Open Apothecary دكان العطار المفتوح

What does change smell like? ما رائحة التغيير؟

Open Apothecary explores change and memory through traditional herbal practices. Inspired by the local herbalists and folk healers of Al Atareen district,

Abdulla Buhijji crafts incense shaped like standard concrete roadblocks, symbolic of urban transformation. Instead of concrete, these blocks are made from herbs and materials gathered from the shops of local practitioners. By reinterpreting the (دكان العطار) as a design fiction space and viewing the (العطار) as a storyteller, the work delves into how these figures narrate stories of change. His works transform ancient remedies for pain, anticipation, and change into ritualized incense soaked in story and soul.

Each scented block, rooted in traditional practices for renewal, change, and pain relief, becomes a medium to tell and reimagine stories of transformation. The blocks serve as objects of reflection, embodying a contrast between rigidity and softness, physical and intangible. They take folk remedies and transform them into solid incense burners, blending natural pigments, dried herbs, and rituals of healing into pieces for dialogue.

• Bio

• -blocks, 10 x 10 x 5 cm
• Mix of various herbs, flora, minerals, oils, spices, seeds

 Remedies:

1 / A REMEDY FOR WHEN YOU ARE NO LONGER WHO YOU WERE, BUT NOT YET AT REST IN WHO YOU’VE BECOME

2/ A REMEDY FOR THE WEIGHTOF CARRYING WHAT YOU DO NOT YET UNDERSTAND

3/ A REMEDY FOR THE MIND THAT MOVES FASTER THAN THE MOMENT

4/A REMEDY FOR OPENING THE HEART TO WHAT ASKS TO BE WELCOMED BEFORE IT’S UNDERSTOOD

5/ A REMEDY FOR TURNING REACTION INTO REFLECTION

6/ A REMEDY THAT TEACHES THE BODY HOW TO STAY WITH THE TREMBLING

7/ A REMEDY FOR CHANGE THAT DRAWS ATTENTION TOO QUICKLY AND HASN’T YET SETTLED INTO FORM

8/ A REMEDY FOR THE MOMENTS WHERE PRESENCE ITSELF IS THE PURIFICATION NEEDED

9/ A REMEDY FOR WHEN SHEDDING IS NOT GRACEFUL AND BECOMING FEELS LIKE BREAKING

10/ A REMEDY FOR TRANSFORMATION THAT COMES WITH RAPTURE