Image: ©Riccardo Banfi
Yasmine Lahjij, also known as Yeddin, is an artist based in Tangier who currently develops several collaborative projects in urban and rural contexts in Italy. Her practice investigates local cultures, technological infrastructures, and material realities. Working across ceramics, embroidery, culinary arts, sound, and performance, she reflects on pluralism, multispecies coexistence, and the interweaving of personal and collective narratives.
Yeddin’s projects often unfold as gatherings - banquet-performances, workshops, and collaborative processes - created throughout both the research and public presentation phases. These initiatives engage specific communities, particularly young adults and women, and foster exchanges with artisans, architects, chefs, farmers, winemakers, and musicians.
By critically examining the tools and systems that shape territories, memory, transmission, and social relations, Yeddin explores how these frameworks transform within regional contexts. Her encounters open spaces of exchange where diverse worldviews come together to question the fundamental principles of life.
Works and projects
Images: ©Riccardo Banfi
Ecology is a living web of relationships: it connects places, languages, technologies, and communities in an interlacing of mutual dependencies that both sustain us and put us to the test. The banquet-performance The Grounds Where We Meet presents itself as a fragile and regenerative fabric, shaped by the flows that traverse it and the threats that challenge it - an invitation to rethink our way of inhabiting the world.
It intertwines realities and terroirs - from the Parc naturel régional des Alpilles in France to the Colli Orientali of Friuli Venezia Giulia, from the region of Tangier, Morocco, to Milan - through two shared tables that celebrate the act of eating together, a ritual gesture renewing an ancient union. A bridge-project between agricultural practices, natural resources, and (un)sustainable desires.Artistic direction / edible installation:
Yasmine Lahjij – Yeddin
Performance: Yasmine Lahjij
Light and sound mix:
Sergio Albert Gonzalez
Second musical composition:
Jason Brockmeyer
Set-up: Marta Cataldi, Federica Miliani.
Ceramic bowls:
Nina Salsotto – Unurgentargilla
Ceramic spoons: Yeddin
Tamegroute ceramics:
Atman & Saïd Tama Lkhdar
Wine: Ronchi di Cialla, Prepotto
Photography: Riccardo Banfi
With the kind collaboration of
Terzo Paesaggio
A warm thank you to all collaborators and partners mentioned above, and in particular to Sergio Albert Gonzalez, Riccardo Banfi, Marta Bertani, Jason Brockmeyer, Marta Cataldi, Hafida Damou, Alessandro Di Pietro, Lucrezia Galeotti, Sara Ghebregzabher, Egidio Giurdanella, Denis Mattiuzzi, Federica Miliani, Andrea Perini, Rapuzzi family, Nina Salsotto, Bibiana Tarantino, and Jean-Claude Vincent.
I Terreni Su Cui Ci Incontriamo © 2025 by Yasmine Lahjij - Yeddin Studio is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
m3aalq
These spoon-shaped objects, hand-crafted with textured surfaces, were conceived for a banquet-performance. Beyound mere serving tools, they intensify and interrogate the sensory pleasures of eating. Each piece extends the body itself, blending tactile comfort with subtle unease to provoke a curious, embodied engagement.
Handcrafted and woodfired spoons, various dimensions, 2025 - (wild foraged soils by Nina Salsotto - Unurgent Argilla) m3aalq © 2025 by Yasmina Lahjij - Yeddin Studio CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
m3aalq spoon: Yeddin
ceramic bowl: Nina Salsotto - Unurgentargilla
Image: ©Riccardo Banfi
The single-chamber kiln near Mt. Bisalta, Piemonte, built by Nina Salsotto, was activated in August 2025 in collaboration with fellow ceramists.
Embroidered Bread: Barbabietola
This work, created upon an invitation from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera – Milano’s “conTENERE” exhibition in Pietraroja, Campania, is crafted from organic beetroot bread made with a wild starter sourced from Lazy Farm in Benevento Province.
Created during a residency within a familial rural environment in Campania, Southern Italy, this work reflects how food - and especially bread - becomes a living testament to the transmission of knowledge, the richness of culture, and the unique identity of a terroir. It embodies the patient care of kneading hands, the wisdom passed down through generations, and the generous spirit of a shared community.
Homemade organic beetroot bread, wild yeast starter and ancient grains, hand embroidery on bread with reclaimed Provençal fabric sewn onto a cotton doily,
circa 20 x 25 cm, 2025. Pane Ricamato - Fiore di Barbabietola © 2025 by Yasmina Lahjij - Yeddin Studio is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Make The Roots Bloom
Banquet-performance
Lazy Farm
Sant'Angelo a Cupolo, Italy,
28 June 2025
Far fiorire le radici
The residency at Lazy Farm culminated in a communal banquet performance accompanied by a series of ceramic and embroidery works, alongside a large drawing - each piece a crystallisation of the natural world absorbed during a month spent in the bucolic landscape of Sant’Angelo a Cupolo.
Lazy Farm is an innovative and creative farm in the surroundings of Benevento, Southern Italy. It nurtures a regenerative kitchen garden surrounded by fruit trees, an organic wheat field with ancient variety (Risciola), while simultaneously supporting a digital creative agency. This familial, multifunctional space fosters synergy, where each activity enhances and supports the others.
The project, which I envisioned under the title ‘Far Fiorire le Radici,’ arose from a dynamic dialogue that embraces both the farm’s history and its regenerative ethos alongside my personal approach and perspective. Yet, it extends outside these: the rich human cosmogony surrounding the farm revealed profound cultural, historical, and social layers, prompting reflection on the intertwined heritage and stories that define this unique place.
My practice extended far beyond solitary studio work. Instead, my presence in the Montorsi Valley was embraced and fueled by a genuine desire for connection and dialogue. Daily engagement with local inhabitants - through walks in the woods, dinners, pasta workshops, board game evenings, foraging, pagan rituals, cooking, film screenings, concerts, communal meals, and more - became meaningful activities that sparked deep personal reflections on the true meaning of hospitality and what it means to inhabit a place.
On the day of the public presentation, the works - spanning ceramics, drawing, and food design - were created in collaboration with local artisans and the host family. They came together around a kind of open, ever-democratic banquet table, finding their places atop garden straw, nestled in a wheelbarrow, or housed within the garden’s wooden shelter
.
At the heart of this residency, and the creative body it inspired, lies a continuous effort to reconnect with the cyclical rhythms that quietly govern all living beings. Ultimately, this unique experience at Lazy Farm transcended solitary creation, blossoming into a radiant collaborative adventure where food, art, and sustainability weave together in a tapestry of shared participation and collective growth.
*Courtesy of Damiano Pontillo, with whom the special breads were made using the grandmother’s wild yeast starter.
Courtesy of Alfonso Pontillo for the special documentary created during the residency, as well as for the light and sound.
Far Fiorire le Radici © 2025 by Yasmina Lahjij - YeddinStudio is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
Reflecting on the Tammaro valley
Field research and rural regeneration
Architects Marta Cataldi and Egidio Giurdanella install "La Saragolla," a site-specific banner Yeddin Studio co-created with Terzo Paesaggio in Morcone last February 2025.
In February 2025, Yeddin traveled to Morcone, in southern Italy, to join the research residency led by Terzo Paesaggio (Milan) - a rural regeneration initiative within the framework of the TAM project.
The residency explored ways to nurture a “community of wheat,” restoring both land and life through a collective vision that interlaces Morcone’s natural and cultural heritage with a hybrid, community-powered bakery open to participants from across Italy and beyond.
In collaboration with the architects of Terzo Paesaggio, Yeddin created a site-specific, blue, hand-embroidered banner celebrating the local ancient wheat variety. The banner accompanied gatherings, a pagan celebration and campus events from February to July, becoming a symbolic thread connecting people and practices.
Halloumi Connection
at THF Radio, Berlin
As co-founder of Halloumi Connection, Yeddin is dedicated to selecting and sharing unique voices and musical creations - from Tangier’s Gnawa music to live Cuban salsa on THF Radio in Berlin. Through this work, the collective means to elevate distinct forms of expression and reveals scenes that build creative bridges.
The community radio, housed in the historic gatehouse of Tempelhof Airport, serves as a platform for residents, creators, musicians, and artistic initiatives, aiming to connect people and offer local artists a dynamic space for expression.
The programme amplifies a range of local and international artists by fluidly blending music and spoken word in a spontaneous, playful format. Tracks are mixed in a ping-pong style: one member cues a piece while another intuitively prepares the next, responding to the tempo and mood of the previous selection.
This method cultivates a vivid sonic landscape where analog textures merge with digital experimentation, fostering genuine auditory encounters built on both harmony and contrast.
To listen to the recording, click here.
In the background, Yeddin - Yasmine Lahjij, in the foreground, researcher and DJ Jason Brockmeyer, March 2025, THF Radio, Berlin, Germany.
Sound engineer Sergio Albert Gonzalez,
March 2025, THF Radio, Berlin, Germany.
Collective Hand-Building in Tangier.
In January 2024 in Tangier, in collaboration with the American Language Center and the Tangier American Legation, Yeddin led a series of three workshops inviting teenagers and young adults to explore for the first time pottery.
Participants learned fundamental hand-building techniques - pinching, coiling, and slab-building - navigating gestures that have traveled across ages and cultures. These versatile methods enabled them to create hollow forms, vertical structures, and geometric shapes.
Moving at their own pace, the groups engaged with tow different kinds of clay (brown Moroccan and grey Spanish earthenware), building shapes together or with eyes closed, fostering intimate sensory experiences. They then created elements of their choice through a mindful, slow process rooted in the present moment.
Situated at the crossroads of art and craft, these workshops aimed to offer alternative ways of sharing knowledge and raising awareness among young people.
Teenagers during the worlkshop at the American Legation Museum, January 2024, Tangier, Morocco.
Another workshop was held in collaboration with the association “Les Étoiles du Détroit” in Tangier, engaging teenagers and mothers from the Bni Makada neighborhood.
The Colour of The Earth
The four sculptures created in Tamegroute, Southern Morocco, merges ancient Roman forms with traditional Drâa Valley pottery. Researched and designed by Yeddin, each piece is handbuilt on a mechanical wheel by the skilled potter, Saïd Tama Lkhdar. Crafted from local wild soil from the area's riverbeds, the vessels are glazed in the village’s traditional green colour and fired in an ancestral wood kiln. They feature distinctive elements such as candle holders, textured edges, and simple bases, contrasting sleek shapes with textured surfaces - a hallmark of Tamegroute’s ceramic tradition, where imperfections are intentionally embraced.
The handbuilt pieces dry a few days outside.
Il colore della terra © 2024 by Yasmine Lahjij - Yeddin Studio licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Each piece is unique.
Saïd adjusting the shape of the sculptures on the mechanical wheel.
One of the seven ancestral kilns in Tamegroute.
Tetouan to Provence
Between transmission and fragments of memory, this work reinterprets the patterns of traditional tarz of Tetouan, intertwining it with motifs originating from Provence. An exploration of origins and influence. Golden embroidery on reclaimed linen, 50 x 45 cm, 2024.
Tetouan to Provence © 2024 by Yasmine Lahjij - Yeddin Studio licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0