Bukhoor
NOVEMBER 9 2024 - JANUARY 24 2026
Bukhoor
The path of incense
Women have been making incense, bukhoor, for thousands of years. The recipes have been handed down from generation to generation, creating a lasting link between women.
The Incense Route is one of the oldest trade routes in the world. Parts of it is included on the UNESCO World Heritage List. It linked together three oceans, three continents, and three ancient civilizations. From the southernmost parts of the Arabian Peninsula, to the Mediterranean ports to the north.
While the caravans transported the precious cargo over several months, mighty women ruled this part of the world. Here, you will meet some of them: The Queen of Sheba, Zenobia, Sammu-ramat, Hatshepsut, and Amanirenas.
" Take a deep breath, this scent is thousands of years in the making"
The stories in this exhibition move like the smoke of bukhoor, back and forth over 3000 years, reaching all the way up until today. Follow the path of incense in 2024, where Fethya makes bukhoor in her kitchen, after an ancient recipe. She sells it on WhatsApp and it is later used in a coffee ceremony in a living room in Malmö. The scent is like a trail in the exhibition, leading you home, or to another time!
Languages in the exhibition: swedish, arabic and english.
contributors
Bukhoor is produced by the Museum of Women’s History, in collaboration with Amal Aziz, strategist, Middle East expert and former journalist. Through her maternal heritage she has a unique insight into both the historical and present-day making of bukhoor.
The exhibition is produced by The Museum of Women’s History in collaboration with:
Idea and content production: Amal Aziz
Design: Lina Alarabi
Filming and editing: Bernard Mikulic
Seen in the videos:
Fethya Abubeker
Kinsi Aziz
Fawzie Ayoub
Lenssa Ebsa
Fatum Ebsa
Saga Hussein
Dina Malik
Rabab Mostafa
Voices of the Queens:
Swedish: Faiza Issa Aden Farah
English: Lia Frostkrans
Arabic: Aliaa Al Haddad
Fact Checker: Koko Hubara