Collaborating with artisans in Saudi Arabia, Awartani creates these bricks using ancient earthen construction techniques, but intentionally omits a crucial binding agent, allowing the patterned blocks to crack and deteriorate as they dry. In her attempt to retain traces of both disappearing architecture and intangible heritage, the artist mirrors the vulnerability of the original structure and brings to light a slowly fading craftsmanship.    

On the surrounding walls, Come, let me heal your wounds. Let me mend your broken bones is an ongoing series of brightly colored fabrics, stretched onto frames, interspersed with printed text. It systematically catalogues heritage sites from Iraq, Syria, and Palestine, using the Antiquities Coalition’s reports to document their fate amidst unrest, wars, and acts of terrors. Information on each site’s location, status, and the events that led to its destruction is paired with an abstract representation of the site on hand-dyed silk cloth in yellow, orange, green or red. Awartani dyes these fabrics in Kerala, India, using natural dyeing techniques and locally foraged medicinal plants to imbue the fabrics with therapeutic properties.