The Moon in your Mouth

The Moon in your Mouth is a research that explo­res kins­hip, and the inter­con­nec­ti­vi­ty of human and non-human beings through astro­lo­gy and the foods we eat. Stating from the ancient Hermitic phrase:  

No Doubt it is true,
that which is above is from that which is below, and that which is below is from that which is above,
it worked the wonders from one, as all things come from one by means of one considered act,
its father is the sun, its mother is the moon,
the wind carried it in her womb, the earth fed it,
father of talismans, keeper of wonders, perfect in power 

In this new performance she takes this spiritual phrase as a starting point to unravel ancient cosmologies. As we search for ways to re-tell the story of human life, Samah digs into the ancient eastern astrology and philosophy when the planets in the sky were part of everyday life.  As abo­ve, so below; as below, so abo­ve is the ancient philosophical understanding for the larger cosmology of interconnectedness which fed scientists, farmers, artists and emperors alike. Nobody wanted to upset Saturn, or try to stand in the destructive path of Mars, the great malifics in the sky.  

Taking the geographical region of the Mediterranean to Central Asia as her starting point, Samah connects food to the stars. She tells a personal story of how the ancient civilisations of the regions she lived in, hold the story and the knowledge of all our lives today. As she invites the audience to taste traditional foods, she carefully weaves a personal story from her place of birth near the greatest civilisations of humankind, unraveling an intricate story of the unlikely connections of the foods we eat with planets in the skies.  

• Samah Hijawi is a multimedia artist whose projects are deeply rooted in historical narratives. Her work attempts to re-imagine our contemporary lives outside of the radicalized and polarized debates that drive our lives today. Hijawi's works have previously been shown at De Brakke Grond, Marres, Kunstensfestivaldesarts, KANAL Centre Pompidou, Vooruit Gent, AM Qattan Foundation Palestine, Darat al Funen, and other venues. Among others, she collaborated with Ola El-Khalidi and Diala Khasawneh in Makan Art Space (2003–2016), an independent contemporary art space in Amman. With Shurqu Harb and Toleen Tou, she co-curated the platform The River has Two Banks (2012–2017), initiated to talk about the distance and proximity between Jordan and Palestine. Kaaitheater previously hosted her Holy Cow and the Pomegranate: Sumac in 2023.