Fiha ma fiha
Marie Zolamian
The title draws on Fihi ma fihi — literally, “Inside, what is inside” —, a title attributed to a work of Persian prose by the 13th-century poet and mystic Rumi.
I have shifted its structure from fihi, “in him,” to fiha, “in her.” This movement from masculine to feminine may refer to painting, the image, the exhibition, memory or interiority.
In Arabic, fihi also means “there is,” and ma fihi, “there is not.” The phrase can therefore be heard as “there is/there is not”: it asserts a presence and withdraws it in the same movement.
The title resonates with "The Interior Castle", the title I gave to one of my sculptures in 2014 in reference to the writings of Teresa of Ávila: the image of the soul as a castle with multiple mansions, made of a single diamond, and the paradox of entering what one already is.
Through its repetition and rhythmic structure, "Fiha ma fiha" appears as a formula or an incantation, acting even before it is understood.