Knife grinding machine

Happy is he who is fortunate. Yet human fortune is fragile. And humans, in contrast to the gods, are mortal, finite, and frail. External circumstances also determine human fortune and success. You have to preserve it. Just as the knife grinder does in Giza near Cairo: he has created a striking installation on the front right stand of his machine, consisting of a combination of an amulet to protect fortune, and objects of daily life – a finely turned Mashrabiya lattice, a small basket, the fragment of a red synthetic wrapper with the depiction of a mosque printed in gold, a doll's foot, the burned-out flashcube from a pocket camera, and other things. As an effective protection against any possible evil, the habitual name of God (Allah) sways over the ensemble, stamped in red plastic. In the museum inventory, the following comment of the collector can still be read: "Heavily used, old piece (ca. 1920). Was rented out by the old, sick owner to a young man."