Hoda Tawakol

Gardens are places of cultural identity located at the interface between nature and culture. Although they are an integral part of everyday culture, in the city they appear like oases in which one becomes more conscious of our own relationship to nature. The perception of one’s own physicality in the „natural“ environment of the garden makes it possible to experience the self and one’s own identity anew. The work of the Hamburg-based French-Egyptian artist Hoda Tawakol (*1968, in London, Great Britain) starts at this point. Drawing on biographical experiences, she creates connections between traditions and rituals, different cultures and forms of flora and fauna. In her works, Hoda Tawakol not only combines diverse questions on environmental and natural themes, but also on gender politics and body culture, which are also anchored in the materiality of her artistic work. In her work, she questions the role of plants in our environment in the formation of identity. Where does culture begin, where does nature end and where – but also how – do we locate ourselves as humans in this theoretical construct? Tawakol’s artistic practice invites visitors to reflect on these questions and challenges them on a sensual and intellectual level.

Hoda Tawakol is developing a new site-specific work for the garden of the Georg Kolbe Museum. With her outdoor textile work, she creates spaces for dialogue: with native and non-native plants, with her own and other identities, as well as experiences and challenges that appeal to the senses and stimulate the mind. The artist creates a new place to linger, work and contemplate in the museum’s historic sculpture garden. With an extensive programme, the artist and the Georg Kolbe Museum invite you to a summer in the garden that encourages us to re-locate and encounter the place, the art, our surroundings and ourselves.

Hoda Tawakol’s works are tender and powerful at the same time. In her works, the recurring motif of the palm tree becomes an intimate symbol of her identity and her longing for a place where she herself has never lived. She uses a wide variety of textiles in her sculptural works, but resin, paper, hair and wood are frequently recurring materials. Most recently, the Dortmunder Kunstverein dedicated a solo exhibition to her in 2023. Hoda Tawakols has also had solo and group exhibitions at Mathaf Doha, Qatar, the Museum für Neue Kunst Freiburg, the Museum for Art in Wood, Philadelphia, USA, the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, the Kunstverein Hamburger Bahnhof, Hamburg, the Lothringer13 – Städtische Kunsthalle München and the Weserburg Museum Bremen, among others. She studied at the Hochschule für bildende Künste in Hamburg, where she lives and works today.