SETKEN
aida meets setken in adelaide
Introduction to the exhibition by Dr. Jasmine Day, Egyptologist:
Commissioned to write an opera for the opening of the Suez Canal, Giuseppe Verdi chose to deviate from conventional European settings and instead locate his story in ancient Egypt. Nevertheless, the plot of Aida more closely resembled European romantic tragedies than the tales that survived from the age of the pharaohs. Its premiere delayed, Aida was first performed in Cairo in 1871, but it remains associated with one of the great industrial ventures of the modern imperial age. The establishment of the Suez Canal as a European hub of commerce was soon followed by brazen British annexation of Egypt in 1882, which supported the growth of Egyptology, but also mass export of the country’s antiquities.
The conventional academic explanation of the widespread popularity and representation of ancient Egypt today is that knowledge of this civilisation was carried around the world by the former European empires, and has since spread further afield via the mass media. The argument, therefore, is that Egyptomania is an artefact of colonialism, of the conquest of Egypt.
Yet in another sense, Egypt’s universal and ongoing domination of the international imagination - with or without the presence of its antiquities carried abroad - seems to constitute a reversal of this process. Breaking free from its own geographical boundaries and original historical setting, ancient Egypt sweeps around the globe, consuming all in its wake. It alights as far afield as Australia in the works of Setken; the netjeru (gods) parade amongst buildings and mortals in the Antipodes, recognising something joyously familiar and reverential in its historic Egyptian Revival monuments. Ancient Egypt is not a thing of the past, but a revelation for all times and in all places, a bottomless fount of sacred knowledge for everyone. Egypt has conquered the world, not by force but by enlightenment.
Dr. Jasmine Day
President, The Ancient Egypt Society of Western Australia Inc.
Ambassador, International Society for the Study of Egyptomania
Professional Member, International Association of Egyptologists
From the artist:
Welcome to my carefully curated selection of 28 paintings drawn from the last 10 years of my practice.
This showcase of paintings features some that have long since left my inventory (having been purchased by collectors) as well as many of my latest works. Some of these are for sale.
With this exhibition I join a growing trend of artists in curating their own shows. Art world gatekeeping, the financial terrorism of galleries, as well as arts funding that seems to fund administrators and their institutions above artists themselves continue to create an environment where artist-curated shows are an inevitability.
The announcement that Italian opera company Arena di Verona was staging (and then postponing) Giuseppi Verdi’s Aida over two days at Adelaide Oval in February 2026 immediately grabbed my attention. I have been living between Melbourne and Adelaide in the last quarter of the year and it seemed an opportune moment to take advantage of this.
Aida is an example of Egyptomania in the broadest sense, in that it is a modern retelling of a story based in Ancient Egypt. My own fascination with Egyptomania – now a bona fide discipline of study within the conservative discipline of Egyptology – has taken me down many paths, most recently with the spectacular mausoleum of former The Age Newspaper owner David Syme.
The exhibition is also my love letter to the *finally* opened Grand Egyptian Museum – a museum dedicated to the ancient civilisation to which I in turn am also (artistically and spiritually) dedicated!
From December 2025 to the end of February 2026 you can view the collection in an exclusive online unveiling that I have not offered previously. I hope that lovers of the illustrious opera Aida will also enjoy my take on Ancient Egypt manifesting today.
Download exhibition catalogue here.
Setken
Photo: Dr. Jasmine Day
Photo: Simon Schluter
Setken is an accomplished artist, author, presenter and performer.
His paintings explore themes of mythology, history, and spirituality, especially Kemetic (i.e. Ancient Egyptian) spirituality.
His artistic practice often intersects with his research, as seen in his 2023 exhibition Adventures in Zoomorphic Idolatry and online exhibition
Aida Meets Setken In Adelaide.
His paintings have been featured in academic Egyptology books, including on the cover of one, and most recently in the Complete Encyclopedia Of Egyptian Deities. He is currently writing a book:
The King Of Melbourne: the spiritual life of David Syme, his newspaper The Age, and the legacy of his monumental tomb.
Aida Meets Setken In Adelaide begins on December 1st, 2025.
