FROM ORIGIN TO CLAIM

Origin to Claim is a research-driven publication that examines how material origin becomes increasingly unclear as objects move through global systems of production, circulation, and consumption. Using silver as a case study, the project follows a trajectory from extraction to finished object. What begins as a grounded, physical material slowly loses its specificity as it passes through logistics, classifications, and labels. By the time silver reaches the consumer, origin is no longer experienced directly, but replaced by claims of purity, quality, and legitimacy. The publication exists both as an object and as an experience. The Arabic phrase "صنع السودان" (Origin in Sudan) is engraved into silver jewellery, functioning as a statement rather than a guarantee. It points to how easily origin can be declared, trusted, and consumed, even when its material journey remains inaccessible. A folded booklet accompanies the object, guiding the reader through stages of transformation, from roughness to smoothness, mirroring the material’s passage through systems of abstraction. Through distortion, fragmentation, and coded references such as “404”, the project exposes the distance between what is named and what can truly be known. Origin to Claim reflects on material ethics, authorship, and the quiet assumptions embedded in everyday objects.