece, Sallam highlights the boy’s presence in Swedish archival photographs by adding fragments of gold leaf. In this way, she seeks to evoke how the gold that once covered his body has slowly fallen away.
