This painting is part of a series of paintings which relate to Wael Shawky's film, Isles of the Blessed (Oops!...I forgot Europe) (2022), in which an enlarged version of the marionettes we see in his acclaimed Cabaret Crusades series narrates the myth of the birth of Europe in classical Arabic.

The myth tells the story of Zeus’ infatuation with Europa, which sees him transform himself into a bull in order to kidnap her and take her to Crete. Crucially, this classic tale grounds the establishment of Europe in violence, deception, loss, and mysticism, rather than heroism and conquest.

Shawky considers his turn towards Greek mythology as directly indicative of his interest in the persistence of myths across cultures, noting that after Zeus becomes lord of lords in classical Greek mythology, there are constant and similar parallels among myths in Islam, Judaism and Christianity. By presenting a Greek myth in classical Arabic, Shawky creates an entanglement of cultures and histories and by extension, through presenting the story of the birth of the European nations, transforms predominant western denominations into mythological drama, inviting a revision of today’s truths, myths and stereotypes.

This painting is part of a series of paintings which relate to Wael Shawky's film, Isles of the Blessed (Oops!...I forgot Europe) (2022), in which an enlarged version of the marionettes we see in his acclaimed Cabaret Crusades series narrates the myth of the birth of Europe in classical Arabic.

The myth tells the story of Zeus’ infatuation with Europa, which sees him transform himself into a bull in order to kidnap her and take her to Crete. Crucially, this classic tale grounds the establishment of Europe in violence, deception, loss, and mysticism, rather than heroism and conquest.

Shawky considers his turn towards Greek mythology as directly indicative of his interest in the persistence of myths across cultures, noting that after Zeus becomes lord of lords in classical Greek mythology, there are constant and similar parallels among myths in Islam, Judaism and Christianity. By presenting a Greek myth in classical Arabic, Shawky creates an entanglement of cultures and histories and by extension, through presenting the story of the birth of the European nations, transforms predominant western denominations into mythological drama, inviting a revision of today’s truths, myths and stereotypes.

This painting is part of a series of paintings which relate to Wael Shawky's film, Isles of the Blessed (Oops!...I forgot Europe) (2022), in which an enlarged version of the marionettes we see in his acclaimed Cabaret Crusades series narrates the myth of the birth of Europe in classical Arabic.

The myth tells the story of Zeus’ infatuation with Europa, which sees him transform himself into a bull in order to kidnap her and take her to Crete. Crucially, this classic tale grounds the establishment of Europe in violence, deception, loss, and mysticism, rather than heroism and conquest.

Shawky considers his turn towards Greek mythology as directly indicative of his interest in the persistence of myths across cultures, noting that after Zeus becomes lord of lords in classical Greek mythology, there are constant and similar parallels among myths in Islam, Judaism and Christianity. By presenting a Greek myth in classical Arabic, Shawky creates an entanglement of cultures and histories and by extension, through presenting the story of the birth of the European nations, transforms predominant western denominations into mythological drama, inviting a revision of today’s truths, myths and stereotypes.