In this collection of illustrations Mariam Naiem visualises the specifics of colonial trauma and grief, and the effect they have on everyday life.

There is a picture of the work the way it was presented in the exhibition. In the blue frame on the white background there are 11 A4 papers attached to it with small magnets. The blue light is also targeted at the frame to make it more bright. To the right and to the left side on A4 papers there are descriptions and translations to the exhibits hanging. Most of the illustrations feature a big black cloud-like substance, which symbolises trauma.

11 pieces of black and white illustrations on white A4 paper

A tall black substance, which symbolises trauma, is standing near the clothes hanger. Each t-shirt on the hanger has the types of traumas written on them. So, the black substance is choosing, which kind of trauma it wants to be today: Historical trauma; Cultural Trauma; Generational trauma; Ecological trauma
A person standing on the left is wearing a fur coat, sying that this is what they inherited from their grandma. Another person (on the right) is bent under the weight of a big black cloud-like substance resting on their back. The person says that this is their inheritance from grandma, hinting at it to be a trauma.
There is a depiction of hilly cemetery with crosses sticking out of different places, symbolising the places of those graves. There is a bigger church-like building in the center, that is the exact depiction of the way Askold’s grave in Kyiv looks like. A big black substance is sitting in the hills and looking at the grave.
A big black cloud-like substance is in the center, it holds a paper or a tablet in its hands, which has an image of a correspondent and a text “Ukraine live”, referring to a live stream of events happening in Ukraine. The substance is hugging the image tenderly.
There are three black substances depicted in the picture. They are linked together with lines that look like roads. Each substance has a name: Past, Present, Future.
There are two graphs illustrated in the picture. The upper one is named “Normal development” and has an arrow line starting from zero and steadily raising up, symbolising development. In the graph below there are multiple arrow lines, they all start from zero on the Y-axis, end abruptly and raise sporadically, symbolizing uneven and always interrupted development.
There is a cute black substance sitting sadly on the floor and leaning at the tree stump. The tree was cut. But we can see that there used to be a tall and big tree growing in its place, the former image of it is drawn with strokes above the stump.
There is a person standing on the left and asking a big black substance hanging over them “how much of it is still there?”, because it is not understandable how big the substance is. The black substance looks sad and answers that it doesn’t know.
There is an image of the running lanes like at the stadium. The plaque above it says “Pain Olympiads”.
The person is sitting in the closed cage and holding a pencil in their hands. With this pencil they are drawing a key to open the cage.
A hand-drawn comic in nine panels, arranged in a three-by-three grid, in black ink on a white background. The drawings are minimalist, with two small, stick-like human figures and a large, black, ghost-like figure with white eyes. In the first panel two friends talk about enjoying time together, but starting from the second panel a third presence has joined them: a large, dark, ghost-like figure with glowing white eyes, probably symbolising death. One friend asks the other to finish their book if anything happens to them. In the following panels, the friends talk about no longer making plans for the future and being unable to imagine life after the war. One of them, identified as a soldier, expresses this fear directly. The dark figure remains beside them throughout. In the fifth panel, the two people sit on the ground, tending to three small plants, while the dark figure towers over them. In the conversation one person says to the other that they have been to the graveyard and put the same number of flowers to the graves of the three people. Both figures know these dead people. When one friend finally confronts it, shouting that it was not invited, the figure replies: “You didn’t.” In the final panel, the figure hands a paper with “invitation” written on it. The invitation is dated 24 February 2022, the beginning of russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. So, the scene shows that death was invited by russia.

Ukrainian – English translation 

  1. What to choose today? Historical trauma; Cultural Trauma; Generational trauma; Ecological trauma 
  2. -This is my inheritance from my grandma. – And this is mine. 
  3. Askold’s Grave* (explanation below)
  4. Ukraine Live 
  5. Past; Future; Present; 
  6. Normal development (above); Our development (below)
  7. – 
  8. How much of you is in there? – I don’t know 
  9. Pain Olympics 
  10. – (illustration to the homework part of the book)
  11. Comics: 

1. I love spending time with friends, just the two of us. 

2. But lately it’s been three of us. 

3. In case something happens, finish writing my book, OK? – OK.

4. To be honest, I no longer plan anything after*  (*friend who is in the military) 

5. How are you? – I’m okay, I was at the graveyard and gave the same number to all three of them* (*people, who died)

6. I don’t see my life after the war* (*friend who is in the military) 

7. How much more can it last?!? Who are you? We didn’t invite you!  

8. You didn’t 

9. 24.02.2022 “Invitation” (written in russian)* (*behind the first “Invitation”, there is another one with the year 2014 visible to us, the year of the illegal Crimea annexation).

*Askold’s grave – according to the medieval chronicle The Tale of Bygone Years, the Novgorod ruler Prince Oleg tricked and killed Kyiv’s rulers, Askold and Dir, on the banks of the Dnipro River in 882 AD to seize control of the city. Legend says Askold was buried at the exact spot where he fell, giving the steep riverside slope the name Askold’s Grave (Ukrainian: Askoldova Mohyla). In Ukrainian history, the site symbolizes the early foundations of Kyiv, the arrival of Christianity (Askold is traditionally considered the first Christian prince of Kyiv), and national memory. Today, the park serves as a sacred memorial site for fallen Ukrainian soldiers

Pictures Description

Below you can find the description of the picture. It has not been written by the artist and has been added by the curators.

These illustrations are also featured in Mariam’s book, “How to Breathe Freely? A Guide to Decolonization, 2026”. The book explores the topics of generational trauma and colonial grief in-depth, and offers the reader a guide to processing this pain and taking agency of one’s identity. Mariam states: “Colonial trauma – is not a trauma from just one historic period, and just like colonialism itself, it pierces into every aspect of your life and has an incomprehensive scope. Colonial society – is a society in pain. And to continue living, one needs to comprehend this pain, confront colonial grieving, and understand how it works on social and individual levels.”

Common Threads Exhibition, 2026

From October 9 to 11, the exhibition “Common Threads” (Geteilte Fäden) was presented in Fürstenberg (Havel), Brandenburg, in October 2026. The exhibition is a collection of works by artists and collectives from Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, and Germany. Some of these works were created during our educational trip to Moldova in April 2026 as part of the “Decolonizing Cultures of Remembrance” project.