Charwei Tsai
That Which at First Tastes Bitter, 2025
Mica pigment and ink on cotton
395 x 758 cm each of the 2 panels
Islamic Arts Biennale 2025
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Commissioned by the Diriyah Biennale Foundation for the Islamic Arts Biennale 2025
With support by Makhtut Studio, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and Fondation Comblé, France
Photos by Muhannad Shono, Filwa Nazer, Lucia Novoa, Courtesy of the Islamic Arts Biennale and the artist
At the Islamic Art Biennial, currently taking place in Jeddah, Charwei Tsai presents a newly commissioned installation, “That Which at First Tastes Bitter,” as part of AlMadar (“The Orbit”), a section dedicated to fostering collaboration between institutions with significant Islamic art collections.
Tsai’s work enters into dialogue with a 10th-century Samanid ceramic plate from the Louvre Museum collection, renowned for its Kufic inscription: “Magnanimity is at first bitter, but ultimately sweeter than honey. Good health.”
It is composed of two parts in union as a circle, with a void in the center, creating a sense of rhythmic flow and alluding to an expanded cosmos. Kufic calligraphy, specifically الحلم (Al Hilm), meaning patience, tolerance; or ‘Ilm: knowledge, radiates from the wide rim of the plate with a balance between form and void. The surrounding walls are covered with a painting made from mother of pearl pigment and the artist’s repeated inscription of specifically الحلم (Al Hilm). The resulting work invites viewers to experience the idea of spiritual and universal resonance, connecting the past with the present.
Special thanks to:
Diriyah Biennale Foundation
Artist Directors: Julian Raby, Amin Jaffer, Abdul Rahman Azzam, Muhannad Shono
Curators: Joanna Chevalier (Associate Curator), Masa Al-Kutoubi (AlMadar lead), Amina Diab (Associate Curator), Rizwan Ahmad (Curator), Heather Ecker (Curator), William Robinson (Curator), Marika Sardar (Curator), Sarah Al Abdali (Assistant Curator), Bilal Badat (Assistant Curator), Faye Behbehani (Assistant Curator), and Wen Wen (Assistant Curator).
Special thanks: Muhammad Al Irissi, Arwa Al Ali
Support: Ana La Fonta, Berenice Levy, Ana Salazar, Aden Wessels, Latifa Albokhari, Elena Bongiorno
Production: Black Engineering, Marco Lepore, Lucia Novoa, Mariela Velasco
Makhtut Studio: Abdulrahman Elshahed, Layal Algain, Zainab Mumtazali, Majdoline Bakr, Raja Bahadar
Louvre Museum: Souraya Noujaim, Noemi Dauce, Nicolas Texier, Martina Massullo
OMA Architects: Kaveh Dabiri, Andrea Verni
Conception: James Wall, Chateau Comble, Hayfa Algwaiz, Pierre-Alexandre Savriacouty
