“In the Catholic church there are three classes of relics.
The first class is body parts of a saint.
The second class is things that belonged to a saint, objects they have used and surrounded themselves with.
The third class relic is the object that touched the body of a saint.
To create the third class relics, the small holes are drilled in the tombs of saints.
The objects are lowered through the holes, and once they touch the corpse they
are no longer everyday and mundane – they now become sacred”

I carefully read through countless myths and tales on meteorites from around the globe, some too old to trace their sources back. There are stories about how cosmic rocks were sent by angered gods or satan, stories on how some were chained to the ground out of fear that they may return to heavens in the same way, they came to Earth. I read that a meteorite was powdered and consumed by those who witnessed its arrival based on the belief that it was a medicine sent from heavens. Some of those cosmic rocks took on central roles in the communities becoming places of worship, grief, sacrifice.

Despite these countless stories and myths, modern Western science has only acknowledged the meteorites as a scientific fact in the late 18th century, dismissing centuries of the countless reports as fictional fables, created by native communities or people like my ancestors - peasants, working long hours under the bare skies.

The meteorites do not only close the gap between the outer space and our familiar Earthly surroundings, but also transgress what is seen as ordinary and sacred, what is seen as mythical and true.

I saw a tree bearing stones in the place of apples and pears is an exploration of a rock as a carrier of stories, a migratory body, a silent, mysterious visitor, filled with projections and dreams. It is an exploration on who, throughout the histories, had the right to claim the truths and who - tales. It is a story on how some truths can only live subversively through myths and tales, away from the dominant narratives. It is a fantasy in which a rock - a symbol of muteness and inability to express, finds its voice and speaks thousands of stories, in the act of reclaiming them back.

(1) Sarah Sentilles “draw your weapons” Random House 2017

Emilia Martin is a Polish research-based artist and photographer living and working
in The Hague (NL).

Rooted in the belief in the power of storytelling passed down with her ancestral heritage, in her work Martin weaves narratives that challenge binary defi nitions of truth and fi ction with the intersectional use of photography, writing, sound and objects. Through her artistic lens she navigates the landscapes of oral storytelling, myths, legends and rituals, refl ecting on their roles in forming and upkeeping societal structures and ways of relating to one another as well as those more-than-human.

Martin graduated from the Photography & Society Master’s program at the Royal Academy of Art (The Hague) in 2022. She has a previous academic background in literature and poetry. She works from her studio at Stichting Daisy Chain in the Hague
as well as internationally.

Her work has received multiple awards and recognitions and has been exhibited internationally. Some of the most notable shows include Rencontres d’Arles 2025, LUMA Arles at the Renconres d’Arles 2024 as the fi nalist of Dior x Luma Award, Fotofestiwal Łódź 2025, Photo Museum Ireland, 2025, amongst others. Her practice is supported
by Mondriaan Fonds, Amarte Fonds, STROOM den Haag, among others.

Her work “I saw a tree bearing stones in the place of apples and pears” was published as a book in 2024 by Yogurt Editions and received international acclaim. It was one of the winners of Lucie Foundation Award, Fotofabrica Photo Book Prize, Belfast photography festival amongst others.

Martin is one of the founders of Radio Echo - a feminist radio collective focused on reverberating diversity of voices.

www.emiliamartin.com