04Instead, 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
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)