Image: Sanam Khatibi, Legacy, 2026. Collectie van de Provincie Henegouwen, gerealiseerd door de ateliers van het CRECIT (Doornik). In depot bij BPS22 Musée d’art de la Province de Hainaut. © Photo : Leslie Artamonow
Sanam Khatibi’s presentation brings together her own paintings, ceramics, a tapestry and pieces from her personal collection with historical and ethnographic objects from Abby’s collection. The project is presented as Abby’s artistically arranged living room, the museum’s living room that is redesigned by a different artist every two years.
Khatibi is a Belgian artist who lives and works between Brussels and Paris; painting forms the heart of her practice, alongside sculpture, embroidery, installations and tapestries. Her work examines how people respond to situations of danger, trauma and disaster, whether caused by humans or ecological in nature, and how they relate to structures of power.
She brings human and animal figures, plants, landscapes and objects together in scenes that move between beauty and discomfort, attraction and danger. Lush vegetation, vivid colours, decorative patterns and idyllic landscapes evoke a paradisiacal atmosphere, while something dark always unfolds within that beauty.
In the surprising encounter between old and new, familiar objects acquire a new meaning and an almost ritual character.
The Living forms part of Abby’s Stadsliving programme and is free to access during the museum’s opening hours.
