Qalqalah and the Curious Case of the Sphere Within a Sphere

In the post-capitalist, corporate conglomerate of the United Arab World in 2030, where notions of language, art and economy have quietly collapsed, a polyglot heroine named Qalqalah investigates an unprecedented spread of Spherical Sculptures popping up in cities all over the globe. It is feared that these spherical monuments may alter thinking. Faced with these alarming signs, what will it take to save what seems to be the coming of the end of the world?

Sarah Rifky is a writer and curator; she is co-founder of Beirut, an art initiative and exhibition space in Cairo (2012-2015) and founder of CIRCA (Cairo International Resource Center for Art). Rifky was co-curator of the Jogjakarta Biennale XII (2013), curator of Townhouse (2009-2011) and curatorial Agent for dOCUMENTA(13) in Kassel, Cairo and Alexandria (2012).

Arnaldo Pomodoro, Sphere Within Sphere (Sfera con Sfera), bronze sculpture. Vatican Museum. Photo courtesy of curator.