Filmmaker Shawky Delves Into Humanity’s Construction of Origin Stories

What is one thing people around the world share? We all rely on storytelling to define—and redefine—our cultural identities. Renowned artist and filmmaker Wael Shawky’s I Am Hymns of the New Temples reinterprets shared creation myths and theatrical traditions to explore our need to make sense of the world through storytelling, and the way our narratives are adapted and reshaped for national purposes. 

Shawky set most of the Arabic-language film among the ruins of Pompeii in modern Italy, where actors in ceramic and papier-mâché masks move through the ruins of the ancient crossroads of exchange among Egyptian, Greek and Roman cultures. In restaging traditional stories and historical events, the artist—who also wrote the 57-minute film’s score—challenges dominant interpretations of history, according to M+, the film’s current host venue.

“The exhibition reminds us how the simplest and most effective way of bringing us together are the stories that we imagine, tell and listen to,” says Silke Schmickl, Chanel senior curator, head of Moving Image for M+. “Stories are a space for imagination and truth, full of potential for changing our perspective on the world.”

The film by Shawky, who exhibited at Desert X AlUla 2020 in Saudi Arabia and represented his native Egypt at the 2024 Venice Biennale, is a timely example of cross-cultural dialogue by one of the world’s highly regarded and award-winning contemporary artists, Schmickl notes. “At a moment [when] we witness major global geopolitical shifts, the work powerfully evokes the larger cycles of an interconnected and shared humanity.” 

M+, Hong Kong, through October 25, 2026. 

Top Installation view of the exhibition space for the film. © Wael Shawky
Credit DAN LEUNG, COURTESY OF M+, HONG KONG