Image: MAMCO, Geneva
MAMCO will stage a site-specific artistic intervention by Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige at the newly opening SaSA - Site archéologique Saint-Antoine in Geneva, with the exhibition 'Palimpsests, Time Capsules & Trilogie' on view from 5 September to 15 November 2026. The project accompanies the inauguration of SaSA, a new cultural space dedicated to Geneva’s archaeological heritage, and forms part of MAMCO’s off-site programme while its own building is under renovation.
According to the materials released by MAMCO and SaSA, the exhibition is being organized by Lionel Bovier. SaSA is located on the esplanade Théodelinde in Geneva’s old town and is conceived as a place where archaeology, mediation and contemporary creation meet. The institution says its inaugural year will combine an opening celebration with a cultural programme, and that it invited MAMCO to develop its first artistic intervention for the site.
Hadjithomas and Joreige, both born in Beirut in 1969, have spent three decades building a multidisciplinary, research-based practice that brings the real into contact with image, fiction and poetry. For SaSA, the artists are presenting a series of works linked to archaeology that, in the institutions’ descriptions, bring buried histories to the surface and question how time is perceived. The project is framed around the relation between heritage and contemporary creation, using archaeological fragments and varied forms of representation.
The works included are 'Palimpsests', 'Time Capsules' and 'Trilogies'. MAMCO describes 'Palimpsests' as a film shaped by drone footage, microscopic images, wide shots, zooms, rapid editing and longer sequences, tracing the visual fascination of drilling, excavation and construction. 'Time Capsules' uses compositions made from archaeological samples such as stone, earth and objects to visualize history as a process of stratification. In 'Trilogies', chronology is reconsidered through the possibility of parallel narratives, using photography, drawing and text.
The curatorial texts emphasize the artists’ use of material from archaeological sites in France, Greece and Lebanon. They also note that the works engage with what lies beneath cities, and with the dislocations and shifts of scale that shape historical understanding. In the artists’ own words quoted by MAMCO, the corpus explores “the invisible ruins of cities buried beneath our own cities” and considers cycles of revelation, recycling and covering over, as well as the effects of human violence and climate change on possible narratives.
SaSA itself is built around a long archaeological history. The site was revealed through discoveries made in 2010 and excavations carried out between 2012 and 2015 by the Service d’archéologie du canton de Genève. The institution’s public opening is set for 5 September 2026, with visiting hours from Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm, beginning on 6 September. The MAMCO project will be shown there through 15 November 2026 at SaSA - Site archéologique Saint-Antoine, Esplanade Théodelinde 1, 1206 Geneva.
