Tawfik Naas

Tawfik Naas - Researcher

Projects

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Writing

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Chaos Is A Flower

(E)theric Mnemonics: Unfolding Reflections: Through Dreamt Springs of tRaNsFeRRari [Cut flowers still spring] ♫All that I know is, Mirrors inside me, They recognize you ♫

Instead, It Bore A Tulip

Tender Xchange

In Muddled Light

Chaos Is A Flower

San Mei Gallery
39a Loughborough Rd
London SW9 7TB

Solo

12 April - 1 June
2024

“Chaos is a Flower turns away from linear understandings of historical events and collective trauma that position history within the limited framework of anthropocentric perception, inspired by the morphology of germinating plants as a symbol of resilience and hope. Rather than remaining within the historical confines of what he calls the event of ‘geohydrotrauma’, Naas instead offers more cosmological conceptions of time in order to expand the possibilities for rewriting histories through the regenerative and restorative lens of deep time and deep ecology. If trauma can be understood as a repetitive bind in which its victims become forever “stuck” within the traumatic event, the exhibition offers a speculative environment alive to moments of transformation and healing.”

Untitled (Sandbag), 2024 Printed vinyl, rope and sand

Sepal, 2024 Denim, Polyester and Metal

Untitled (Seed), 2024 Plastic and spray primer

Archetypal Flower, 2024 Plastic and epoxy putty

Chaos Is A Flower, 2024 (Exhibition View)

Chaos Is A Flower, A Friction In Every Direction 2023 (Text)

Environment Making: Tawfik Naas & Munesu Mukombe

2024 Conversation

What If I don't want to ‘world build’? What if there are things that I love and want to manipulate within my own world? How do I straddle the boundaries between a newly imagined environment and the old that I inherited? Like the walls of my teenage bedroom I build my practice expressing my desires ; cutting out pages from a magazine and taping them on a wall. No inhibitions. I am environment making’ -

Munesu Mukombe

Chaos Is A Flower, A Friction In Every Direction

2023 Text
(Read Here)

(E)theric Mnemonics: Unfolding Reflections: Through Dreamt Springs of tRaNsFeRRari [Cut flowers still spring] ♫All that I know is, Mirrors inside me, They recognize you ♫ [Read here]

Allotment
Arbutus Street, E8 4DT +
Autoitalia
44 Bonner Rd, Bethnal Green, London E2 9JS

Reaserch Presentation + Noetic Lecture W/ Kumbirai Makumbe

19 Oct + 24 Oct
2025

(e) – 9m36s

– An accompanying sonic piece that drew people into the space, featuring a slow unfolding of references and moments leaking into the spaces. Sampled elements include ASMR pear eating, SZA, FKA Twigs, voice memos from Paris, video audio from a Kelela rave 2024, Pastor Chris, Amerie’s Fall in Love, and more.

2025 Audio

(e)mails - Kumbirai Makumbe + Tawfik Naas

2025 Publication

Instead, It Bore A Tulip

Ground Floor, Alfies Antique Market,
13 - 25 Church St, London NW8 8DT

Solo

19 July- 2 August
2025

“Instead, It Bore a Tulip marks an evolution in Tawfik Naas’s long-term research-led practice, now in its eighth year. Investigating the failure of the Libyan government’s ‘Great Manmade River’ project; proposed under then-leader Muammar Gaddafi as the world’s largest irrigation system, Naas’ research practice seeks to portray the trauma and disruption inflicted on communities by the project’s collapse, which stemmed from a range of complex problems and ultimately forced his own family to migrate. Known for his sustained engagement with historical trauma, ecological time, and inherited memory, Naas presents a new body of 2D work that signals a shift from research as a tool for understanding to research as a foundation for belief.”

A/Scented, 2025. Eyeshadow on paper. 40 x 60 x 0.5 cm

Hands Holding Seeds, 2025. Pencil on paper. 60 x 40 x 0.5 cm

Animal(s), 2025. Pencil on paper 21 x 14.8 cm (unframed)

The Leaves And Sun Glow Alike, 2025. Pastel on paper. 21 x 29.7 cm (unframed)

“Hand”, “Seed”, “Water”, “Tulip In Hand,” 2025. Pencil on paper on perspex. 80 x 70 x 0.5 cm

Hands holding water, 2025. Eyeshadow on paper. 29.7 x 21 cm (unframed)

1. Unfolded 1, 2025. Pastel on Paper. 42 x 29.7 cm (unframed) 2. Unfolded 2, 2025. Pastel on Paper. 42 x 29.7 cm (unframed) 3. Unfolded 3, 2025. Pastel on Paper. 42 x 29.7 cm (unframed)

“Tawfik is slowly building and consolidating a living history, which takes its cues from the natural world, where evolution never existed as linear and difference was never mutually exclusive. The body of work is alive because it deals with things which are alive.”

- Aram Masharqa,

for Whitehot Magazine

Instead, It Bore A Tulip - 2025, Pamphlet

Instead, It Bore A Tulip - 2025, Pamphlet - The Shield Has Ywo Sides

Instead, It Bore A Tulip - 2025, Pamphlet - Eclipsed and Everfolding

Instead, It Bore A Tulip - 2025, Bookmark + Seed Clip

Micheal Marder:

"Plants come out and are eventuated differently, because in germinating and growing they do not cut themselves loose from their source..."

This paperclip seed connects pages, fragments, thoughts without cutting them from their origins. Like a seed reaching toward light, it binds ideas while allowing new forms to emerge.

(Donwload Here)

Tender Xchange

SET Lewisham, Biblioteka, Gasworks, Elizabeth Marruen House, San Mei Gallery

Reaserch Lab
(Ongoing) - Feel free to contact

Alongside his ongoing research, Tawfik also runs a research lab titled Tender Xchange. Started during a residency at Gasworks in 2020, TX is a nomadic research lab that leads with feeling, using intuitive methods of observation to rebuild understanding. Working exclusively collectively, we aim to create networks and frameworks for dynamic, ever-changing research.

Tender Xchange has presented itself across 5 installments in London, engaging participants in the collaborative formulation of visual, sonic, and written maps to uncover the ultimate potential of various subject matters.

Participant write up by Lydia Porter

- Read Here

Collaborators/Facilitators of Tender Xchange:

SET STUDIOS
Gasworks
Biblioteka
Gabrielle Jameson
Reuben Marrindale
Lily Bunney
Freya Rose McLean
San Mei Gallery