Christodoulos Panayiotou’s works are careful studies in illusion, appearance, aura and seduction that often draw on historical narratives and material to prompt revaluations of objects and associated customs. Produced by Sharjah Art Foundation to be exhibited at Sharjah Biennial 13, Untitled (2017) features a series of leather-lined boxes that are ceremoniously opened and placed with care on a granite table marked with red and blue quarry sprays, the industrial codes typically used in stone quarries to indicate cutting or extraction points. Each box contains a pseudomorph—a crystal made of one mineral but resembling another—set in gold and other precious materials to mimic high-end jewellery. By presenting these ‘fakes’ as treasures, Panayiotou challenges the viewer to reconsider how value is assigned. Evoking both rituals of exchange and the hidden labour behind luxury commodities, the artist suggests that meaning and worth are often not inherent qualities but rather the products of context, illusion and performance.