25 November -17 December, 2023  In observance of a rite of passage known as the “ascent to heaven”, neophytes of ancient Egyptian magic walked through the secret passages of the Temple of Edfu to reach its subterranean chambers. Laying in these grave/ womb-like environments in darkness and sensory deprivation for days, the aspiring adepts experienced a complete detachment from their physical bodies that helped to open a portal through which their souls travelled to other dimensions. These ceremonies stood as a symbolic death and rebirth of the novices in a whole new state of consciousness, achieved by means of initiation. In crossing these thresholds, initiates transcended ordinary awareness through mystical revelations and returned to the material plane with an amplified perception and a deeper sense of purpose. These rituals of spiritual renewal marked the passage from an individual, mundane condition to attaining a universal, trans-temporal perspective. As one experiences divine fullness, one dies in their profane existence to be born anew in their sacred life. The new solo exhibition “Threshold” by Berlin-based Gøneja ✷ presents a series of recent photographs and sculptures that explore contemporary initiatory gateways. It combines a syncretism of subjects that encompasses ancestral body rituals of peculiar practitioners, magical sigils as sculptural objects made of industrial materials, and ancient esoteric symbolism in nude portraits.

*** Gøneja ✷ (1987, Milan) [he/they] is a photographer and sculptor based in Berlin whose work explores myth, ritual and magic. He has published internationally and has released two books. Their work has been exhibited across Europe including group exhibitions at The Holy Art Gallery (London), Palazzo Bembo (Venice), and Rossocinabro Gallery (Rome) as well as two previous solo exhibitions in Berlin at tête (2020) and Organ Kritischer Kunst (2022).