Reimagined Narratives by artdegypte

ART D’ÉGYPTE

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

This publication coincides with the exhibition Reimagined Narratives, on view from 26 October to 9 November 2019 at al-Mu‘iz Street, Historic Cairo. Curator Nadine A. Ghaffar Art D'Égypte Malak Shenouda Hana El Beblawy Catalog Design Jorell Legaspi Copyeditor Nevine Henein Project Manager Nadine A. Ghaffar

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© 2019 Art D'Égypte, Cairo, Egypt. Polygon Building 6, 2nd floor, Unit D 2 Km 38 Cairo / Alexandria Desert Road +20237900115 / +201224706339 www.artdegypte.org Cover image: MO4 Network All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without permission. Unless otherwise specified, all images are © the artists, reproduced with the kind permission of the artists and/or their representatives. Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders and to ensure that all the information presented is correct. Some of the facts in this volume may be subject to debate or dispute. If proper copyright acknowledgment has not been made, or for clarifications and corrections, please contact the publishers and we will correct the information in future reprintings, if any.

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

06 CURATORIAL STATEMENT 11 ARTWORKS 73 WRITINGS ON ART 91 AL-MU‘IZ STREET 124 SPONSORS 127 PATRONS

129 ART D'ÉGYPTE 132 CONTRIBUTORS 135 CURATING BOARD 136 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 140 ARTISTS’ ACCOMPLISHMENTS

ART D’ÉGYPTE

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

Reimagined narratives: From spatial memory to mapping the future Nadine A. Ghaffar Curator and Founder Art D'Égypte

The narratives we tell about ourselves and our cities are all about perception, whether they are used to portray objects, historical events, theories, or ideas. In 1961, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Eugene Wigner developed a thought experiment in quantum mechanics that posited how two onlookers can observe the same event but see two different things and both be correct. In other words, how people can live through shared histories but experience—and remember—them differently based on the biases or circumstances they bring to the events. When looking at world history as we know it today, the accepted narratives are increasingly being questioned. That which is claimed as ‘true’ or ‘false’ doesn’t only differ based on the spectator, but it also depends on the narrator. One person’s story might be misinformed, another biased, and the third incomplete. Are the ‘facts’ manipulated? Are they Eurocentric, androcentric, or perhaps even fictional? For its third annual edition, Art D'Égypte has invited contemporary Egyptian artists to offer visual interpretations of the culture surrounding one of Historic Cairo’s most vibrant streets: al-Mu’iz, the medieval city’s kilometre-long main thoroughfare with its incomparable concentration of Islamic architectural treasures. Reimagined Narratives presents works that play with time and place, challenging existing narratives and offering alternative histories from an epistemological perspective. Historic Cairo with its layers of construction and reconstruction has much to tell us about the curated mutations of the city. Built over six centuries, the area bears the mark of successive rulers—Fatimids, Ayyubids, Mamluks and Ottomans—and reflects decisions made by external forces such as the Eurocentric Comité de conservation des monuments de l’art Arabe, formed in 1882, and successive committees since, each with its own ideas of what is worthy of conservation and what isn’t. The names of its streets contain symbolic meanings reflective of long-gone functions, allowing imposed toponymies to reign over the spaces and dictate their identity. When

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

Naguib Mahfouz wrote the Cairo Trilogy, he chose Bayn al-Qasrayn (Palace Walk), the toponym of the area, as the title of his first novel. Today, Bayn al-Qasrayn has come to be known as al-Mu‘iz, harking back to the name of the Fatimid sultan who laid the city’s foundations. Exploring the transformations of Historic Cairo raises many questions about the givens that its old walls and spaces embody. The critical mapping of streets and monuments, whether inflicted or organically changing over time, provides a wide mosaic for artists, philosophers and writers to explore. Aakash Gupta argues, ‘These monuments serve as history itself that has transformed our selective memory in a specific format, entailing precise details about the historical events that they are representing.’ Re-appropriating identities and spaces to represent the rifts and continuums of history and recasting them in various forms that go beyond commonly held perceptions offers many alternatives to imagined histories and allows us to project new ideas about the future. Thus, the mosaic can metamorphose in numerous ways, creating a different narrative every time, and enabling artists to delve as cultural historians into a space-time journey with infinite possibilities.

Reference: Gupta, Aakash. “Understanding the Space-Time Continuum in Transformation of Cultural History by Analyzing (p=1)- Branes in Hyperspace.” American Research Journal of History and Culture 1, no. 2 (June 2015).

ART D’ÉGYPTE

‫تســمح للتســميات المفروضــة علــى الشــوارع بحجــة موقعهــا الجغرافــي‬ ‫أن تســيطر علــى المســاحات وتفــرض هويتهــا عليهــا‪ .‬عندمــا كتــب نجيــب‬ ‫محفــوظ "ثالثيــة القاهــرة"‪ ،‬اختــار "بيــن القصريــن"‪ ،‬وهــو لقــب المنطقــة‬ ‫المنبثــق مــن حيثياتهــا المكانيــة‪ ،‬عنوانــا لروايتــه األولــى‪ .‬اليــوم‪ ،‬أصبح "بين‬ ‫القصريــن" يعــرف باســم "المعــز"‪ ،‬ذلــك بالعــودة إلــى اســم الســلطان‬ ‫الفاطمــي الــذي وضــع أســس المدينــة‪.‬‬ ‫إن استكشــاف التحــوالت فــي القاهــرة التاريخيــة يثيــر العديــد مــن األســئلة‬ ‫حــول المعطيــات التــي تجســدها جدرانهــا ومســاحاتها القديمــة‪ .‬فعمليــات‬ ‫المســح النقديــة للشــوارع والمعالــم األثريــة ‪ -‬ســواء كانــت هــذه األماكــن‬ ‫درجــت بتخطيــط مســبق أو تغيــرت بشــكل عضــوي مــع مــرور الزمــن‪-‬‬ ‫تشــكل لوحــة فسيفســاء واســعة أمــام للفنانيــن والكتــاب والفالســفة‬ ‫لالستكشــاف‪ .‬يجــادل "عــكاش غوبتــا" أن "هــذه اآلثــار هــي بمثابــة تاريــخ‬ ‫فــي حــد ذاتــه‪ ،‬قامــت بتحويــل ذاكرتنــا االنتقائيــة بتنســيق معيــن‪ ،‬وارثــة‬ ‫تفاصيــل دقيقــة عــن األحــداث التاريخيــة التــي تمثلهــا‪ ".‬إن إعــادة تخصيــص‬ ‫الهويــات والمســاحات لتمثيــل التصدعــات والتسلســات التاريخيــة وإعــادة‬ ‫صياغتهــا بأشــكال مختلفــة تتجــاوز المفاهيــم الشــائعة‪ ،‬توفــر العديــد مــن‬ ‫البدائــل للتاريــخ المتخيــل وتتيــح لنــا عــرض أفــكار جديــدة حــول المســتقبل‪.‬‬ ‫وهكــذا‪ ،‬يمكــن للفسيفســاء أن تتحــول بطــرق عديــدة‪ ،‬خالقــة روايــة مختلفــة‬ ‫فــي كل مــرة‪ ،‬ســامحة للفنانيــن التعمــق كمؤرخيــن ثقافييــن فــي رحلــة‬ ‫زمكانيــة ذات احتماليــات ال متناهيــة‪.‬‬

‫المراجع‪:‬‬ ‫‪Gupta, Aakash. “Understanding the Space-Time Continuum in Transformation of‬‬ ‫‪Cultural History by Analyzing (p=1)- Branes in Hyperspace.” American Research‬‬ ‫‪Journal of History and Culture 1, no. 2 (June 2015).‬‬

‫‪REIMAGINED NARRATIVES‬‬

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

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‫كلمة منسقة املعرض‬

‫ســرديات معــاد ختيلها‪ :‬مــن الذاكرة املكانية‬ ‫إىل املســح التوثيقي للمستقبل‬

‫نادين عبد الغفار‬ ‫مؤسسة‬ ‫"آرت دي أيجيبت" والقائمة‬ ‫على المعرض‬

‫‪9‬‬

‫تتمحــور الســرديات التــي نرويهــا عــن أنفســنا ومدننــا حــول اإلدراك‪ ،‬ســواء‬ ‫كانــت تســتخدم لتصويــر األشــياء أو األحــداث التاريخيــة أو النظريــات‬ ‫أو األفــكار‪ .‬فــي عــام ‪ ١٩٦١‬طــور عالــم الفيزيــاء الحائــز علــى جائــزة نوبــل‬ ‫"يوجيــن فيجنــر" تجربــة فكريــة فــي "ميكانيــكا الكــم"‪ ،‬افترضــت كيــف‬ ‫يمكــن لمشــاهدين مراقبــة الحــدث عينــه ورؤيــة شــيئين مختلفيــن‪،‬‬ ‫كالهمــا صحيحيــن‪ .‬بمعنــى آخــر‪ ،‬كيــف يمكــن للنــاس أن يعيشــوا تاريــخ‬ ‫بنــاء‬ ‫مشــترك‪ ،‬وفــي الوقــت عينــه‪ ،‬يختبــرون ويذكرونــه بطريقــة مختلفــة‬ ‫ً‬ ‫حيــزات أو الظــروف التــي يحضرونهــا لألحــداث‪ .‬عندمــا ننظــر‬ ‫علــى التّ ّ‬ ‫إلــى تاريــخ العالــم كمــا نعرفــه اليــوم‪ ،‬نــرى أن هنــاك اســتجواب بشــكل‬ ‫ــق َع َل ْي ِهــا‪ .‬إدعــاء أن خطــاب‬ ‫المتّ َف ٌ‬ ‫متزايــد للســرديات والخطابــات الســائدة ُ‬ ‫مــا هــو "صحيــح" أو "خطــأ" ال يتوقــف فقــط علــى المتلقــى فحســب‪،‬‬ ‫أيضــا علــى الــراوي‪ .‬قصــة شــخص مــا قــد تكــون مضللــة‪،‬‬ ‫ال بــل يعتمــد ً‬ ‫وآخــرة منحــازة‪ ،‬وغيرهــا غيــر مكتملــة… هــل يتــم التالعــب بـــ "الحقائــق"؟‬ ‫هــل تتمركــز بعــض الحقائــق المتعــارف عليهــا علــى مفاهيــم أوروبيــة أو‬ ‫تنبثــق مــن محــاور ذكوريــة بأعماقهــا وأسســها؟ أو هــل يمكــن أن تكــون‬ ‫حتــى خياليــة؟‬ ‫فــي نســختها الســنوية الثالثــة ‪ ،‬دعــت "آرت دي ايجيبــت" فنانيــن مصرييــن‬ ‫معاصريــن لتقديــم تفســيرات بصريــة للثقافــة المحيطــة بأحــد شــوارع‬ ‫القاهــرة التاريخيــة األكثــر حيويــة‪ :‬شــارع المعــز‪ .‬وهــذا الشــارع الــذي يبلــغ‬ ‫طولــه كيلومتــر هــو بمثابــة الطريــق الرئيســي فــي المدينــة التــي يعــود‬ ‫تاريخهــا إلــى العصــور الوســطى‪ ،‬وهــو معــزز بمــا ال يضاهــى مــن الكنــوز‬ ‫ً‬ ‫أعمــال‬ ‫المعماريــة اإلســامية‪ .‬يقــدم معــرض "ســرديات معــاد تخيلهــا"‬ ‫تالعــب الزمــان والمــكان و تتحــدى الســرديات والخطابــات الســائدة وتقــدم‬ ‫تواريــخ بديلــة مــن منظــار إبســتمولوجي‪.‬‬ ‫لــدى القاهــرة التاريخيــة‪ ،‬بطبقاتهــا مــن البنــاء وإعــادة التعميــر‪ ،‬الكثيــر‬ ‫لتخبرنــا عــن تغيــرات المدينــة المنســقة‪ .‬تــم بنــاء المنطقــة علــى مــدار ســتة‬ ‫قــرون‪ ،‬وهــي تحمــل عالمــات تــدل علــى حكامهــا المتعاقبيــن ‪ -‬الفاطمييــن‬ ‫واأليوبييــن والمماليــك والعثمانييــن ‪ -‬وتعكــس القــرارات التــي اتخذتهــا‬ ‫القــوى الخارجيــة مثــل "لجنــة حفــظ اآلثــار العربيــة" التــي تشــكلت فــي عــام‬ ‫‪ ١٨٨٢‬واللجــان المتعاقبــة منــذ ذلــك الحيــن‪ ،‬مــع كل آرائهــا عــن مــا يســتحق‬ ‫أو ال يســتحق المحافظــة عليــه‪ .‬تحتــوي أســماء شــوارعها علــى معــان رمزيــة‬ ‫تعكــس وظائفهــا التــي اختفــت منــذ أمــد طويــل‪ .‬هــذه الــدالالت الرمزيــة‬

‫‪ART D’ÉGYPTE‬‬

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

‫‪11‬‬

‫‪ART D’ÉGYPTE‬‬

‫األعمال‬ ‫الفنية‬

The Artists of al-Mu‘iz Street: An Introduction Dr Venetia Porter Senior Curator

Upon arriving in al-Qahirah, ‘the Victorious’, in 1326, the celebrated traveller Ibn Battutah (d. 1368) marvelled that this was indeed ‘the mother of cities … peerless in beauty and splendour, the meeting place of comer and goer, the stopping place of feeble and strong’. He was struck by the vastness of the population: ‘she surges as the waves of the sea with her throngs of folk and can scarce contain them all’. He was moved by ‘the friendly welcome extended to strangers’.1 Founded by the Fatimids in 969 CE, it was the caliph al-Mu‘iz (r. 953–975 CE) who established al-Qahirah as his capital and created what was to become a vibrant and cosmopolitan city. People from all over the world converged on it, from Venetian traders to pilgrims and merchants from present-day Mali. Its markets were and still are at the heart of the medieval city; at the time of Ibn Battutah’s visit, you could buy goods from far afield: spices from India, furs from Siberia, ivory from Africa, as well as the wonderful array of objects made in the city. Cairo was known in the Mamluk period for its production of carpets, fine inlaid metalwork, and the enamelled glass made into lamps that hung from the ceilings of mosques. The richly embroidered textiles made to cover the Ka‘ba were made in the city’s Dar al-Kiswa and carried with great ceremony to accompany the mahmal, the ceremonial palanquin that led the great annual caravan to Mecca for Hajj. While travelling, the mahmal was traditionally fitted with a cloth made by the khayamin, the tentmakers, who are still to be found today at the southern end of the street now known as al-Mu‘iz in the area formerly called Bayn alQasrayn after the two Fatimid palaces that surrounded it. Neither of these palaces physically survive, but their name remains in the memory of the city through the novels of Naguib Mahfouz (d. 2006).2

This area is remarkable for its concentration of historic architecture: mosques, madrasas, palaces, grand houses, walled gardens, fountains, each with multiple and layered narratives. It is in four of these, the Complex of Sultan

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

Qalawun, Maq‘ad Mamay, Bayt al-Suhaymi, and Muhib alDin Hall, that the twenty-eight Egyptian artists are showing their work, which is also illustrated in this volume. For the artists, these historic places were not mere exhibition venues, rather, the project was one of real engagement. To express the stories conjured by their imaginations, they worked within the historic structures in all manner of ways, intervening in the spaces and using materials and media from painting to video art. Some artists have chosen to think about the area itself: For Ahmed Farid, his is ‘a deep love declaration for that rich-in-history kilometre represented by the medieval street al- Mu’iz.’ Medhat Shafik talks about how exhibiting in this part of Cairo gave him ‘a great sense of joy and pride from being in a place with so much charm, history, and sacredness’. While thinking of Cairo and its people more widely, Tarek Naga, ‘as an act of defiance, of self-reflection’ imagines a remapping of a ‘future and greater Cairo’. Amir Youssef is concerned with the disappearance of local neighbourhoods and the resulting ‘alienation and atomization of the residents’. Sherin Guirguis, evokes Naguib Mahfouz’s Cairo Trilogy, set against the events of the first half of the twentieth century, in order to consider the effects of that momentous epoch in terms of the Egypt of today. For Karim El Hayawan, it is the restless young Cairenes that he evokes, ‘the forgotten force’, as he describes them. The buildings themselves have proved a powerful inspiration for the artists. In the Qalawun Complex, the sheer grandeur of the structures has prompted Ahmed Karaly and Islam Shabana to consider the magnificent arches and gates through drawings and video projections. Ahmed Keshta and Marianne Fahmy make striking physical interventions in contrasting materials—floating fabric and acrylic sheets; while Mohamed Shoukry’s vibrant installation Sublimity is intended to evoke the spiritual moment of circulation around the Ka‘ba at Mecca. For other artists working in the Qalawun Complex, however, it was the activities taking place within the complex that inspired them: the practices and lives of the imagined ART D’ÉGYPTE

people who inhabited them: Marwan Elgamal loves the stories of the Sufi disciples who created their own reality in the unassuming khelwa; while Huda Lutfi and Yasmine El Meleegy were both mesmerized by the bimaristan, the hospital within the complex. Lutfi considered it her challenge to ‘fictionalise’ the stories of those who once lived there, while El Meleegy used that medical past to consider the pharmaceutical practices of today. In Bayt al-Suhaymi, we find other stories: Farida El Gazzar was moved ‘by the details of craftsmanship and how all the intricate designs in each room were intertwined ... [the] feeling of serenity’; Diaa El Din Daoud, by the structure and practical use of the mashrabiyya. With his ceramics, Moaaz El Dmasy, reflects on the science behind the creation of the building. Ibrahim Ahmed places found objects—a discarded chandelier, an armchair—in the rooms now devoid of their elaborate furniture, arguing for the power that objects hold in our imagination, inviting the viewer ‘to interrogate the sterilization of the city’s history’. That same power of the object is taken a step further by Hany Rashed who thinks about the objects of everyday life, how they ‘accumulate biographies that can irrevocably transform them’. Why else he asks, ‘would we hang onto the seemingly worthless things left behind by our loved ones’?

There is such thought-provoking depth and richness in all these works in which all of Egypt’s history—starting with the time of the Pharaohs—is somehow encompassed in these four exhibition spaces. This era was marvelled at by medieval travellers such as Ibn Jubayr, who visited Cairo in 1183 CE and described ‘ the ancient pyramids, of miraculous construction and wonderful to look upon, four-sided like huge pavilions rearing into the skies’.3 Ahmed Askalany creates playful sculptures out of materials associated with the crafts of Ancient Egypt; Ibrahim El Dessouki captures the ancient rituals of preparing the dead for their journey. Mohamed Banawy, on the other hand, evokes the blessing of Haby, the God of the Nile, ‘the Majestic Nile’ ‘the peculiar

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

possession of Cairo’, as Ibn Battutah refers to it.4 Ibrahim Khatab with the one calligraphed word ‘Fatima’, transports us to the heart of the Fatimid narrative and also to the glories of the Arabic script. Fathi Hassan also uses calligraphy, but renders it deliberately illegible in order to highlight the lost languages of Nubia following the building of the Aswan High Dam, a topic that also appears in the work of the Egyptian Modernist Abdel Hadi al-Gazzar (d. 1966) whose extraordinary and surreal world is evoked here by Ahmed El Shaer. Highlighting other topics, Heba Y. Amin speaks of the Orientalist obsession with the harem through the prism of an early nineteenth-century photograph of Muhammad Ali Pasha’s palace, while Ghada Amer comments on the veiling of women today. Mohamed Monaiseer takes us in another direction to the richness of literary traditions in his re-telling the fables of Kalila wa Dimna, transmitted and illustrated first in Sanskrit in the fourth century CE and later translated into Arabic. This myriad of creativity, the artistic interventions weaving new narratives into the historic structures of Old Cairo, are inspiring. They draw us into these marvellous spaces, bring new insights, and give us, the privileged viewers, pause for reflection.

[1] Tim Mackintosh Smith (Abridged, introduced and annotated), The Travels of Ibn Battutah (London 2016), p. 20. [2] Naguib Mahfouz’s Cairo Trilogy—Palace Walk, Palace of Desire, and Sugar Street—was published in Arabic between 1956 and 1957 and translated into English from 1990 by William Hutchings and Olive Kenny. [3] Roland Broadhurst (transl.), The Travels of Ibn Jubayr, (London 1952), p.45. [4] Mackintosh Smith, Travels, p. 20.

ART D’ÉGYPTE

‫أمحد عسقالني‬ ‫‪Communion‬‬ ‫‪Throughout his career as a sculptor, Ahmed Askalany has experimented with‬‬ ‫‪different materials, valuing poor and fragile ones, such as terracotta and‬‬ ‫‪palm leaves, and recovering discarded and abandoned ones, such as tyres.‬‬ ‫‪Characteristic of his works are the aesthetic forms that place an emphasis on‬‬ ‫‪both structure and volume, as well as an innocent sense of isolation that reflects‬‬ ‫‪frankness, candour, and a poetic sensitivity.‬‬ ‫‪Askalany’s palm leaf sculptures are produced with simple techniques similar to‬‬ ‫‪hair weaving, using natural-coloured palm leaves. By doing so, his work challenges‬‬ ‫‪the very boundaries associated with the notion of what is perceived as arts and‬‬ ‫‪crafts and manages to respond and contribute to the complexity of contemporary‬‬ ‫‪artistic practice.‬‬

‫حاليــا فــي القاهــرة‪ .‬تشــي‬ ‫أحمــد عســقالني (‪ )1978‬مــن مواليــد نجــع حمــادي فــي صعيــد مصــر‪ ،‬ويعيــش ويعمــل‬ ‫ً‬ ‫أعمالــه عــن ارتبــاط واضــح وقــوي بالخامــات التقليديــة وأســاليب الحــرف اليدويــة الضاربــة جذورهــا فــي أعمــاق الحضــارة‬ ‫وعــرف عــن عســقالني خــال مشــواره الفنــي كنحــات اســتخدامه لخامــات مختلفــة‪ ،‬بمــا فــي ذلــك تلــك الهشــة‬ ‫المصريــة‪ُ .‬‬ ‫غيــر المتداولــة‪ ،‬ومنهــا الطيــن وســعف النخيــل (الخــوص)‪ ،‬بــل ومنهــا المســتهلك المهمــل مثــل إطــارات الســيارات‪.‬‬ ‫وتميــزت أعمالــه بتقديــم مجســمات جماليــة تبــرز البنيــة والحجــم علــى حــد ســواء‪ ،‬عــاوة علــى إحســاس بــريء بالعزلــة‬ ‫يعكــس صفــات الصراحــة والوضــوح والحــس الشــاعري‪ .‬وقــد اســتلهم شــخوصه مــن بشــر وحيوانــات مــن بلدتــه األم‪،‬‬ ‫مبهــرا لمنحوتــات صغيــرة تنشــر األلفــة وتشــجع المتلقــي علــى التفاعــل معهــا‪.‬‬ ‫مصغــرا‬ ‫اســتعراضا‬ ‫ً‬ ‫وقــدم بهــا‬ ‫ً‬ ‫ً‬

‫‪16‬‬

‫ونجــح عســقالني فــي تقديــم منحوتــات الخــوص التــي اشــتهر بهــا باالســتعانة بأســاليب بســيطة‪ ،‬أشــبه بتضفيــر‬ ‫خصــات الشــعر‪ ،‬واعتمــد علــى األلــوان الطبيعيــة لســعف النخيــل‪ .‬ومــن خــال أعمالــه‪ ،‬تمكــن عســقالني مــن تحــدي‬ ‫الحــدود التقليديــة التــي تفصــل بيــن الفــن والحرفــة‪ ،‬وقــدم إســهامه فــي مســألة الممارســة الفنيــة المعاصــرة‬ ‫بمــا تحملــه مــن تعقيــدات‪ .‬فنجــد أن أفــراس النهــر صغيــرة الحجــم‪ ،‬التــي مثلهــا بخصائــص مجســمة‪ ،‬تمثــل فضائــل‬ ‫ورذائــل مــن ذكريــات الواقــع المعاصــر‪ ،‬وتســتدعي فــي بعــض األحيــان خيــاالت البدائيــة واألجــداد‪ ،‬وفــي أحيــان أخــرى‬ ‫ماديــة طبيعــة بلدتــه األم‪ .‬ويقــدم مجســمات لشــخصيات بدينــة ذات رؤوس صغيــرة؛ آبــاء وأبنــاء وبنــات وأزواج‬ ‫يظهــرون إيمــاءات ودودة‪ ،‬فيســهم هــذا التناقــض فــي األحجــام فــي إشــاعة أجــواء مرحــة حــول العمــل‪ ،‬وقــد يفســرها‬ ‫المتلقــي بأنهــا شــكل مــن أشــكال النقــد االجتماعــي أو الحنيــن لمشــاعر الماضــي التــي يفتقدهــا اليــوم‪ .‬شــارك أحمــد‬ ‫عســقالني فــي العديــد مــن المعــارض فــي جميــع أنحــاء العالــم؛ فــي مصــر وفرنســا وإيطاليــا وهولنــدا‪ ،‬وعرضــت‬ ‫أعمالــه فــي بينالــي رومــا ودول المتوســط الرابــع‪ ،‬وفــي ســراييفو‪ ،‬البوســنة‪ ،‬فــي عــام ‪ ،2011‬كمــا مثــل مصــر فــي‬ ‫بينالــي فينيســيا ‪.2009‬‬

‫‪Portrait courtesy of the artist.‬‬

‫‪Ahmed Askalany’s work shows an explicit connection with traditional materials and craft‬‬ ‫‪methods associated with the ancient cultures of Egypt. Small sculptures of human figures‬‬ ‫‪and animals inspired by his native town convey a sense of familiarity and invite the public to‬‬ ‫‪interact with them. Small-sized hippos, represented with anthropomorphic features that typify‬‬ ‫‪the virtues and vices of the contemporary reality, recall at times the primitive and the ancestral,‬‬ ‫‪at others the materiality of the nature of his homeland. Fat human figures with tiny heads are‬‬ ‫‪represented in their exaggerated volume with a playful, humorous streak and can represent,‬‬ ‫‪depending on the viewer’s interpretation, a form of social criticism or nostalgia for feelings of‬‬ ‫‪the past that have now been lost.‬‬ ‫‪Born in 1978 in Nag Hammadi, Upper Egypt, Ahmed Askalany currently lives and works in Cairo.‬‬ ‫‪He has taken part in several international exhibitions in Egypt, France, Italy, and the Netherlands.‬‬ ‫‪His work was displayed at the 4th Rome and Mediterranean Countries Biennale, Sarajevo, Bosnia‬‬ ‫‪in 2011, and he represented Egypt at the 2009 Venice Biennale.‬‬

‫‪REIMAGINED NARRATIVES‬‬

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

Ahmed Askalany Communion, 2019

Mawlana's Rosary

Waiting

Installation

225 x 50 x 50 cm

Wicker

(3 pieces)

Photo: Abdallah Dawestashy

ART D’ÉGYPTE

‫أمحد الشاعر‬ Hybrid spaces and other objects ‘This project was developed as part of my long-term research project on video games as an art form and the possibilities, explanations, and solutions this can provide by re-processing the concepts of visual arts through the theories of play. The project also comes after the conclusion of a Fulbright scholarship as a visiting researcher at the Game Lab of the Department of Digital Arts at the University of California in Los Angeles, where I further developed research on Abdel Hadi al-Gazzar in addition to play theory over the course of a year. I examined al-Gazzar’s art through tools of the virtual world, trying to re-imagine his conceptual universe as a hybrid space. I wanted to offer audiences the opportunity to play the role of explorer and discover al-Gazzar’s world through the lens of virtual reality.’

Ahmed El Shaer (b. 1981) is a multi-disciplinary artist currently living and working between Cairo and New York. With a particular interest in digital technologies, his videos combine machinima, stock footage, 3D animation, and experimental soundscapes. His work has been highlighted in numerous exhibitions and festivals including a solo show curated by Sara Guerrero at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York, USA (2019); Art Game Demos, Festival Nuage Numérique curated by Isabelle Arvers in Lyon, France (2017); In the Eye of the Thunderstorm, a collateral event at the 56th Venice Biennale curated by Martina Corgnati in Venice, Italy (2015); Experiments in Arab Cinema at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada (2013) and Rochester University, New York, USA (2014); and the Bamako Biennale, Bamako National Museum, Bamako, Mali (2011). He is the recipient of numerous awards and has participated in several residency programs including the Cité International D’Art (Institut Français), Paris, France (2016); Art Omi Artist-in- Residence New York, USA (2012); the Pro Helvetia Artist-in-Residence cycle, Zurich, Switzerland (2009); the Summer Academy of Fine Arts, Salzburg, Austria (2006, 2007); and most recently the Fulbright Grant (2018–2019).

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

Portrait courtesy of the artist.

‫ فنــان متعــدد التخصصــات مــع اهتمــام‬،‫ يعيــش ويعمــل بيــن القاهــرة ونيويــورك‬،١٩٨١ ‫أحمــد الشــاعر مــن مواليــد‬ ‫ الرســوم المتحركــة‬،‫ اللقطــات المخزونــة‬،‫ أعمــال الفيديــو لديــه تجمــع بيــن الماشــينما‬.‫خــاص فــي التقنيــات الرقميــة‬ ،‫ وقــد تــم تســليط الضــوء علــى أعمالــه فــي العديــد مــن المعــارض والمهرجانــات‬.‫ واألصــوات التجريبيــة‬،‫ثالثيــة األبعــاد‬ ‫ الواليــات المتحــدة؛ مهرجــان "ســحب‬- ‫مــن بينهــا معــرض فــردي "عبــور الشــهد" بمتحــف الصــورة المتحركــة بنيويــورك‬ ‫ إيطاليــا‬- ‫ مــن خــال مشــروع "فــي وجــه العاصفــة" بفينيســيا‬٥٦ ‫؛ بينالــي فينيســيا الــدورة‬٢٠١٧ ‫ فرنســا‬-‫رقميــة" بليــون‬ ‫؛ وجامعــة روتشســتر‬٢٠١٣ ‫ كنــدا‬- ‫؛ مشــروع التجريــب فــي الســينما العربيــة بجامعــة ســيمون فريزيربفانكوفــر‬٢٠١٥ ‫ وهــو حائــز علــى العديــد‬.٢٠١١ ‫مالــي‬-‫؛ بينالــي باماكــو بمتحــف باماكــو الوطنــي باماكو‬٢٠١٤ ‫نيويــورك الواليــات المتحــدة‬ ‫مــن الجوائــز وشــارك فــي العديــد مــن برامــج اإلقامــة مثــل المدينــة الدوليــة للفنــون بدعــوة مــن المعهــد الفرنســي‬ .2009 ‫سويســرا‬-‫ وبرنامــج بروهلفتســيا بزيورخ‬،‫ الواليــات المتحــدة‬- ‫ وبرنامــج "أرت أومــي" بنيويــورك‬،٢٠١٦ ‫بباريــس‬ .2019-٢٠١٨ ‫وحصــل مؤخــرا علــى منحــة الفولبرايــت لســنة‬

Ahmed El Shaer Hybrid Spaces and Other Objects, 2019 Object Interactive virtual reality installation 180 x 75 cm Photos: Abdallah Dawestashy

ART D’ÉGYPTE

‫أمحد فر يد‬ HIDDEN IDENTITIES Text by Diego Faa During his entire artistic career, Ahmed Farid has always maintained a special connection with his homeland. Despite the almost total abstraction, his artworks represent an environment that is very close to him, with urban views of Egyptian cities and beloved landscapes often standing out. In Reimagined Narratives, Farid is exhibiting large-sized works that are a deep declaration of love for al-Mu‘iz, that rich in history, kilometre-long medieval street. Within the pictorial texture, we can find vibrant examples of humanity, people symbiotically living with the history of this place amid hidden corners of a millennial architecture that overlooks present times. As always happens in Farid’s artworks, the figurative aspect does not reveal itself immediately, so the spectator’s observation needs a deeper and more attentive analysis of the pictorial surface to detect the identity signs that the artist spread—and partially hid—on the canvas.

‫واحــدا مــن الفنانيــن الذيــن يؤمنــون بالتعلــم الذاتــي وقــد تــدرب بجديــة‬ ‫ويعــد فريــد‬ ‫ حيــث يعيــش ويعمــل‬١٩٥٠ ‫ولــد أحمــد فريــد بالقاهــرة عــام‬ ً ُ .‫حاليــا‬ ً ‫واجتهــاد فــي العديــد مــن إســتوديوهات الفنانيــن المرموقيــن بفلورنســا وميــان بإيطاليــا واطلــع عــن قــرب علــى معظــم المــدارس الفنيــة المعاصــرة مــن‬ ‫ حصــل علــى درجــة‬.‫خــال ســفرة وتنقلــه المســتمر إلــى أوروبــا وأمريــكا وجنــوب أفريقيــا نتيجــة مســؤولياته المهنيــة المتعــددة علــى مــدي أربعــة عقــود‬ .‫البكالوريــوس فــي العلــوم االجتماعيــة وعمــل فــي مجــال اإلدارة والتســويق فــي بدايــة مســيرته المهنيــة‬ ‫ حيــث عاصــر تغيــرات الثقافــة األوروبيــة فيمــا بعــد أحــداث مايــو عــام‬،‫بــدأ شــغف فريــد للفــن التشــكيلي مــع ســفره إلــى الخــارج فــي مطلــع الســبعينيات‬ ‫ وتأثــرت لوحــات أحمــد فريــد‬.‫وطبعــا األحــداث السياســية واالجتماعيــة المصريــة‬ "‫ وظاهــرة "صيــف الحــب" فــي أمريــكا وأجــواء احتفــاالت "وودســتوك‬١٩٦٨ ً ‫ إن‬.‫بالرمزيــة التــي تعــزو إلــى األصــل التجريــدي التعبيــري؛ حيــث األشــكال التــي بالــكاد تكــون مرئيــة ولكنهــا تعكــس مــا بداخــل الفنــان مــن انفعــاالت حقيقيــة‬ ،‫لوحاتــه البســيطة ذات الظــال المتباعــدة والشــخصيات الشــاردة والتــي تــكاد تكــون وليــدة نســيج مــن األلــوان المختلطــة والســابحة فــي فيضــه وتموجاتــه‬ ‫ وأحيانً ــا قويــة حاملــة ســمة أســلوبية حقيقيــة تعكــس التحديــث المســتمر لألســاليب التعبيريــة التــي يتبعهــا الفنــان خــال الســنوات‬،‫تكــون أحيانً ــا ضعيفــة‬ ‫دائمــا مــا تعكــس فــي خلفيــات األلــوان انفعــاالت غيــر عاديــة ال نهايــة لهــا وتتماشــي وفــوق كل ذلــك مــع األســلوب الفنــي والتصــورات‬ ‫ والتــي‬،‫األخيــرة‬ ً ‫الحيــة للخبــرة الثقافيــة التــي يحملهــا الفنــان أحمــد فريــد فــي مســيرته المهنيــة كفنــان حتــى اآلن ونستشــعر مــن خــال لوحــات أحمــد فريــد مالمــح تأثــره‬ ‫ وجاذبيــة ســري فــي بحثهــم عــن الفــن التصويــري الــذي يقــوم علــى األلــوان وتحقيــق التــوازن‬،‫ وديكونينــج‬،‫بالعديــد مــن الفنانيــن أمثــال نيكــوال دي ســتيل‬ ‫ وقــد أثــر هــذا المزيــج الرائــع بيــن الفــن الغربــي واإلشــارات المصريــة فــي جعــل اإلبــداع الفنــي الخــاص بالفنــان أحمــد‬.‫بيــن األجــزاء ومســتوياتها المختلفــة‬ ‫أسســت خصائصهــا بخبــرة فنــان اســتطاع‬ ُ ‫ ممــا أنتــج لوحــات تتســم بشــخصية خالصــة بالغــة‬،‫ـردا وســط المشــهد الفنــي المعاصــر‬ ً ‫فريــد شــيئً ا متميــزً ا ومتفـ‬ .‫الجمــع بيــن العالميــن الغربــي والشــرقي‬ Ahmed Farid is an Egyptian painter (b. 1950) who trained privately by means of immersion apprenticeships in the studios of established artists. After an early career in marketing, communications, and business, Farid’s encounter with painting came through extensive travels in the early seventies, an era that he fully experienced with its European post-May 1968 culture; its American ‘summer of love’ and Woodstock repercussions; and above all, its local Egyptian political and social effervescence. Farid has established himself as one of the foremost names on the Egyptian art scene. Four of his paintings were acquired by the Luxury Living firm, a subsidiary of conglomerate LVMH’s Fendi Casa in Miami, Florida. He was also named a visiting professor in the Academia D’A rte (ADA) in Florence, Italy. Additionally, he has had his pieces auctioned off in the annual Chain of Hope Gala in London, England. In Egypt, his painting Melody of Chaos was acquired for permanent display by the Museum of Egyptian Modern Art. Farid has also enjoyed exceptional success with the leading auction house Christie’s, where his paintings sold for triple their regular price, a testament to his growing international reputation and appreciation. In his paintings, we perceive echoes and reminiscences of artists such as Gazebia Sirry and Nicholas de Steal in a search of the pictorial practice based on colour and on balancing of portions of different colour levels. This wonderful mix of American painting with Egyptian references makes the artistic creations of Farid unique in the contemporary scene: not a result of an artistic season opened decades ago, but rather an update, in a purely personal version, of a language that bases its peculiarities on the experience of an artist able, through his art, to bring together the world of the West with the East. Farid currently lives and works in Cairo, Egypt.

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

Portrait courtesy of the artist.

Ahmed Farid Hidden Identities, 2019 Painting Mixed media on canvas 001: 445 x 523 cm 002: 445 x 250 cm 003: 445 x 250 cm Images courtesy of the artist and MO4 Network Courtesy of Safarkhan Gallery

ART D’ÉGYPTE

‫أمحد قرعلي‬ Qalawun’s Arch ‘This work is part of a bigger sculptural project that I complete progressively with each presentation. From my point of view as a sculptor, I am trying to develop the architectural blocks which were produced by Islamic civilisation and give them a touch of modernity. The architectural heritage of the Islamic civilisation is sufficiently adaptable to accept additions or to amend and change its forms in accordance with the shifting trends of different eras. This project is my vision for a reimagined Qalawun’s arch. By reconfiguring the ornamentation and dismantling the bricks, I give the impression that the arch is suspended in space through different materials not used by our ancestors. While the form or style may change, however, the spirit is maintained to create a sense of continuity—an embrace even—between the old arch and the modern one.’

Ahmed Karaly graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts in 1994 and participated in the annual Youth Salon exhibition organized by the Ministry of Culture, where he received numerous awards. His first solo exhibition took place at the Mashrabia Gallery of Contemporary Art in 2002. He subsequently participated in the International Sculpture Symposium in Aswan, the first of many international symposia for stone sculpture around the world. In 2005, he received the State Award for creativity and travelled to Italy, where he presented his project al-Masrkhankiyeh, a reconstruction of Islamic architecture in sculptural form, creating a vision for an entire city starting with its gates. The project was presented at the Egyptian Academy of Fine Arts in Rome in 2006 and at the Gezira Centre for the Arts in Cairo in 2008. Karaly is currently working on completing this sculptural city.

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

Portrait courtesy of the artist.

‫ بمشــاركته فــي صالــون‬1994 ‫بــدأت ممارســات أحمــد قرعلــي الفنيــة بعــد تخرجــه مــن كليــة الفنــون الجميلــة ســنه‬ ‫ حيــث حصــل علــى العديــد مــن الجوائــز والــذي أثــرى‬،‫ المعــرض الســنوي الــذي تنظمــه وزارة الثقافــة المصريــة‬،‫الشــباب‬ ‫ كان عرضــه‬.‫لديــه الحــس باالحترافيــة ممــا دفعــه بعــد ذلــك للمشــاركة فــي العديــد مــن المعــارض المحليــة والدوليــة‬ ‫ كمــا كان ســمبوزيوم أســوان الدولــي للنحــت بدايــة أخــرى للدخــول فــي‬،2002 ‫الخــاص األول بجاليــري المشــربية عــام‬ ‫ وكانــت جائــزه الدولــة لإلبــداع التــي حصــل عليهــا‬.‫عالــم الســمبوزيومات الدوليــة للنحــت فــي العديــد مــن دول العالــم‬ ‫ وهــو‬،"‫ للســفر إلــى إيطاليــا نقلــة كبيــرة فــي حياتــه حيــث بــدأ مشــروعه المســمى "المصرخانكيــة‬2005 ‫الفنــان عــام‬ ‫ وتــم عــرض هــذا‬.‫ـدءا مــن بوابــات المدينــة‬ ‫إعــادة تطويــر العمــارة اإلســامية بشــكل نحتــي‬ ً ‫واضعــا تصــور لمدينــة كاملــة بـ‬ ً ‫ وتتابعــت بعــد ذلــك‬.2008 ‫ ثــم مركــز الجزيــرة للفنــون عــام‬2006 ‫المعــرض فــي األكاديميــة المصريــة للفنــون برومــا عــام‬ .‫العــروض الســتكمال "المدينــة النحتيــة" بكامــل مفرداتهــا والزال يعمــل علــى هــذا المشــروع حتــى اآلن‬

Ahmed Karaly Qalawun’s Arch, 2019 Installation Stainless steel and coloured Artilon 600 x 500 x 300 cm Image courtesy of MO4 Network

This project is supported by KAMA Manufacturing

ART D’ÉGYPTE

‫أمحد قشطة‬ ECHO Think back for a moment, who you are; who you were; who you might become; what do you want to be when you grow up? People and events made you who you are right now, didn’t they!?... Maybe the strong messages of fairy tales will always be a part of our heart, stories, histories, images that are layered over others to create a more detailed complicated and simple image of the present that we live in right now. We can’t separate time or the three dimensions of history (past, present, future)... history is but ‘… an echo of the past in the future; a reflex from the future on the past.’ – V. Hugo

24 ‫ فهــو يتقــن بمهــارة الفــن‬.‫) هــو فنــان يمثــل النمــط المعاصــر لفنــان النهضــة النموذجــي‬1978 ،‫أحمــد قشــطة (مصــر‬ .‫والعلــوم علــى حــد ســواء فــي األعمــال التــي يبــدو أنهــا تدمــج ســحر العلــوم الحيويــة مثــل الكيميــاء بالنظــام العالمــي‬ ‫ إضافــة إلــى موهبتــه االســتثنائية‬،‫تتنــاول معظــم أعمــال قشــطة ســيرته الذاتيــة لوفــرة وتنــوع تجاربــه الشــخصية‬ ‫ومهارتــه فــي تســجيل المالحظــات التــي تتيــح لــه خلــق أعمــاال فنيــة تبهــر بجمالهــا البالــغ جميــع مشــاهديها بغــض النظــر‬ ‫ ويكمــن فــي الواقــع وراء ذلــك الجمــال األخــاذ معنــى معقــد ال يتمكــن مــن فــك شــفرته‬.‫عــن فهمهــم الكامــل للعمــل‬ .‫إال القليــل‬

Ahmed Keshta (b. 1978, Egypt) is an artist who represents the contemporary version of the archetypical Renaissance artist. He skilfully masters both art and science in works which seem to encapsulate the magic of alchemy and of the universal order. Keshta´s work is mostly autobiographical. Indeed, the abundance and variety of his personal experiences, together with his outstanding talent and observation skills, allow him to create artworks whose extreme beauty thrills everyone regardless of their full understanding of the work. In fact, behind that innocent allure lies an intricate meaning that only a few may decipher. Keshta felt an early calling for sculpture, which he deliberately tried to ignore by pursuing interior architecture studies in Cairo. Nevertheless, despite a brilliant academic career, that calling was so intense that he finally enrolled at Helwan University, Cairo to study applied arts. Those studies took him to Europe, first to Germany, thanks to fellowships from the Goethe Institute, and then to Pietrasanta, Italy, where he learnt to carve granite from the great masters. His European tour finally led him to Andorra, where he currently lives and works. It was there, amid the gorgeous natural landscapes that surround him daily, that his art has experienced a radical shift from the heaviness and severity of granite carving to the fragility and flexibility of deeply emotional installations made of light and humble materials.

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

Portrait courtesy of the artist.

.‫حــاول قشــطة متعمــدا تجاهــل نــداء فــن النحــت الــذي جــاءه مبكــرا وتابــع دراســاته عــن العمــارة الداخليــة فــي القاهــرة‬ ‫أخيــرا لذلــك النــداء العميــق الــذي دفعــه إلــى االلتحــاق‬ ‫ فقــد رضــخ‬،‫ومــع ذلــك وبرغــم مســتقبله األكاديمــي الالمــع‬ ً ‫ ألمانيــا أوال بفضــل زمالتيــن مــن‬،‫ وقــد نقلتــه هــذه الدراســات إلــى أوروبــا‬.‫بجامعــة حلــوان لدراســة الفنــون التطبيقيــة‬ ‫ وقادتــه جولتــه‬،‫ حيــث تعلــم نحــت الجرانيــت مــن كبــار األســاتذة هنــاك‬،‫ ثــم إلــى بياتراســانتا فــي إيطاليــا‬،‫معهــد جوتــه‬ ‫ وهنــاك وســط المناظــر الطبيعيــة الرائعــة التــي تحيــط بــه‬.‫ حيــث يعيــش ويعمــل اآلن‬،‫األوروبيــة بعــد ذلــك إلــى أنــدورا‬ ً ‫جذريــا فنقلــه مــن ثقــل وشــدة نحــت الجرانيــت إلــى مرونــة وهشاشــة التركيبــات فــي الفــراغ‬ ‫تحــول‬ ‫ شــهد فنــه‬،‫يوميــا‬ ً ً .‫(االنستليشــن) التــي تتمتــع بحساســية عميقــة والمكونــة مــن مــواد خفيفــة وبســيطة‬

Ahmed Keshta Echo, 2019 Fabric installation Variable dimensions Photos: Abdallah Dawestashy

ART D’ÉGYPTE

‫أمري يوسف‬ FLOATING SPACES ‘This piece is a three-dimensional kinetic sculpture that mingles the form of the tanoura dancer with a spinning top to produce a poetic, kinetic atmosphere by engaging with the surrounding spaces, and using the element of reflection as a way to reveal the adjacent monuments. This vision came to me when I realized that the distinctive feature of contemporary large cities is the disappearance of local, neighbourly relations, and the consequent loneliness, alienation, and atomization of the residents. Thus, Floating Spaces reveals the hidden design of public spaces and the values of social inclusion and integration.’

‫ كمــدرس‬2015 ‫ التحــق بكليــة فنــون جميلــة بجامعــة اإلســكندرية عــام‬،‫ فنــان بصــري مــن اإلســكندرية‬،‫أميــر يوســف‬ ‫ ويســتخدم فــي أعمالــه مجموعــة متنوعــة مــن الوســائط مــن ضمنهــا‬،‫ يهتــم كفنــان بعلــم اآلثــار والروبوتــات‬.‫مســاعد‬ ‫مستكشــفا مــن خــال ذلــك جوانــب الحركــة والحركيــة (علــم‬ ً ‫الفيديــو والتركيــب فــي الفــراغ (االنستليشــن) والنحــت‬ ‫ حيــث يــرى أن كثيــرا‬،‫ ومنــذ طفولتــه وهــو يســعد باختــراع أجســام قابلــة للحركــة وتغييــر شــكل ووظائــف األلعــاب‬.)‫الحركــة‬ .‫مــن ممارســاته الحاليــة تمثــل امتــدادا لهــذا الفضــول لفهــم كيفيــة عمــل األشــياء ومــن ثــم تغييــر وظائفهــا ومعناهــا‬

Amir Youssef is a visual artist based in Alexandria, Egypt. As an artist, his practice is concerned with media archaeology and robotics. He works with a variety of media, including video, installation, and sculpture, always exploring aspects of movement and kineticism. Since childhood, he has always taken great pleasure in inventing moving objects and transforming the form and functionality of toys. He sees many parts of his current practice as an extension of this curiosity for understanding how things work and altering their function and meaning. This process has enabled him to experiment with different kinds of materials and ideas. He became more sensitive to the meaning and value of materials while assisting American artist Theaster Gates in 2012 on his Huguenot House, a project on the occasion of DOCUMENTA 13. At the same time, he had the opportunity to work as art director for artist Wael Shawky’s film Al-Araba al-Madfuna, Part II in 2013. In 2015, he joined the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Alexandria as a teaching assistant.

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REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

Portrait courtesy of the artist.

‫ وقــد أصبــح أكثــر حساســية لمعنــى وقيمــة‬.‫مكنتــه هــذه العمليــة مــن اختبــار العمــل بأنــواع مختلفــة مــن المــواد واألفــكار‬ ‫ وهــو مشــروع‬،»‫ فــي «منــزل هوجوينــوت‬2012 ‫المــواد أثنــاء عملــه كمســاعد للفنــان األمريكــي ثياســتر جيــت فــي عــام‬ ‫ وأتيحــت لــه الفرصــة فــي نفــس الوقــت أن يعمــل كمديــر فنــي للفنــان وائــل شــوقي فــي‬.13 ‫شــارك فــي دوكيومنتــا‬ .2013 ‫الجــزء الثانــي مــن فيلمــه «العربــة المدفونــة» عــام‬

Amir Youssef Floating Spaces, 2019 Kinetic sculpture 300 x 250 cm Photos: Abdallah Dawestashy

ART D’ÉGYPTE

‫ضياء‬ ‫الدين داوود‬

MASHRABIYYA SPIRIT

This work is inspired by the mashrabiyya, the micro-building unit which extends horizontally and vertically as an independent architectural construction that allows air to pass smoothly and ventilate the interior atmosphere. The natural material (wood) used in construction allows the absorption and filtering of water vapour, which helps to change the state of the interior environment. The sunlight filters through the gaps at different angles, giving a geometry to the light. All those are various elements emphasizing uniqueness, solitude, and connection with the outside world. It is a state similar to the barometric trend in architecture. It is a geometrical construction that depends on a repeating unit to build up the general structure. It uses the relation between mass and space and the two opposing elements of tension and pressure to transform the geometric grid structure from a static phase to a state of softness and flow, eventually leading to the destruction of these links as the grid transforms.

‫ عــام‬،‫ قســم الخــزف‬،‫ تخــرج فــي كليــة الفنــون التطبيقيــة‬.1968 ‫ضيــاء الديــن داوود فنــان مصــري ولــد فــي دميــاط عــام‬ ‫ يشــارك فــي حركــة‬،‫ حتــى اآلن‬1994 ‫ ومنــذ عــام‬.‫ يعمــل بكليــة الفنــون التطبيقيــة أســتاذ مســاعد بقســم الخــزف‬.1994 ‫ تتنــاول أغلــب أعمالــه الخــزف مــن مفهــوم‬.‫الفــن التشــكيلي بمصــر فــي المعــارض والمســابقات المحليــة والدوليــة‬ ‫ وذلــك فــي فــراغ‬،‫ والــذي يعتمــد علــى اســتخدام خامــات متعــددة بجانــب الخــزف فــي العمــل الفنــي‬،‫التجهيــز فــي الفــراغ‬ .‫ ويركــز أغلبيــة األعمــال علــى الفــن المفاهيمــي فــي إظهــار الناحيــة التعبيريــة‬.‫تبعــا لفكــرة العمــل‬ ً ،‫مــا‬ Diaa El Din Daoud is an Egyptian artist born in Damietta in 1968. In 1994, he graduated from Helwan University’s Faculty of Applied Arts, Ceramics Design Department and became an assistant professor. Since 1994, he has been involved in the Egyptian art movement and has participated in national and international exhibitions and competitions. His ceramics work focuses on spatial concepts, where he uses other materials in addition to ceramics in creating art in specific spaces according to the particular theme. Much of his work expresses itself through conceptual approaches.

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REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

Portrait courtesy of the artist.

DIa El Din Daoud Mashrabiyya Spirit, 2019 Clay, glazed colours, wood, and other materials Variable dimensions Sketches courtesy of the artist Image courtesy of MO4 Network

ART D’ÉGYPTE

‫فريدة اجلزار‬ UTOPIAN MIDNIGHT ‘As a visual artist, I am very interested in reflecting on spaces and the mood they inspire. Having visited Bayt al-Suhaymi several times, I was moved by the details of craftsmanship and how all the intricate designs in each room were intertwined. I was mostly gripped, however, by a feeling of serenity and the peaceful energy that surrounded me. The soft light that flows through the arabesque window frames creates abstract formations and shadows within the interiors, decorating the walls in their minimal state. I decided to focus on the greenery—palms and other trees—surrounding the premises as it creates a harmonious transition and prepares the visitor before entering the magnificently detailed interior spaces. I wanted to recreate this experience in a walk around the house, bringing the outdoor into these intricate rooms. I chose one of the private salons where close friends of the male party would be received because it felt comfortable in its grandeur. With its ornately decorated walls, marble floors, high ceilings, spacious seating corners, and generous depth, I felt it could host a series of my paintings harmoniously juxtaposed against the detailed background.

‫ عاشــت أعوامهــا األولــى فــي دولــة‬.‫حاليــا مقيمــة فــي أثينــا باليونــان‬ ‫ وهــي‬،1975 ‫فريــدة الجــزار فنانــة مصريــة يونانيــة مــن مواليــد اإلســكندرية عــام‬ ً ‫ حيــث أكملــت دراســتها بجامعــة كنجســتون والكليــة‬،‫ وبعــد ذلــك انتقلــت إلــى لنــدن لمــدة خمســة أعــوام‬.‫ قبــل أن تنتقــل مــع عائلتهــا إلــى اليونــان‬،‫الكويــت‬ ‫ كمــا تعاونــت فــي إصــدار مطبوعــات ودوريــات لصالــح‬.‫ شــاركت فــي تأســيس فريــق "وردة" اإلبداعــي‬،2007 ‫ إلــى‬2003 ‫ وفــي الفتــرة مــن‬.‫الملكيــة للفنــون‬ ،‫ التــي أقيمــت فــي أثينــا‬2004 ‫ ووزارة البيئــة اليونانيــة بمناســبة أولمبيــاد‬،"‫ "تايــم آوت أثينــس‬،"‫ "مارتيــس بوكــس‬،"‫كل مــن مطبعــة جامعــة "كورنيــل‬ ‫ وأتمــت إقامــات فنيــة فــي‬.‫ عقــدت الجــزار نــدوات وورش عمــل وجلســات فنيــة فــي معاهــد دوليــة فــي أثينــا‬.‫ وغيرهــا‬،‫والمســرح الوطنــي فــي لنــدن‬ "‫ وضمــن مجموعــات مؤسســاتية منهــا مؤسســة "البرجيــل‬،‫عالميــا‬ ‫وعرضــت أعمالهــا‬ ً ُ .‫معــرض "تــاون هــاوس" بالقاهــرة ومعــرض "الــرواق" فــي البحريــن‬ ‫ تعــرض‬،2011 ‫ ومنــذ عــام‬.‫ ومجموعــات خاصــة فــي أوروبــا والواليــات المتحــدة ومنطقــة الشــرق األوســط وشــمال أفريقيــا وحــوض المتوســط‬،‫الفنيــة‬ .)‫أعمــال فريــدة الجــزار فــي معــارض كالفايــان (أثينــا – ثيســالونيكي‬ Farida El Gazzar is an Egyptian Greek artist born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1975 and currently based in Athens, Greece. During her early years, she lived in Kuwait before moving to Athens with her family. El Gazzar later moved to London for five years where she completed her studies, attending Kingston University and the Royal College of Art. Between 2003 and 2007, she was co-founder of the creative team WARDA. She has collaborated with publications and editorials, producing illustrations for Cornell University Press, Martis Books, TimeOut Athens, the Greek Ministry of Environment, Athens 2004 Olympics, and the London National Theatre, amongst other clients. She has given seminars and workshops and teaches art classes at international institutions in Athens. El Gazzar has participated in art residency programmes at The Townhouse Gallery in Cairo and at al-Riwaq Gallery in Bahrain. Her works have been exhibited internationally and are part of institutional collections such as the Barjeel Art Foundation and major private collections in Europe, the USA, and the MENA. Since 2011, El Gazzar has been represented by Kalfayan Galleries (Athens-Thessaloniki).

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REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

Portrait courtesy of the artist.

I wanted to give a sense of transparency and fluidity within the space through paintings of the gardens at night. I‘ve recreated images of these green spaces as imagined in their darkness lit with moonlight. Utopian Midnight is a series of six paintings, each with a different background setting and mood. The energy from the night light always carries a magical stillness in a space that is ephemeral, and I aimed to capture these moments through the poised grandness of these quietly standing trees.’

Farida El Gazzar Utopian Midnight, 2019 Painting 36 x 26 cm acrylic on watercolour paper (2 pieces) 52 x 36 cm acrylic on grey cardboard (4 pieces) Images courtesy of the artist and Kalfayan Galleries, Athens–Thessaloniki

This project is supported by the NADIM Factory and Foundation

ART D’ÉGYPTE

‫فتحي حسن‬ HANAN Hassan experiments with the written and spoken word, exploring the theme of ancient languages erased by colonialism. With invented Kufic-inspired scripts, he plays with the symbols, textures, and calligraphy of his Nubian heritage to explore the space between graphic symbolism and literal meaning in vibrant colours and collage. Forms are often given to these texts, which can become as important as the text itself. These tend to be the organic forms of the natural world: the human face, leaves, plants, flowers, animals, and the universe with its heavenly bodies. For many years Hassan also experimented with the vase form in his highly regarded series Containers.

‫ وكانــت أســرته قــد أجبــرت علــى مغــادرة موطنهــا فــي النوبــة‬.‫ولــد فتحــي حســن بالقاهــرة فــي ألب ســوداني وأم نوبيــة‬ ‫ وبغــض النظــر‬.‫أثنــاء بنــاء الســد العالــي ممــا أغــرق مســاحات شاســعة مــن األراضــي والتــي تقــع تحــت بحيــرة ناصــر اآلن‬ ‫عــن نــوع األعمــال الفنيــة ســواء الفوتوغرافيــة أو اللوحــات أو التشــكيل فــي الفــراغ (االنستليشــن) أو الرســومات التــي‬ ‫ فــأن معظــم نصوصــه تكــون غيــر مفهومــة للمتلقــي بهــدف تســليط الضــوء علــى‬،‫غالبــا مــا تكــون علــى الحوائــط مباشــرة‬ ً ‫ حصــل‬،‫ فــي أوائــل العشــرينات مــن عمــره‬.‫محنــة اللغــات المفقــودة والتاريــخ الشــفاهي بســبب الهيمنــة االســتعمارية‬ ‫ اســتمر فــي العيــش لعــدة ســنوات‬،1984 ‫ وبعــد تخرجــه عــام‬،‫علــى منحــة للدراســة فــي مدرســة الفنــون فــي نابولــي‬ .‫ بعــد أن عمــل فتــرة مــا بيــن إيطاليــا وإنجلتــرا‬،2018 ‫ أســكوتلندا فــي‬،‫ وقــد اســتقر فــي أدنبــره‬.‫فــي إيطاليــا‬

Fathi Hassan was born in Cairo in 1957 to a Nubian mother and Sudanese father. His family were forced to leave their homeland of Nubia when the Aswan High Dam was built in 1952, flooding a vast area under what is now Lake Nasser. Whether in photographs, paintings, installations, drawings, or often, directly on walls, his texts are deliberately illegible, intending to highlight the plight of lost languages and oral history as a result of colonial domination. In his early twenties, he obtained a grant to study at the Naples Art School. After graduating in 1984, he continued to live in Italy for many years. After working between Italy and Great Britain for several years, he finally took up residence in Edinburgh, Scotland in 2018. Hassan is currently collaborating with Lawrie Shabibi Art Gallery, Dubai, having participated with them at the 1.54 Art Fair, London (2018) and the recent solo exhibition Whispers at the Dubai Gallery (2019). His work will be presented by them at the Dallas Art Fair 2019. He is also working with Moroso Designs, Milan on the production of a tapestry featuring his work. His work is in the permanent collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum and the British Museum, London; the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington DC; and the Farjam Collection, among many others.

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

Portrait courtesy of the artist.

‫ فــي لنــدن عــام‬1.54 ‫ حيــث شــارك فــي المعــرض الفنــي‬،‫يتعــاون حســن حاليــا مــع جاليــري "لــوري شــابيبي" فــي دبــي‬ ‫ وســوف تقــدم أعمالــه عــن طريــق الجاليــري فــي‬.2019 ‫ ومؤخــرا معــرض فــردي "همســات" فــي جاليــري دبــي عــام‬،2018 ‫ وهــو يعمــل أيضــا مــع موروســو للتصميــم فــي ميالنــو إلنتــاج قطعــة نســيج تضــم‬.2019 ‫معــرض داالس للفــن عــام‬ ‫ ومتحــف‬،‫ فــي لنــدن‬،‫ والمتحــف البريطانــي‬،‫ كمــا تضــم المجموعــات الدائمــة فــي متحــف فيكتوريــا وألبــرت‬.‫أعمالــه‬ .‫ الكثيــر مــن أعمالــه‬،‫ ومجموعــات فرجــام‬،‫ فــي واشــنطن دي ســي‬،‫سميثســونيان الوطنــي للفــن األفريقــي‬

Fathi Hassan Hanan, 2019 Live painting performance Mixed media on paper 400 x 300 cm Image courtesy of MO4 Network

ART D’ÉGYPTE

‫غادة عامر‬ BORQA Text by Sahar Amer Ghada Amer’s Borqa (or burqa, meaning face veil) appears to represent the most conservative form of Islamic veils. The handmade lace, produced according to traditional French lace-making techniques in the city of Bayeux, transforms this piece into a sensual accessory, recalling the face veils worn indiscriminately by Muslims, Christians, and Jews in the past, as well as by some Bedouin women. The embroidery on the lace, located at the level of the mouth, not the eyes, reproduces the definition of the word ‘fear’ in Arabic. One wonders: who is afraid of whom? Is it the artist who is afraid of potential governmental and religious authorities that may one day impose veiling on her? Or is it the government and religious authorities that ought to be afraid of women who refuse to be silenced? Amer intended this piece to be the veil she would wear if one day she were forced to adopt one.

Ghada Amer was born in Cairo in 1963. In 1974, her parents relocated to France, where she began her artistic training ten years later at Villa Arson in Nice, France. She currently lives and works between New York and Paris and has exhibited at the Venice Biennale, the Sydney Biennale, the Whitney Biennale, and the Brooklyn Museum, among others. ‘I believe that all women should like their bodies and use them as tools of seduction’, Amer has stated; and in her well-known erotic embroideries, she at once rejects oppressive laws set in place to govern women’s attitudes toward their bodies and repudiates first-wave feminist theory that the body must be denied to prevent victimization. By depicting explicit sexual acts with the delicacy of needle and thread, their significance assumes a tenderness that simple objectification ignores. Amer continuously allows herself to explore the dichotomies of an uneasy world and confronts the language of hostility and finality with unsettled narratives of longing and love. Her work addresses first and foremost the ambiguous and transitory nature of the paradox that arises when searching for concrete definitions of East and West, feminine and masculine, art and craft. Through her paintings, sculptures and public garden projects, Amer takes traditional notions of cultural identity, abstraction, and religious fundamentalism and turns them on their heads.

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REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

Portrait courtesy of Scott Seifert.

‫ حيــث بــدأت تدريبهــا الفنــي‬،‫ انتقــل والديهــا إلــى فرنســا‬١٩٧٤ ‫ وفــي عــام‬.١٩٦٣ ‫ولــدت غــادة عامــر فــي القاهــرة عــام‬ ‫ وهــي تعيــش وتعمــل حاليــا بيــن نيويــورك وباريــس؛ وقامــت‬.‫بعــد عشــر ســنوات فــي فيــا "أرســون" فــي نيــس‬ :‫ تقــول عامــر‬.‫ وغيرهــا‬،‫ ومتحــف بروكليــن‬،‫ وبينالــي ويتنــي‬،‫بعــرض أعمالهــا فــي بينالــي فينيســيا وبينالــي ســيدني‬ ،‫ وفــي مطرزاتهــا المثيــرة المعروفــة‬."‫"أعتقــد أن جميــع النســاء يجــب أن يحبــن أجســادهن ويســتخدمهن كأدوات لإلغــراء‬ ‫ترفــض القوانيــن القمعيــة الموضوعــة لحكــم مواقــف المــرأة تجــاه جســدها وتنكــر نظريــة موجــة النســوية األولــى‬ ‫ مــن خــال تصويرهــا األفعــال الجنســية الصريحــة‬.‫التــي تقتــرح بأنــه يجــب حجــب الجســد األنثــوي لمنــع اإليــذاء بــه‬ ‫ فهــي تقــدم درجــة معينــة مــن الرقــة والحساســية التــي يتجاهلهــا التشــييء النمطــي‬،‫بدقــة مدروســة باإلبــرة والخيــط‬ ‫ـمية عبــر روايــات‬ ّ ‫ وتواجــه لغــة العــداء والحسـ‬،‫ وتقــوم عامــر باســتمرار باستكشــاف الثنائيــات فــي عالــم مضطــرب‬.‫للمــرأة‬ ‫ ويتنــاول عملهــا أوال وقبــل كل شــيء الطابــع الغامــض والمنتقــل للمفارقــة التــي تنشــأ‬.‫مشوشــة مــن الشــوق والحــب‬ ‫ تأخــذ عامــر فــي لوحاتهــا‬.‫ والفــن والحــرف‬،‫عنــد البحــث عــن تعريفــات ملموســة للشــرق والغــرب والمؤنــث والمذكــر‬ ‫ومنحوتاتهــا ومشــاريع الحدائــق العامــة التــي شــاركت بهــا مفاهيــم تقليديــة للهويــة الثقافيــة والتجريــد واألصوليــة‬ .‫رأســا علــى عقــب‬ ً ‫الدينيــة وتقلبهــا‬

Ghada Amer Borqa, 1997 Silk and black pearls 80.6 x 70.5 cm Photo: Abdallah Dawestashy

Courtesy of Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York

ART D’ÉGYPTE

‫هاني راشد‬ Baba Museum: Objects between life and death Text by Sara Elkamel When our fathers depart, they leave behind an inheritance of personal objects that may not always be valuable but hold immense weight: They immortalize the memories of our ancestors. Everyday objects accumulate biographies that can irrevocably transform them. They gain the power to convey the memories and life stories of the dead to the living. Why else would we hang onto the seemingly worthless things left behind by our loved ones? What if these material possessions—which hold the memory, the biography, and the smell of the departed—were the only surviving links to our fathers? Can a broken watch or a ring of unusable keys give us doses of the dead when we need them the most?

Baba Museum is a social media project; a virtual museum that archives objects of departed loved ones. This offline exhibition features a selection of the museum’s collection.

You can visit Baba Museum’s Facebook page to view the entire collection.

Hany Rashed (b. 1975) is a self-taught artist currently living and working in Cairo. He has worked closely with renowned artist Mohamed Abla, who eventually became his mentor. By experimenting with a wide range of techniques, such as collage, monotype, painting, and sculpture, Rashed continuously reinvents himself and his work. His predilection for the use of media images in his earlier work has pushed the audience to recognize the banality and the damage caused by excessive exposure to Western media, highlighting the depersonalization of the individual. At the beginning of the 2011 Revolution, Rashed played a leading role in documenting part of contemporary Egyptian history through his sarcastic productions. After, Asa7by (2012), the comic character making fun of the abuse of visual Internet memes; Bulldozer (2015), directly denouncing the omnipresent mediocrity; and The Last Farewell (2017), addressing his very personal life tragedy, Rashed comes back to explore with much irony the multiple facets of Egyptian life. His gypsum vehicles re-enact the jumbled chaos of Cairo, the hubbub of the city, and thus the voices of the people.

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

Portrait courtesy of the artist.

،‫ وهــو فنــان علــم نفســه بنفســه‬،‫ عمــل راشــد‬.‫ وهــو يعيــش ويعمــل فيهــا‬،1975 ‫ولــد هانــي راشــد فــي القاهــرة عــام‬ ‫ ويقــوم راشــد بإعــادة اكتشــاف نفســه وأعمالــه باســتمرار‬.‫ الــذي أصبــح معلمــه‬،‫عــن كثــب مــع الفنــان الشــهير محمــد عبلــة‬ .‫ مثــل الكــوالج والطباعــة ذات النمــط األحــادي والرســم والنحــت‬،‫مــن خــال تجربــة مجموعــة واســعة مــن التقنيــات‬ ‫ ممــا ســاعد جمهــوره علــى تمييــز االبتــذال واألضــرار‬،‫مــال راشــد فــي أعمالــه المبكــرة إلــى اســتخدام صــورا إعالميــة‬ ‫ لعــب راشــد‬.‫الناشــئة عــن التعــرض المفــرط لوســائل اإلعــام الغربيــة وإلقــاء الضــوء علــى تجريــد الفــرد مــن شــخصيته‬ ‫ وقــد خلــق‬.‫دورا رائـ ًـدا فــي توثيــق جــزء مــن التاريــخ المصــري المعاصــر مــن خــال إنتاجــه الســاخر‬ 2011 ‫فــي بدايــة ثــورة‬ ً ‫ والتــي اســتخدمها فــي الســخرية مــن إســاءة اســتخدام التعبيــرات الرقميــة‬،2012 ‫ فــي‬Asa7by ‫الشــخصية الفكاهيــة‬ ‫) والــذي يديــن مــن خاللــه بشــكل مباشــر كل مــا هــو متوســط‬2015( "‫ ثــم "البلــدوزر‬،)‫البصريــة علــى اإلنترنــت (الميمــز‬ ‫ يعــود راشــد الستكشــاف‬.‫) مأســاة حياتــه الشــخصية‬2017( "‫ ويتنــاول فــي "الــوداع األخيــر‬،‫الكفــاءة فــي كل مــكان‬ ‫الجوانــب المتعــددة للحيــاة المصريــة بســخرية شــديدة عــن طريــق نمــاذج ســيارات الجبــس الخاصــة بــه والتــي تعيــد تفعيــل‬ .‫ وبالتالــي أصــوات النــاس‬،‫ وهــرج المدينــة‬،‫الفوضــى العشــوائية بالقاهــرة‬

Hany Rashed Baba Museum: Objects between life and death, 2019 Mixed media installation 4x3m Photos: Abdallah Dawestashy

ART D’ÉGYPTE

‫ أمني‬.‫هبة ي‬ WINDOWS ON THE WEST ‘We have been daguerreotyping like lions.’ Horace Vernet The first documented photograph taken on the African continent dates from 7 November 1839, a mere three months after France introduced the daguerreotype camera to the world. The photograph was taken in Alexandria by French painter Horace Vernet, who—along with his nephew Frédéric GoupilFesque—captured the exterior of Muhammad Ali Pasha’s harem palace. Even though there was nothing improper about the image, it created a sensation in Paris. It ignited the imagination of the French at the envisioned suggestive subject matter and created an erotic fantasy embedded in the colonial imagination. Due to the inaccessibility of the North African female subject, European Orientalist painters invented an idea of romance by photographing the native woman to fit their vision, their fabricated delusion. In the photograph, the harem is not actually pictured, but the idea of the women is implied through the voyeuristic gaze of the technological device. 38

‫ إن عمــل أميــن قائــم علــى األبحــاث المكثفــة والعمــل فــي االســتوديوهات التــي‬.‫حاليــا فــي برليــن‬ ‫ أميــن فنانــة مصريــة وباحثــة ومحاضــرة مقيمــة‬.‫هبــة ي‬ ً ‫ عــن تأثيــر البنيــة التحتيــة علــى‬،‫ وتطــرح فــي عملهــا أســئلة مــن خــال الوســائط المختلفــة‬.‫تتنــاول تقــارب السياســة والتكنولوجيــا والهندســة المعماريــة‬ ‫ يســلط عملهــا الضــوء علــى قصــص الســيادة الوطنيــة غالبــا فــي المناطــق‬.‫النفــس البشــرية بمراحلهــا المختلفــة وأخطاءهــا إضافــة إلــى خــداع الذاكــرة‬ ‫ كمــا أنهــا مهتمــة بشــكل خــاص بأســاليب التخريــب‬.‫المتنــازع عليهــا ال ســيما االفتراضــات المنهجيــة المتضمنــة فــي التاريــخ الغربــي والنظــم االســتعمارية‬ .‫وغيرهــا مــن التقنيــات المســتخدمة لتقويــض األنظمــة باإلضافــة إلــى الموضوعــات التــي تتنــاول الممارســات الحيويــة فــي األماكــن المتعــدد األبعــاد‬

Heba Y. Amin (b. 1980, Cairo) is an Egyptian artist who grounds her work in extensive research that looks at the convergence of politics, technology, and architecture. Techno-utopian ideas, as manifest in characteristic machines of colonial soft power, are at the heart of Amin’s work. Starting from the idea that landscape is an expression of dominant political power, Amin looks for tactics of subversion and other techniques to undermine consolidated systems and flip historical narratives through a critical spatial practice. She received her MA in new media art and interactive design at the University of Minnesota. She currently teaches at Bard College Berlin and is a doctoral fellow in art history at Freie Universität as well as a Field of Vision fellow in NYC. She is also the co-founder of the Black Athena Collective, the curator of visual art for the MIZNA journal (USA), and co-curator for the biennial residency program DEFAULT with Ramdom Association (Italy). Amin has had recent exhibitions at the Kunsthalle Bremen Böttcherstrasse Prize Exhibition, MAXXI Museum, the 10th Berlin Biennale, the 15th Istanbul Biennale, Kunsthalle Wien, the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, the 12th Dak’Art Biennale of Contemporary African Art, the Berlin Berlinale, and the IV Moscow International Biennale for Young Art. She has an extensive repertoire in public speaking and was a recent resident artist at the Künstlerhaus Bethananien residency program in Berlin. Amin is also one of the artists behind the subversive graffiti action on the set of the television series Homeland, which received worldwide media attention. She currently lives in Berlin.

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

Portrait courtesy of Matthew Coleman

‫ وقــد حصلــت علــى زمالــة الدكتــوراه فــي مدرســة برليــن للثقافــة والمجتمعــات اإلســامية فــي جامعــة‬،‫حاليــا فــي كليــة "بــارد" فــي برليــن‬ ‫تــدرس‬ ‫وهــي‬ ً ّ ‫ كانــت فنانــة مقيمــة‬.‫ كذلــك حصلــت علــى زمالــة مــن برنامــج "فيلــد أوف فيزيــن" فــي نيــو يــورك‬،‫فــراي وعلــى درجــة الماجيســتير مــن جامعــة مينيســوتا‬ ‫ والقوميســيرة‬،"‫ لـــجماعة "بــاك أثينــا‬،‫ وهــي المؤســس وقــد شــاركت فــي العديــد مــن المعــارض الدوليــة‬.‫فــي برنامــج "بثانيــن" لإلقامــة فــي برليــن‬ ‫ تعتبــر‬،‫ عــاوة علــى ذلــك‬.‫ ومنســقة برنامــج اإلقامــة "ديفولــت" مــع جمعيــة رامــدوم‬،‫لمجلــة الفنــون المرئيــة "مزنــة" فــي الواليــات المتحــدة األمريكيــة‬ ‫ والــذي حظــي باهتمــام وســائل‬Homeland )‫أيضــا مــن الفنانيــن الذيــن ســاندوا أعمــال الجرافيتــي الثوريــة فــي المسلســل التلفزيونــي (الوطــن‬ ً ‫أميــن‬ .‫اإلعــام فــي جميــع أنحــاء العالــم‬

Horace Vernet, Frédéric Goupil-Fesquet, Harem De Mehemet-Ali, 1839 Lithograph. Heba Y. Amin Windows on the West, 2019 Installation

Courtesy of the artist and

Hand-woven jacquard textile

Zilberman-Istanbul | Berlin

250 x 135 cm

Image courtesy of MO4 Network

Made with the help of Textile Prototyping Lab, Berlin

ART D’ÉGYPTE

‫هدى لطفي‬ Empty Bed in Qalawun’s Bimaristan (sick/health house) ‘How might a historian fictionalize the once-lived life of Qalawun’s bimaristan? Conjuring perhaps an ambiance of solace and solitude, an empty bed covered in plain white fabric is placed in one of the bimaristan’s vacant rooms; in another room a wooden-shelved cupboard containing empty medical flasks recalls a practice that once was. Inspired by a personal mythology, an audio-visual piece is projected, summoning sound and moving images, as if to bring back some life to the space. From the bimaristan’s endowment (waqf) document, I have learned much; the remarkable details it unravels makes it an indispensable testimony to the history of the hospital, its daily operations, and the services it once offered. Also revealing are the Arabic medical manuscripts, specifying the herbs once used by doctors and the healing practices they followed. Both the folios selected from these manuscripts and the waqf extracts I have chosen to present serve as supplementary layers to the works. The series of objects on view are conceived specifically for the bimaristan space, reflecting on themes such as remembrance, anticipation, silence, and mortality.’ ‫ ومــن ثــم‬.‫ تنقــب عــن األشــياء والصــور المشــحونة بعبــق التاريــخ‬،‫هــدى لطفــي أقــرب مــا تكــون فــي أعمالهــا الفنيــة إلــى عاشــقة آثــار ومؤرخــة ثقافيــة‬ ‫ ومــن الملفــت فــي أعمــال لطفــي الطريقــة التــي تُ عيــد بهــا‬."‫ باالســتعانة بأســلوب "البريكــوالج‬،‫تعكــف علــى إعــادة صياغتهــا وتقديمهــا فــي قالــب جديــد‬ ‫ حيــث تلعــب علــى أوتــار‬،‫ وتجعلهــا تســرد حكايــة مغايــرة‬،‫جديــدا‬ ‫ســياقا‬ ً ‫ ولكنهــا تكســبها‬،‫صياغــة الكائنــات والصــور وأيقونــات نعرفهــا ونألفهــا ونعتادهــا‬ ً ‫ وألنهــا ذات أســلوب متعــدد الطبقــات‬.‫ فتمتــزج الحقــب التاريخيــة وتتالشــى الحواجــز الثقافيــة فــي أعمالهــا‬،‫الذاكــرة الجماعيــة واأليقونغرافيــة المشــتركة‬ ،‫ فــإن هــدى لطفــي تســتعين بنطــاق عريــض مــن الخامــات والمــواد واأللــوان والكــوالج والتكوينــات‬،‫حمــل القطعــة الفنيــة بأكثــر مــن معنــى ورســالة‬ ّ ‫ُي‬ ‫ وهــي تقــدم‬.‫وحياتيــا‬ ‫ وينصــب تركيزهــا فــي معظــم أعمالهــا علــى جســد األنثــى وتناولــه تاريخيـ ًـا‬.‫وصــارت تســتخدم مؤخـ ًـرا برامــج مونتــاج الصــور والفيديــو‬ ً ‫ كونهــا منتــج نشــط لهــا‬:‫ وبهــا تستكشــف تلــك األدوار المتعــددة التــي تلعبهــا المــرأة فــي الثقافــة البصريــة‬،‫لنــا قوالــب عرائــس فــي ســياقات متنوعــة‬ ‫ فهــي تجيــد عــرض القــوى االجتماعيــة الثقافيــة‬،‫جديــدا ومنطلقــات مفاهيميــة متفــردة‬ ‫أســلوبا‬ ‫ ونجــد فــي عمــل هــدى لطفــي‬.‫وذات رمــوز حاضــرة فيهــا‬ ً ً .‫وتعــرض ألفــكار التقييــد والكبــت التــي ســبق لهــا أن المســتها فــي أعمالهــا عــن جســد األنثــى‬ ‫ ونالــت درجــة الدكتــوراه فــي التاريــخ والثقافــة اإلســامية مــن جامعــة‬.‫وتعتبــر هــدى لطفــي مــن أهــم الفنانــات التشــكيليات المصريــات المعاصــرات‬ ‫ وشــرعت لطفــي فــي إقامــة معارضهــا منــذ‬.2010 ‫ لتحاضــر فــي الجامعــة األمريكيــة فــي القاهــرة حتــى عــام‬،)1983( ‫ كنــدا‬،‫"ماكجيــل" فــي مونتريــال‬ ‫ ولهــا العديــد مــن المعــارض‬.‫ لتقــدم رؤيتهــا الفنيــة التــي تعتمــد علــى الخبــرات التاريخيــة والثقافيــة والمحليــة للمجتمــع المصــري‬،‫منتصــف التســعينيات‬ ‫المحليــة والدوليــة؛ فــي كل مــن اإلســكندرية والقاهــرة وباريــس ومارســيليا ولنــدن والهــاي وفرانكفــورت وثيســالونيكي وفيرجينيــا وتكســاس وأوهايــو‬ .‫حاليــا فــي القاهــرة‬ ‫ تعيــش هــدى لطفــي وتعمــل‬.‫ودكار وباماكــو وتونــس والبحريــن ودبــي‬ ً Huda Lutfi works like an urban archaeologist, digging up found objects and images as loaded fragments of history. She then re-packages them using bricolage as an interceptive strategy. Recognizable objects, images, and icons are re-contextualized and made to tell a different story. Playing on collective memory and shared iconography, Lutfi blurs historical timelines and cultural boundaries in her work. Multi-layered and playful, Lutfi is known to work with a wide range of media, painting, collage, installations, assemblages, and more recently with photomontage and video. Her focus has been on the historical representations of the feminine body, and how it translates into the everyday. Working with the form of dolls in their various contexts, Lutfi explores the multiple roles of women within visual culture, as active producers of it and depicted symbols within it. Lutfi’s work introduces new technique and conceptual departures, where she cleverly underpins socio-cultural forces defining masculine identity and exposes notions of restriction previously explored in her works on the feminine body. Trained as a cultural historian, and with her second career as an artist, Lutfi has emerged as one of Egypt’s contemporary imagemakers. She received her doctorate in Islamic Culture and History from McGill University, Montreal, Canada (1983) and taught at the American University in Cairo until 2010. Drawing upon the historical, cultural and local experiences of Egyptian society, Lutfi began exhibiting her artwork in the mid-1990s. She has exhibited locally and internationally in both international galleries and in museums in cities including Alexandria, Cairo, Paris, Marseille, London, The Hague, Frankfurt, Thessaloniki, Virginia, Texas, Ohio, Dakar, Bamako, Tunisia, Bahrain and Dubai. Lutfi currently lives and works in Cairo.

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

Portrait courtesy of the artist.

Huda Lutfi Empty Bed in Qalawun’s Bimaristan (sick/health house), 2019 Installation Variable dimensions Photos: Abdallah Dawestashy

This project is supported by the NADIM Factory and Foundation

ART D’ÉGYPTE

‫إبراهيم أمحد‬ NOBODY KNOWS WHERE THEY ARE For this exhibition, the artist has reimagined a work he created in 2014. Reflecting on the ways we think and speak about the history of Cairo, he considers how we might shape more inclusive histories using what we already have. It’s common local practice in the city to store unused materials on rooftops. Driven by uncertainty about the future and financial security, people share a tendency to conserve things that might otherwise be discarded. The artist refigures these overlooked materials into new objects that seem familiar to their installation context but tell a different story when examined more closely. The works, including a chandelier and two textile works encased within a vitrine, are assembled from disused objects, such as armchairs, window frames, and a prosthetic leg, found on the roof of the Elias Cannacé & Fils building off al-Mu‘iz Street, close to the site of the exhibition. Installed in Bayt al-Suhaymi, they create a dialogue with the surrounding area that is precisely curated and heavily preserved in a profoundly controlled historical narrative. The objects that come into our view have power; they shape the way we see ourselves. With this intervention, the artist invites viewers to interrogate the sterilization of the city’s history.

‫ وأمضــى طفولتــه بيــن البحريــن ومصــر قبــل انتقالــه إلــى الواليــات المتحــدة‬1984 ‫ولــد إبراهيــم أحمــد فــي الكويــت عــام‬ ‫ حيــث قــام‬،‫ يعيــش اآلن بالقاهــرة ويعمــل بالوســائط التقليديــة وغيــر التقليديــة‬.‫األمريكيــة وهــو فــي ســن الثالثــة عشــرة‬ .‫بتطويــر نظــام جمالــي خــاص بــه وبأعمالــه يمثــل رحلتــه كفنــان وكمهاجــر‬

Ibrahim Ahmed (b. 1984, Kuwait) spent his childhood between Bahrain and Egypt, before moving to the US at the age of thirteen. He now lives and works in Cairo. Working with both traditional and non-traditional media, he has developed a personal aesthetic that represents his journey as artist and immigrant. His multidisciplinary works challenge the political lines that define borders and the so-called authenticity of ‘national identity’. Ahmed has shown his work internationally, including the Volta Art Fair in New York, USA; Townhouse Gallery in Cairo, Egypt; the Sharjah Art Museum, UAE; and the ArtRio Art Fair, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 2014, he was artist-in-residence at artellewa Artspace in Giza, Egypt, before setting up his working studio in the neighbouring Ard al-Lewa area of Cairo.

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

Portrait courtesy of MO4.

."‫تتحــدى أعمالــه متعــددة المجــاالت الخطــوط السياســية والتــي توضــح الحــدود ومــا يســمى بأصالــة "الهويــة الوطنيــة‬ ‫ وجاليــري تــاون‬،‫عــرض أحمــد أعمالــه علــى مســتوى دولــي بمــا فــي ذلــك معــرض "فولتــا" للفنــون فــي نيويــورك‬ ،‫ فنانــا مقيمــا فــي أرت اللــوا‬2014 ‫ وكان فــي‬.‫ ومتحــف الشــارقة للفنــون ومعــرض أرت ريــو للفنــون‬،‫هــاوس بالقاهــرة‬ .‫فــي الجيــزة بمصــر وذلــك قبــل أن ينشــيء االســتديو الخــاص بــه فــي حــي أرض اللــوا بالقاهــرة‬

Ibrahim Ahmed Nobody Knows Where They Are, 2019 Mixed media Object 1: 250 x 260 x 30 cm Object 2: Variable dimensions Photo: Abdallah Dawestashy

ART D’ÉGYPTE

‫إبراهيم الدسوقي‬ ‫‪THE 40th DAY‬‬ ‫‪Forty days after death, the four gods finish preparing the deceased for another‬‬ ‫‪life. It is a day commemorated from ancient times until today. Tombs and shrines‬‬ ‫‪constructed using ancient Egyptian stones still retain their inscriptions ... It‬‬ ‫‪is a thread that extends from ancient Egypt until the present ... a harmonious‬‬ ‫‪continuum where life on earth and in eternity overlap and meld … there is nothing‬‬ ‫‪to separate them.‬‬

‫‪44‬‬ ‫إبراهيــم الدســوقي مــن مواليــد القاهــرة عــام ‪ ،١٩٦٩‬وحصــل علــى بكالوريــوس الفنــون الجميلــة جامعــة حلــوان عــام‬ ‫‪ ،١٩٩٢‬ثــم حصــل علــى ماجســتير فــي التصويــر بعنــوان "مدرســة لنــدن والتصويــر البريطانــي منــذ ‪ "١٩٤٥‬مــن الجامعــة‬ ‫ذاتهــا عــام ‪ ،١٩٩٧‬ومؤخــرا نــال الدكتــوراه عــن أطروحتــه "الحركــة الداخليــة فــي التصويــر" ‪ ،٢٠٠٣‬بلوحاتــه التصويريــة عــن‬ ‫المــرأة المصريــة‪.‬‬ ‫يعــد الدســوقي مــن أهــم فنانــي الشــرق األوســط حيــث أنــه يمتــاز بتقنياتــه المتميــزة فــي التصويــر الزيتــي‪ ،‬وقــد عمــل‬ ‫وظــف الدســوقي خبرتــه‬ ‫علــى تقنيــات خاصــة بــه فــي األلــوان الزيتيــة تخــدم المفهــوم والرســالة التــي يريــد تأكيدهــا‪ّ ،‬‬ ‫ـدا عــن الفنتازيــا لكــن بمــا يضفــي عليهــا إحساسـ ًـا متميـ ً‬ ‫الفنيــة األكاديميــة بالكامــل فــي نقــل الواقــع بهــدوء بعيـ ً‬ ‫ـزا وهــو‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ً‬ ‫الظــل والضــوء‪ .‬تتمحــور لوحاتــه حــول مواضيــع مصريــة معاصــرة وذلــك يظهــر‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ثنائيــة‬ ‫أيضــا يمتــاز بإبداعــه فــي تقديــم‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ً‬ ‫واضحــا فــي صــورة المــرأة فــي لوحاتــه التــي يعبــر بعضهــا عــن الحنيــن للنســاء اللواتــي تجولــن فــي الحــي الــذي ولــد‬ ‫أيضــا فــي المناظــر الطبيعيــة والطبيعــة الصامتــة والحيوانــات‪ .‬جالــت معارضــه الفرديــة‬ ‫ً‬ ‫وعــاش طفولتــه فيــه وتظهــر‬ ‫والجماعيــة العديــد مــن بقــاع األرض‪ ،‬فــي غاليــري "بوشــهري" (الكويــت‪ ،)٢٠١٢ ،‬ومعهــد العالــم العربــي فــي باريــس‬ ‫(فرنســا‪ ،)٢٠٠٨ ،‬والبيــت العربــي فــي مدريــد (اســبانيا‪ ،)٢٠١٤ ،‬ودورات عديــدة لبينالــي القاهــرة‪ ،‬وغيرهــا مــن المحافــل‬ ‫الفنيــة‪ .‬كمــا يتــوزع اقتنــاء لوحاتــه بيــن األفــراد داخــل وخــارج ومصــر والمؤسســات والمتاحــف كمتحــف الفــن الحديــث فــي‬ ‫القاهــرة والمتحــف العربــي للفــن الحديــث فــي الدوحــة‪.‬‬

‫‪Portrait courtesy of the artist.‬‬

‫‪Ibrahim El Dessouki (b. 1969, Cairo) graduated from Helwan University in Cairo with a BA in Fine‬‬ ‫‪Arts in 1992, an MA in 1997, and a PhD on ‘Dynamics in Painting’ in 2003. He lives and works in‬‬ ‫‪Cairo. Famous throughout the Middle East, El Dessouki has his own painting style with unique‬‬ ‫‪techniques in oil painting that serve the concept of his work and the message he wants to‬‬ ‫‪convey. His painting skills are apparent in his consummate use of negative space and the way‬‬ ‫‪he presents the light and shadow that make his paintings so vital and poetic. El Dessouki’s‬‬ ‫‪subjects are all related to Egypt, capturing it from his own perspective, which can be seen in‬‬ ‫)‪his portraiture, landscapes, still life, animals, and defiantly, in the immense (colossal, formidable‬‬ ‫‪sized shapes of the women in his paintings.‬‬ ‫‪El Dessouki has exhibited widely in both the Middle East and Europe, including an exhibition‬‬ ‫‪at Bousheri Gallery, Kuwait (2012); the Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France (2008); Art Sawa‬‬ ‫‪gallery, Dubai, UAE (2009); and Casa Arabe, Madrid, Spain, (2014). His work was also featured in‬‬ ‫‪the 10th Cairo International Biennale (2006) and is included in the collections of the Museum of‬‬ ‫‪Egyptian Modern Art in Cairo and Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Qatar.‬‬

‫‪REIMAGINED NARRATIVES‬‬

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

Ibrahim El Dessouki The 40th Day, 2019 250 x 187 cm each (2 pieces) Oil on clear primed canvas Photo: Abdallah Dawestashy

Courtesy of Gallery Misr

ART D’ÉGYPTE

‫إبراهيم خطاب‬ FATIMA Fatima, the decisive, the destroyer; words, that do not rise to bargaining, emanate from her orifices. She has the softness of a rock and the cruelty of silk. When she gave up her heritage, her followers hoped for victory, yet the preachers forbade her legacy of prophecy. She suffered destitution and hunger for many nights, supported only by her followers. People were enchanted by her, and her followers multiplied until they became a league. She was too proud; blood covered the small villages that still suffer its traces. She has moved from the fragrance of history to be the perfume of my flower; from her I receive what touches the depth of my heart. I wish I could have her for myself, my own Fatima, I am her follower. She dissolves in her unhappiness until she rises again, losing her senses, the land absorbing blood, as told by all: a judge, a wise man and a storyteller. From the rust around her grey neck, dripping down with measured ease, not saddened by the consequences of choice; the guilt is burdensome and burns the forehead. Body and head are aligned, chosen by a cruel judgment full of mercy. Fatima’s faith is not elevated by her noticeable blossoming and her calmness that have led to my entrapment. She has become a destroyer with her tenderness, decisive with her words, weaned with her saliva.

‫إبراهيــم خطــاب فنــان مصــري تنصــب اهتماماتــه الرئيســية علــى المــزج مــا بيــن الرســم وفــن الفيديــو والتركيــب فــي‬ ‫ وبعــد ذلــك طــور‬،‫ بــدأ حياتــه المهنيــة فــي ســن الثانيــة عشــر كرســام إعالنــات فــي الشــوارع‬.)‫الفــراغ (االنستليشــن‬ ‫ حصــل خطــاب علــى درجــة الدكتــوراه فــي فــن‬.‫مهمــا فــي عملــه‬ ‫شــغفه بالخــط العربــي الــذي كان منــذ ذلــك الحيــن عنصـ ًـرا‬ ً .‫ حيــث ال يــزال يعيــش ويعمــل‬،‫ مصــر‬،‫ بالقاهــرة‬1984 ‫ وقــد ولــد فــي عــام‬.2018 ‫الخــط مــن جامعــة القاهــرة فــي عــام‬

Ibrahim Khatab is an Egyptian artist born in Cairo in 1984, where he continues to live and work. His main interest lies in mixing between painting, video art, and installation. He started his career at the age of 12 as a street billboard painter and later developed a passion for Arabic calligraphy, which has been a significant element in his work ever since. He received a PhD in calligraphy from Cairo University in 2018. Khatab’s work has been shown in exhibitions at the Gezira Art Centre, Cairo, Egypt (2013); Art Lounge Gallery, Cairo, Egypt (2015); the Bamako Biennale, Mali (2011); Malmo Artist’s Book Biennale, Sweden (2008); Supermarket Art Fair, Sweden (2015); Nabad Art Gallery, Amman, Jordan (2014); the Arabian Youth Salon, Doha, Qatar (2014); Investec Cape Town Art Fair, South Africa (2016); Safarkhan Gallery, Cairo, Egypt (2016, 2018); and Sharjah Calligraphy Biennale, UAE (2016, 2018). Since 2007, his work has been presented frequently at the annual Youth Salon in Cairo. He has also led many workshops at the Visual Arts Centre, Muscat, Oman; the Fine Arts Association, Doha, Qatar; and the Sharjah Children’s Biennale, UAE (2013).

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

Portrait courtesy of the artist.

‫)؛ معــرض صالــة الفــن‬2013( ‫تــم عــرض أعمــال خطــاب فــي معــارض متنوعــة فــي مركــز الجزيــرة للفنــون بالقاهــرة‬ ‫)؛ معــرض فنــون‬2008( ‫ الســويد‬،‫)؛ بينالــي كتــاب الفنانيــن بمالمــو‬2011( ‫)؛ بينالــي باماكــو بمالــي‬2015( ‫بالقاهــرة‬ ‫)؛ معــرض‬2014( ‫)؛ صالــون الشــباب العربــي بالدوحــة‬2014( ‫)؛ جاليــري نبــد للفنــون بعمــان‬2015( ‫الســوبرماركت بالســويد‬ ،2016( ‫)؛ وبينالــي الشــارقة للخــط العربــي‬2018 ،2016( ‫)؛ جاليــري ســفرخان بالقاهــرة‬2016( ‫انفســتج للفنــون بكيــب تــاون‬ ‫ كذلــك قــاد عــدة ورش عمــل‬،‫ بشــكل متكــرر فــي صالــون الشــباب الســنوي بالقاهــرة‬2007 ‫ تــم تقديــم أعمالــه منــذ‬.)2018 ‫ وبينالــي األطفــال فــي الشــارقة‬،‫ فــي جميعــة الفنــون التشــكيلية فــي عمــان‬،‫فــي العديــد مــن مراكــز الفنــون البصريــة‬ .2013 ‫والدوحــة فــي‬

Ibrahim Khatab Images (top left) courtesy of the artist.

Fatima, 2019 Painting, mixed media on canvas

Sculpture, foam

Photos: Abdallah Dawestashy

180 x 180 cm

2x2m

Courtesy of Safarkhan Gallery

ART D’ÉGYPTE

‫إسالم شبانة‬ THE GATE How can we tell the story of this Gate and what it has witnessed for centuries? Can we let the Gate tell its own story, in a way that connects with us on a deeper level? This project is about letting Qalawun’s Gate tell its own story as an object and a witness to a history that we haven’t seen ourselves. Moreover, the project is a way to connect with the Gate and its façade as a living entity, where the digital image relays its spirit. Using 3D projection mapping technology, we will be taken on a journey through ‘time and space’ from the perspective of the Gate. This project aims to experiment with how a physical and a non-physical medium blend together, completely shifting the human perception.

Islam Shabana is a multidisciplinary artist and a digital media designer based in Cairo. Shabana’s practice is an open study of the digital as a transcendental medium. His research relates the digital image to the mental image, programming languages (coding) to magic diagrams, and digital processes to alchemy. Shabana’s work oscillates between different mediums, but lately he is focusing on audio-visual (A/V) performances. His work has been featured in several group exhibitions and festivals in Egypt and Germany, including Berlin Art Week and Cairotronica: the Cairo Electronic and New Media Arts Symposium. In 2017, his A/V collaboration project, C31S39, was featured on Boiler Room as part of MASAFAT festival in Cairo. The 3∆ performance was chosen by VIRTUALLYREALITY festival in Manchester and shown in the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM). He was also part of MusicMakers Hacklab, where he worked on a collaborative A/V performance using machine learning technologies and was live performed at CTM Festival 2018 in the HAU theatre, Berlin.

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

Portrait courtesy of the artist.

‫ وتمثــل ممارســة شــبانة‬.‫إســام شــبانة فنــان ومصمــم وســائط رقميــة متعــدد االهتمامــات ويعيــش فــي القاهــرة‬ ‫ ولغــات‬،‫ ويربــط بحثــه الصــورة الرقميــة بالصــورة الذهنيــة‬. ‫راق‬ ‫دراســة مفتوحــة للوســائط الرقميــة باعتبارهــا وســيط‬ ٍ ‫ ولكنــه يركــز‬،‫ ويمــزج عمــل شــبانة بيــن وســائط مختلفــة‬.‫ والعمليــات الرقميــة بالكيميــاء‬،‫البرمجــة بالمخططــات الســحرية‬ ‫ وقــدم عملــه فــي العديــد مــن المعــارض والمهرجانــات الجماعيــة‬.‫البصرية‬/‫فــي اآلونــة األخيــرة علــى العــروض الســمعية‬ ‫ ســمبوزيوم القاهــرة لإللكترونيــات‬- ‫ وكايروترونيــكا‬،‫ بمــا فــي ذلــك أســبوع برليــن الفنــي‬،‫فيمــا بيــن مصــر وألمانيــا‬ ‫البصري فــي "بويلــر روم" ضمــن مهرجــان‬/‫ ظهــر مشــروعه التعاونــي الســمعي‬،2017 ‫ وفــي عــام‬.‫والوســائط الجديــدة‬ ‫" مــن قبــل مهرجــان الواقــع االفتراضــي وقــدم فــي الكليــة الملكيــة الشــمالية‬3∆" ‫ كمــا اختيــر العــرض‬."‫"مســافات‬ ‫بصري باســتخدام‬/‫مؤخــرا فــي "ميوزيــك ماكــرز هــاكالب" حيــث عمــل علــى عــرض ســمعي‬ ‫ وشــارك‬.‫للموســيقى‬ ً .‫حيــا فــي مهرجــان "ســي تــي ام" ببرليــن‬ ً ‫ وقــدم العــرض‬،‫تقنيــات تعلــم اآللــة‬

Islam Shabana The Gate, 2019 3D projection mapping Image courtesy of MO4 Network

This project is supported by Upsilon

ART D’ÉGYPTE

‫كريم احليوان‬ Caught Up, Somewhere Down. Random street observations in Cairo make up this video piece where El Hayawan reflects on the perception of history and its perpetual state of being rewritten. The forgotten force behind recognizing that our current state is merely an imprint of repeated actions from near pasts. Avoidance and denial become the salvation for some. Damnation for others. The speculative thought of migration (in all possible dimensions) inward, outward, physical, and mental, stands as a testimony and an abstract dialogue between evident and non-evident realities.

Karim El Hayawan is a Cairo-based visual artist and interior architect. After founding Design Point Studio in Cairo in 2002, he began to develop his photography under the mentorship of Alaa Abdel Naby of Reuters, focusing on both portraiture and landscape throughout Egypt. With a passion for street photography, El Hayawan is continuously inspired by his hometown of Cairo, relentlessly seeking images that define the complexities of the ever-expanding urban metropolis. Ultimately, photography serves as his narrative tool to reveal commonalities in collective life experiences, with key themes of his work being the question of movement and the concept of universal metaphors. His work has been exhibited at the Contemporary Arab Photography Biennale at the Institut Du Monde Arabe in Paris, France; the Grid Cape Town Biennale in South Africa; and the O-Biennale titled Something Else, the al-Ahram Salon for Fine Arts, and Darb1718, all in Cairo, Egypt. He has also been featured in numerous publications throughout the region. El Hayawan is the founder of Saturday Morning Walks, an initiative that invites participants to explore different neighbourhoods in Egypt through street photography.

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

Portrait courtesy of the artist.

‫ بــدأ فــي تطويــر صــوره الفوتوغرافيــة تحــت إشــراف عــاء عبــد‬.‫كريــم الحيــوان فنــان بصــري ومهنــدس ديكــور بالقاهــرة‬ ‫ تمثــل شــوارع‬.2002 ‫النبــي مــن رويتــرز بعــد تأســيس ســتوديو «ديزايــن بوينــت» للتصميــم الداخلــي فــي القاهــرة عــام‬ ‫ مصــدرا لإللهــام ولتطويــر شــغفه بالتصويــر حيــث يســعى بــا كلــل إلــى الصــور‬،‫ وهــي مســقط رأس الفنــان‬،‫القاهــرة‬ ‫ علــى كل مــن الصــور الشــخصية‬،‫ أثنــاء ذلــك‬،‫ وهــو يركــز‬،‫التــي تظهــر تعقيــدات المدينــة الحضريــة المتناميــة باســتمرار‬ ‫ يعتبــر التصويــر‬،‫ وفــي نهايــة المطــاف‬.‫(البورتريــه) والمناظــر الطبيعيــة التــي قــام بالتقاطهــا فــي كل أنحــاء مصــر‬ ‫ متنــاوال مســألة الحركــة‬،‫الفوتوغرافــي هــو أداتــه الســردية لكشــف القواســم المشــتركة فــي التجــارب الجماعيــة للحيــاة‬ ‫ وقــد عرضــت أعمالــه فــي "بينالــي التصويــر العربــي‬.‫ومفهــوم االســتعارات العالميــة كمواضيــع رئيســية فــي عملــه‬ ‫ وبينالــي‬،‫ جنــوب إفريقيــا‬،‫ وفــي بينالــي غريــد فــي كيــب تــاون‬،‫المعاصــر" فــي معهــد العالــم العربــي فــي باريــس‬ ،‫ بالقاهــرة أيضــا‬18 ،17 ‫ باإلضافــة إلــى صالــون األهــرام للفــن التشــكيلي ودرب‬،"‫(أو) بالقاهــرة بعنــوان "شــيء آخــر‬ ‫ "تمشــيات صبــاح‬،‫ والحيــوان هــو مؤســس‬.‫كمــا كتبــت عنــه مقــاالت فــي مطبوعــات عديــدة فــي جميــع أنحــاء المنطقــة‬ ‫ وهــي مبــادرة تدعــو المشــاركين إلــى اكتشــاف األحيــاء المختلفــة فــي مصــر مــن خــال نشــاط التصويــر‬،"‫الســبت‬ .‫الفوتوغرافــي فــي الشــارع‬

Karim El Hayawan Caught Up, Somewhere Down, 2019 Video Installation Photo (top): Abdallah Dawestashy

Still images courtesy of the artist

ART D’ÉGYPTE

‫مريان فهمي‬ ATLAS SERIES Marianne works with acrylic sheets and 3D prints in her installation, where she applies thermoforming techniques to shape the acrylic into fabricated objects. The objects are inspired by water graphs and charts. Working in varying mediums, Marianne creates immersive environments that provoke awareness of our future. The project sheds light on environmental consciousness, as well as how new structures of sustainability and social development can generate fresh artistic narratives and methodologies.

52 ‫ حصلــت علــى درجــة البكالوريــوس فــي‬.‫ وهــي تعيــش وتعمــل فــي اإلســكندرية‬1992 ‫ولــدت مريــان فهمــي عــام‬ .2016 ‫ ودرســت فــي برنامــج "مــاس" اإلســكندرية للفــن المســتقل عــام‬،‫التصويــر (الرســم) مــن جامعــة اإلســكندرية‬ ‫ وحصلــت علــى إقامــة فنيــة فــي أتيليــه مونديــال فــي بــازل بسويســرا بدعــم‬،2018 ‫حصلــت علــى منحــة "مفــردات" عــام‬ .2018 ‫ وبينالــي داكار فــي‬2019 ‫ كمــا شــاركت فــي بينالــي هافانــا الثالــث عشــر‬.‫مــن المؤسســة الثقافيــة السويســرية‬ ،‫ ومتحــف نورنبيــرج للفــن المعاصــر‬،‫تــم عــرض أفالمهــا فــي مهرجــان "كينــو ديــر كونســت" الســينمائي فــي ميونيــخ‬ .‫ وجاليــري بوســت ماســترز بنيويــورك‬،‫ ومركــز الصــورة المعاصــرة بالقاهــرة‬،‫ومتحــف فريبــورج للفــن الحديــث بألمانيــا‬ ‫ وجريــدة منشــور وآرت مونثلــي (دوريــة‬،‫ ومــدى مصــر‬،‫نشــرت مقــاالت عــن أعمالهــا فــي جرائــد مثــل األهــرام اإللكترونيــة‬ .‫شــهرية عــن الفنــون) بالمملكــة المتحــدة‬

Marianne Fahmy (b. 1992) lives and works in Alexandria, Egypt. She earned her BA in painting from Alexandria University, Egypt and studied at Mass Alexandria, an independent art program in 2016. Fahmy works with installation and film. Her current work revolves around the history of water in Egypt and the intriguing story behind the establishment of oceanography and marine science education in Alexandria. Her work is based on archival material she collects as well as on texts and books. The conversations she has with scientists and urban planners add a layer of believability to the fabricated narratives she creates. She finds possibilities for creative additions that transform prescribed conventional narratives into artworks unbounded by time. Fahmy was the recipient of the Mophradat grant in 2018 and undertook an art residency at Atelier Mondial supported by the Swiss council in Basel, Switzerland. She also took part in the 13th Havana Biennale in 2019 and the Dak’Art Biennale of Contemporary African Art in Senegal, 2018. Her films have been screened at Kino der Kunst film festival in Munich; the Nürnberg Contemporary Art Museum and the Freiburg Museum for Modern Art, Germany; Contemporary Image Collective, Egypt; and Postmasters Gallery, New York, USA. Her work has been reviewed by newspapers such as al-Ahram, Mada Masr, Manshour Journal, and Art Monthly.

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

Portrait courtesy of the artist.

‫ ويــدور عملهــا الحالــي حــول تاريــخ الميــاه‬،‫تســتخدم فهمــي التركيــب فــي الفــراغ (االنستليشــن) واألفــام فــي أعمالهــا‬ ‫ تهتــم‬.‫ باإلضافــة إلــى النصــوص والكتــب‬،‫ كمــا تعتمــد فــي أعمالهــا علــى المــواد األرشــيفية التــي تجمعهــا‬،‫فــي مصــر‬ ‫بالقصــص المتعلقــة بالميــاه مثــل القصــة الكامنــة وراء إنشــاء علــم المحيطــات وتعليــم علــوم البحــار فــي اإلســكندرية‬ ‫ وتضيــف حواراتهــا مــع العلمــاء والمخططيــن العمرانييــن المصداقيــة إلــى الســرديات الخياليــة‬.‫والتــي أثــارت فضولهــا‬ ‫ حيــث تتمكــن مــن إيجــاد إضافــات إبداعيــة تحــول الســرديات التقليديــة المفترضــة إلــى عمــل فنــي‬،‫التــي تصنعهــا‬ .‫ال يحــده الوقــت‬

Marianne Fahmy Atlas Series, 2019 Installation Acrylic Sheets, epoxy resin and inkjet film Variable dimensions Photo: Abdallah Dawestashy

ART D’ÉGYPTE

‫مروان اجلمل‬ EVASIVE ETERNITY Relinquishing the senses to see a clearer reality. In darkness and silence, we can flood the senses from within. A journey unfathomable by time and space that is not achieved through rocket science and microchips, but with a still mind. The khelwa of the Qalawun complex is a location used by Sufi disciples to connect themselves with a reality that is more real than daily life, something not found anywhere while also being everywhere, a mind humbled by wonder. This dark unassuming room—without the decorative splendour of the rest of the complex—does not need earthly grandeur; it is a gateway to witness the bedazzlement of the universe and beyond. Seeking within, the student pulls away the curtains of reality to reach greater depths, greater connections, the spiritual treasures within and without. ‘This I feel is more relevant than ever, in a modern world where we hardly encounter serene moments of self-reflection, we are more likely to receive scattered information rather than get a chance to gaze back at our inner selves and the vastness that lies there.’

Marwan Elgamal (b. 1990) received his BA from the American University in Cairo, Egypt in 2012 and later his MFA in painting at the Frank Mohr Institute in Groningen, Netherlands. His interdisciplinary practice spans painting, animation, and text with a particular interest in the loss of the familiar through imagined storytelling and alternate remembrance, seeking to explore coherent narratives of identity of the self and society by disrupting these anchor points of recognition. He is interested in the drivers of culture and how images, stories and traditions instil identity. He draws from history, mythology, pop culture, archetypes and personal memory and allows for fluid interchangeability between them. Invoking the mysterious, the uncanny and otherworldly, his work depicts realms outside of recognizable locations and times, alternative maps for the viewer to experience novel connections with themselves and the world. The work seeks to place an indefiniteness to events, where change is constant, addressing contradiction and resolution, familiarity and foreignness. His work has been exhibited in Egypt and the Netherlands.

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

Portrait courtesy of the artist.

‫ وحــاز علــى درجــة ماجســتير الفنــون الجميلــة فــي الرســم مــن‬.1990 ‫ مولــود عــام‬،‫مــروان الجمــل فنــان مصــري معاصــر‬ ‫ وتمــزج‬.2012 ‫ ودرجــة البكالوريــوس مــن الجامعــة األمريكيــة فــي القاهــرة عــام‬،‫ هولنــدا‬،‫ غروننغــن‬،‫معهــد فرانــك مــور‬ ،‫ مــع اهتمــام بفقــدان األلفــة عبــر الحكــي المتخيــل والتذكــر البديــل‬،‫ممارســته الفنيــة بيــن الرســم والتحريــك والنــص‬ ‫ كمــا يركــز‬.‫ســعيا الستكشــاف ســرديات الهويــة المتماســكة للــذات والمجتمــع عبــر اإلخــال بتلــك المرتكــزات اليقينيــة‬ ً ‫ وهــو ينهــل مــن‬.‫علــى دراســة المحــركات الثقافيــة والكيفيــة التــي ترســخ بهــا الصــورة والقصــة والعــادات جــذور الهويــة‬ ‫ ليحــدث تفاعــل بيــن كافــة‬،‫ عــاوة علــى الذاكــرة الشــخصية‬،‫التاريــخ والميثولوجيــا والثقافــة الشــعبية والفنــون المعماريــة‬ ‫تخومــا تتجــاوز نطــاق الزمــان والمــكان كمــا‬ ‫ يصــور عملــه‬،‫ وباســتحضار عناصــر غرائبيــة ملغــزة وملتبســة‬.‫تلــك العناصــر‬ ً ‫ ويســعى العمــل إلــى تشــويش‬.‫ ويقــدم للمتلقــي خرائــط بديلــة حتــى يعايــش روابــط جديــدة بينــه وبيــن العالــم‬،‫نعهــده‬ ‫ وتــم عــرض عملــه‬.‫ األلفــة والغرابــة‬،‫ ويتنــاول ثنائيــات التناقــض واالســتبانة‬.‫ حيــث يكــون التغييــر هــو الثابــت‬،‫األحــداث‬ .‫فــي مصــر وهولنــدا‬

Marwan Elgamal Evasive Identity, 2019 Projection Still images Images courtesy of the artist

ART D’ÉGYPTE

‫مدحت شفيق‬ THE WISE MAN’S SHOP ‘Science, art, and culture, in essence, ennoble and form societies. Born in the period when the great Egyptian civilisation spread rapidly across the Nile valley, Imhotep was considered a genius: the God of medicine, an architect, the guardian of the secrets of physics and of the stars. I intend to use the continuity and value of these historical roots as the basis of my work. To be invited to exhibit in al-Mu‘iz Street gives me a great sense of joy and pride from being in a place with so much charm, history, and sacredness. My installation, The Wise Man’s Shop, is meant to interact with this alchemic and magical space, which looks like a refuge in the middle of the hustling and bustling city. This is also a way to show resistance to a certain type of globalisation that ends up wiping out people’s historical roots. To know the past is to have a dynamic identity which opens itself to the world and to the unknown by deciphering, synthesising, and amplifying shared values.’

‫ يجمــع شــفيق بيــن اســتحضار الفــن الشــرقي وألوانــه متأثــرا فــي‬.‫ وهــو يعيــش ويعمــل فــي ميالنــو بإيطاليــا‬1956 ‫ولــد مدحــت شــفيق فــي مصــر عــام‬ ‫ عندمــا ُمنــح جنــاح مصــر الــذي يمثلــه مــع فنانيــن آخريــن فــي بينالــي فينيســيا جائــزة الــدول‬2015 ‫ جــاء تكريمــه عــام‬.‫نفــس الوقــت بالحــركات الطليعيــة الغربيــة‬ ،‫ فــي بــاالزو دوكالــي فــي مانتــوا‬:‫ أقــام شــفيق العديــد مــن المعــارض فــي أماكــن عــرض عامــة وخاصــة فــي إيطاليــا والخــارج‬.‫ األســد الذهبــي‬- ‫المشــاركة‬ ."‫ حيــث ابتكــر عملــه الضخــم "قنــاة‬،‫ وفــي جيبلينــا‬،‫وفــي متحــف جمهوريــة ســان مارينــو‬

Medhat Shafik was born in Egypt in 1956 and currently lives and works in Milan, Italy. Shafik combines the evocations and colours of oriental art with the influences of the western avant-garde movements. His first recognition came in 1995, when the Egypt Pavilion he presented with two other artists at the Venice Biennale was awarded the Golden Lion Prize for Participating Countries. Since 1995, Shafik has held numerous exhibitions in public and private spaces in Italy including the Palazzo Ducale in Mantua; the Museum of the Republic of San Marino; and Gibellina, where he created the monumental work Qanat. In 2003, Shafik won the Nile Grand Prix at the 9th Cairo International Biennale. In 2005, he participated in the international exhibition Identità e nomadismi curated by L. Fusi and M. Pierini at Palazzo delle Papesse in Siena. In 2007, he had a solo exhibition at Palazzo Forti Museum in Verona. In 2009, he participated in Correnti Mediterranee - Artisti Arabi tra Mediterraneo e Italia, a touring project in Damascus, Beirut and Cairo. In 2011, he held a solo show at Fondazione Stelline di Milano, Milan curated by A.C. Quintavalle, while in 2012, Pilotta in Parma hosted a retrospective of his work curated by CSAC. In 2014, he exhibited in Dubai, and in 2015, he participated at Mezzo del mezzo a group show curated by C. Marcel, at Palazzo Sant’Elia in Palermo. In 2017, he held a solo show, Palmira, at the Politecnico Bovisa in Milan and at Palazzo della Ragione in Verona.

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

Portrait courtesy of the artist.

"‫ فــي المعــرض الدولــي "ايدينتيتيــه ايــه نوماديزمــي‬2005 ‫ وشــارك عــام‬.‫ فــي بينالــي القاهــرة الدولــي التاســع‬2003 ‫فــاز شــفيق بجائــزة النيــل الكبــرى عــام‬ ‫ معرضــا‬2007 ‫ وقــد أقــام فــي عــام‬.‫ بييرنــي فــي بــاالزو ديلــي بابيســي فــي ســيينا‬.‫ فوســي وم‬.‫ وكانــا منســقي المعــرض همــا ل‬،)‫(الهويــة والترحــال‬ ،)‫ فــي "كورينتــي ميديتيرانيــه" (تيــارات البحــر المتوســط بيــن فنانيــن عــرب وإيطالييــن‬2009 ‫ شــارك فــي عــام‬.‫فرديــا فــي متحــف بــاالزو فورتــي فــي فيرونــا‬ ‫ـردا فــي مؤسســة "ســتيلينا دي ميالنــو" قــام بتنســيقه‬ ً ‫ أقــام‬،2011 ‫ فــي عــام‬.‫وهــو مشــروع فنــي متنقــل بيــن دمشــق وبيــروت والقاهــرة‬ ً ‫معرضــا منفـ‬ ،‫ عــرض أعمالــه فــي دبــي‬،2014 ‫ فــي عــام‬.‫ مجموعــة مــن أعمالــه المبكــرة والحديثــة‬2012 ‫ بينمــا اســتضاف بيلوتــا فــي بارمــا عــام‬،‫ كوينتافالــي‬.‫ســي‬.‫ايه‬ ،2017 ‫ وفــي عــام‬.‫ فــي بــاالزو ســانت إليــا فــي باليرمــو‬،‫ مارســيل‬.‫ شــارك فــي المعــرض الجماعــي "ميــزو ديــل ميــزو" بتنســيق مــن ســي‬،2015 ‫وفــي‬ .‫ فــي "بوليتكنيكــو بوفيــزا" فــي ميالنــو وفــي بــاالزو ديــا ريجيونيــه فــي فيرونــا‬،"‫أقــام معرضــا فرديــا "بالميــرا‬

Medhat Shafik The Wise Man’s Shop, 2019 Installation Photos: Abdallah Dawestashy

Courtesy of Gallery Misr

ART D’ÉGYPTE

‫معاذ الدماصي‬ BUILDING The science of engineering (mathematical logic) has benefitted from the rules of nature by converting them into formulas, geometric equations, and practical forms. Integrated construction is inspired by shapes that occur in nature such as curves. Finding the rules that control these natural forms and the logic behind them allows us to apply our knowledge to the technical process of construction. The structural unit is the basis of developing a new form. The structural style of the building or its structural appearance depends on whether it displays the inner space or the solid mass that contains the space.

.2015 ‫ وحصــل علــى درجــة البكالوريــوس فــي الفنــون التطبيقيــة عــام‬،1992 ‫ُولــد معــاذ الدماصــي فــي الشــرقية عــام‬ ‫ وعضــو فــي جمعيــة محبــي‬،‫ وعضــو نقابــة مصممــي الفنــون التطبيقيــة‬،‫هــو عضــو فــي نقابــة الفنــون التشــكيلية‬ .‫الفنــون الجميلــة بمصــر‬ Moaaz El Dmasy was born in Egypt in 1992 and received his BA in applied arts in 2015. He is a member of the Plastic Arts Syndicate, the Applied Arts Designers Syndicate, and the Fine Arts Lovers Association.

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

Portrait courtesy of the artist.

Moaaz El Dmasy Building, 2019 Ceramics Variable dimensions Images courtesy of the artist and MO4 Network

ART D’ÉGYPTE

‫حممد بناوي‬ NEW HARVEST SEASON We set out for our land, the ‘Land of the Nile’. Over the horizon, a white, transparent mist rises, replete with the fragrance of mulberry trees. Soon, the sun starts to shine, its golden threads weaving through the ears of wheat, breaking on the walls of temples, houses, and rocks, until the soil, the stones and the fields turn to gold. Our ancestors’ hymns rise with the blessing of Habi, the god of the Nile, mixing with the sounds of the harvesters’ sickles reaping the grain and the friction of their feet against the remaining husks on the ground stripped bare behind them. They leave scattered piles of grain, which the workers quickly remove, stacking them on the edge of the land. Then the women arrive to pick up the few scattered ears missed by the harvesters’ sickles and the pickers’ hands. At the end comes the role of the bulls, and we sing for them, ‘Smash, O bulls, hay will be your fodder, and grain will go to your masters’. We jump, play, sing, work, and bring water and food to the harvesters. We hand a sickle to one of them and a rope to another. We celebrate the bride of wheat and leave large piles of the crop for any visitor to Thebes to take from, to bless the harvest of a great season, which our land has not known for thousands of years.

‫ وماجســتير فــي العالقــة بيــن اللوحــة الجداريــة‬،2000 ‫ جامعــة حلــوان بالقاهــرة عــام‬- ‫حصــل محمــد بنــاوي علــى البكالوريــوس مــن كليــة الفنــون الجميلــة‬ ‫ وقــد‬،2000 ‫ قــام بالتدريــس فــي كليــة فنــون جميلــة منــذ عــام‬.2015 ‫ ثــم درجــة الدكتــوراه فــي فلســفة الفــن‬،2009 ‫الفرعونيــة واألفريقيــة األمريكيــة عــام‬ ‫ لنــدن‬- ‫ فينيســيا‬- ‫ شــارك فــي معــارض وفعاليــات متنوعــة أقيمــت فــي مصــر وخارجهــا (رومــا‬.‫كــرس بنــاوي الكثيــر مــن وقتــه لقضايــا حقــوق اإلنســان‬ ‫ وحصــل علــى العديــد مــن الجوائــز عــن أعمالــه الموجــودة حاليــا فــي مجموعــات خاصــة‬،)‫ المملكــة العربيــة الســعودية‬- ‫ أســبانيا‬- ‫ رافينــا‬- ‫ نيويــورك‬‫ نُ شــر أحــد أعمالــه كنمــوذج لفــن الفسيفســاء المعاصــر فــي "ارتيمينــدو" (وهــو كتــاب مدرســي‬.‫ومجموعــات فنيــة علــى المســتويين القومــي والدولــي‬ .)‫يــدرس فــي المــدارس اإليطاليــة‬ ّ

Mohamed Banawy obtained his BA in 2000, his MA in the relation between ancient Egyptian and African American mural painting in 2009, and his PhD in art philosophy in 2015 from the faculty of Fine Arts at Helwan University in Cairo where he has also taught since 2000. Banawy has devoted much time to human rights issues since 2000. He has participated in numerous exhibitions, biennales, and events in Egypt and abroad (including Italy, Spain, the UK, the USA, and the KSA) and has received several awards for his work, which is now represented in private, national, and international collections. One of his works was published as a model of contemporary mosaic art in Artemondo, the art textbook for Italian schools. Banawy says of his art, ‘I can see the whole world and feel it; like a huge mosaic panel, that was formed unconsciously—with no intention at all—in which all the creatures play a role. Two of these creatures are the Goodness that builds the cities and the Evil that destroys them. When we build a house or plant a tree, or when we have a demonstration, what we are doing is putting a piece or some stones to create a huge panel. Same as when we destroy a house—we participate in a particular change in its texture by applying some different tentacles and spaces that should happen as if they are destined to be there. That’s why I see the world as a mosaic panel with constantly changing features as they have since the universe was created and will continue to change until the Resurrection.’

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

Portrait courtesy of the artist.

‫ "أســتطيع أن أرى العالــم كلــه وأشــعر بــه بمجــرد وقــوع عينــي علــى لوحــة فسيفســائية ضخمــة تشــكلت دون وعــي – ودون أي نيــة علــى‬:‫عــن فنــه يقــول‬ ‫ فكمــا هــو الحــال‬،‫ اثنــان مــن هــذه الكائنــات همــا الخيــر الــذي يبنــي المــدن والشــر الــذي يدمرهــا‬.‫دورا مــا‬ ‫اإلطــاق – والتــي لعبــت فيهــا جميــع الكائنــات‬ ً ً ‫عندمــا نبنــي منـ‬ ‫ ينطبــق هــذا كذلــك‬.‫ـزل أو نــزرع شــجرة أو عندمــا نقــوم بمظاهــرة – مــا نفعلــه هــو وضــع قطعــة مــا أو بعــض الحجــارة لخلــق لوحــة ضخمــة‬ ‫ فيبــدو وكأنــه كان‬،‫عندمــا نقــوم بتدميــر منــزل – فإننــا نشــارك فــي تغييــر معيــن فــي نســيجه مــن خــال تبديــل مواضــع قطــع الحجــارة والمســاحات مــا بينهــا‬ ‫ لهــذا الســبب أرى العالــم علــى هيئــة لوحــة فسيفســائية حيــث تتغيــر مالمحهــا باســتمرار كمــا حــدث منــذ خلــق الكــون وسيســتمر‬.‫مقــدرا لهــا أن تكــون هنــاك‬ ".‫التغييــر حتــى يــوم القيامــة‬

Mohamed Banawy New Harvest Season, 2019 Polyester and mud 350 x 350 cm Images courtesy of MO4 Network

ART D’ÉGYPTE

‫حممد منيصري‬ I, THE PET LION FROM THE SERIES TAXIDERMY DREAMS Similar to his earlier works, Storyteller (Hikka’, 2016) and Taxidermy Dreams (2018), in this project, Monaiseer relies on historical tales and fairy stories, both ancient and contemporary. These tales embrace hidden messages and religious connotations that affect the consciousness of the new generation represented in a dream situation. In Ibn Sirin’s book of dream interpretations, it is stated that seeing a lion in a dream symbolizes the presence of a traitor or an enemy in the life of the seer. It is a message and a warning to the seer that his death is near, or that some calamity or serious danger will befall him in the coming period of his life. Seeing a lion entering the house of the seer indicates the death of a sick person or an intensification of his disease. It may also indicate the occurrence of great injustice to the house and the family of the seer. 62

Seeing a lion entering the city of the seer in the dream is an indication of a disease or plague that will affect the land. It may be a sign of a coming injustice to the land and its people. Seeing oneself riding a lion in the dream, refers to the near travel of the seer, but that that travel may be irreversible. This may warn the seer to think again about his travel because it is not commendable and will not bring him any benefit.

‫ تصــف لوحاتــه ورســوماته التــي تتماهــى مــع الحــرف‬.‫ بالقاهــرة حيــث يعمــل ويعيــش‬1989 ‫ولــد محمــد منيصيــر عــام‬ ‫ ويالحــظ‬.‫ مفاهيــم الصوفيــة والتســامي مثــل التحــوالت فــي علــم الكيميــاء والميتافيزيقــا والتاريــخ الشــفاهي‬،‫التراثيــة‬ ‫فــي أعمالــه التكــرار الشــبيه بالوســواس والــذي يــدل علــى قــوة الكلمــة أو الشــكل بعــد تضخيمــه وإعــادة إنتاجــه عــدة‬ ،‫ يستكشــف منيصيــر فــي أعمالــه ومــن خــال المــادة الخــام لألنســجة واألقمشــة والــورق التــي تشــبه الكفــن‬.‫مــرات‬ ‫ فــإن هــذا العمــل اليــدوي أقــرب مــا‬،‫ وبالنســبة لــه‬.‫أفــكارا أثيريــة عــن علــم النفــس وتعقيــدات الوعــي اإلنســاني والــروح‬ ‫ حصــل منيصيــر علــى درجــة البكالوريــوس فــي التربيــة‬.‫يكــون إلــى الطقــوس والتــي تتحــول مــع تكرارهــا إلــى تأمــات‬ .‫الفنيــة وماجســتير الفنــون مــن جامعــة القاهــرة‬ Mohammed Monaiseer was born in Cairo, Egypt (1989) where he currently lives and works. His drawings and paintings resemble heritage craft and delineate mystical and transcendental concepts such as, alchemy, metaphysics, and oral histories. The obsessive-like repetition observed in his works comments on the potency of a word or figure after it has been multiplied and reproduced ad nauseam. The shroud-like raw forms of fabric, canvas, and paper add to ethereal notions of parapsychology and the intricacies of human consciousness and spirit that Monaiseer explores in his work. To him, this extensive handiwork is akin to ritual, with repetitions turning into meditations. Monaiseer received his BA in educational art and his MFA from Cairo University.

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

Portrait courtesy of the artist.

Seeing a domesticated or pet lion in a dream indicates that the seer has become a more flexible person. The seer must then abandon some of his old bad habits and adopt more beneficial ones.

Mohamed Monaiseer I, the Pet Lion, 2019 (From the series Taxidermy Dreams) Installation Variable dimensions Image courtesy of MO4 Network

Courtesy of the artist and

This project was made during the

Athr Gallery, Jeddah

artist’s residency at Delfina Foundation

ART D’ÉGYPTE

‫حممد شكري‬ SUBLIMITY

Sublimity is a conceptual idea about transcendental emotions that evolve beyond the materialistic world. The main essence of Islam is monotheism and divinity. The installation reflects the feeling of circulation as a primary act of unity. The circulation of worshippers around the Holy Ka‘ba is one of the most important acts that unites people around the same belief and objective. It is an act of sheer awe-inspiring serenity. Sublimity shows a metaphoric circulation that is the heart of a unity that evolves with the emotions to transcendental feeling and reaches a sublime state of satisfaction mixed with feelings of lightness, serenity, and purity.

Mohamed Shoukry is a contemporary artist born in Cairo, Egypt in 1976 where he currently lives and works. Shoukry holds a PhD in video sculpture from the Faculty of Applied Arts, Helwan University. He has exhibited in various international art venues including Galerie der Kunstler, Munich, Germany (2017); Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, UAE (2016); and the Dak’Art Biennale of Contemporary African Art, Senegal (2014); among others. Shoukry has received several awards over his career including a Fulbright fellowship in New York (2014); third prize at the Youth Salon, Cairo (2005); and first prize in the Talaa exhibition for three consecutive years, Cairo (1999–2001). He was artist in residence at several programs including Prohelvetia, Zurich, Switzerland (2011); Haslla Museum, Gangnueung, South Korea (2011); and Triangle Trust, Taiwan (2004). He has also participated in many national and international workshops, particularly at the Goethe Institute in Cairo, Egypt. His work is in both public and private collections including the Haslla Museum and the Contemporary Art Museum, Cairo, Egypt. His works has also been featured in several publications including Frieze Magazine, Nafas Magazine, Egypt Today, al-Beit Magazine, and Papyrus Magazine.

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

Portrait courtesy of the artist.

‫ وهــو حاصــل علــى درجــة‬.‫ حيــث يعيــش ويعمــل حاليــا‬1976 ‫محمــد شــكري فنــان معاصــر ولــد فــي القاهــرة فــي عــام‬ ‫ شــارك فــي العدیــد مــن المعــارض الدوليــة‬.‫الدكتــوراه فــي فــن النحــت مــن كليــة الفنــون التطبيقيــة بجامعــة حلــوان‬ ‫؛‬٢٠١٦ ‫ اإلمــارات‬،‫ الشــارقة‬،‫؛ ومتحــف الشــارقة للفنــون‬2017 ،‫ومنھــا معــرض "جاليــري ديــر كونســتلر" بمدینــة ميونــخ‬ ‫ ولــه كذلــك العدیــد مــن المشــاركات فــي اغلــب المعــارض المحلیــة منــذ ســنة‬.٢٠١٤‫وبینالــي داكار الدولــي بالســنغال‬ ‫ كمــا‬،‫ وحتــى اآلن مثــل صالــون الشــباب والمعــرض القومــي وأعمــال صغیــرة وغیرھــم مــن المعــارض القوميــة‬١٩٩٦ ‫ بمعھــد جوتــة القاھــرة والعدیــد مــن الــورش العمــل الدوليــة والمحلیــة‬٢٠٠٤ ،٢٠٠٢ ‫انــه شــارك فــي معــارض دار الحــوار‬ ‫؛ والعدیــد‬٢٠٠٤ ،‫؛ وورشــة عمــل بتايــوان‬٢٠١٠ ،‫منھــا ورشــة عمــل فــي الفنــون التفاعلیــة تنظیــم المعھــد السويســري‬ ‫ كمــا انــه حصــل‬،‫مــن ورش العمــل المحلیــة فــي ســباكة البرونــز والفتوغرافیــا والرســوم المتحركــة والتجھیــز فــي الفــراغ‬ ‫ وحصــل علــى العديــد مــن الجوائــز‬.2011 ‫ وسويســرا‬،2011 ‫ وكوريــا الجنوبيــة‬،٢٠٠٤ ‫علــى منحــة فنــان مقیــم بتايــوان‬ ‫؛ والجائــزة األولــى نحــت بمعــرض‬2005 ،‫؛ والجائــزة الثالثــة نحــت صالــون الشــباب‬2014 ‫منھــا منحــة فولبریــت نيويــورك‬ .١٩٩٩ ‫؛ والجائــزة الثانيــة فــى التصمیــم مــن معھــد جوتــة بالمانیــا‬٢٠٠٢ ‫ حتــى‬٢٠٠٠ ‫الطالئــع ثــاث ســنوات متتاليــة مــن‬

Mohamed Shoukry Sublimity, 2019 Installation 200 x 100 cm Photos: Abdallah Dawestashy

ART D’ÉGYPTE

‫شريين جرجس‬ CAIRO TRILOGY These two large-scale kinetic sculptures are part of a series of three works shown at The Third Line, Dubai in 2013, on the occasion of Sherin Guirguis’s first solo show in the region, entitled Passages//Toroq. These works are inspired by Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz’s Cairo Trilogy, which maps the cultural evolution/ revolution in Egypt and the breakdown and reconstruction of post-colonial Egypt. Fabricated in the shape of traditional Arabic jewellery and constructed from materials similar to harem mashrabiyyas, these decorative pieces and their rocking movements reference a woman’s body as she walks down a public street. Functioning only when interacted with by a viewer, fluctuating from passive and beautiful to flailing and threatening, the sculptures allude to the role each individual has in contributing towards established sexual mores. Qasr Al Shoaq moves slowly and methodically on a single axis, rocking slowly back and forth. El Sokareya is completely static and deconstructed. Shifts in cultural and political paradigms are embodied in the objects’ formal language, both decorative and minimal, as well as the performative interactions. 66

1997 ‫ حصلــت علــى درجــة البكالوريــوس مــن جامعــة كاليفورنيــا فــي ســانتا بربــارة فــي عــام‬.1974 ‫ولــدت شــيرين جرجــس بمدينــة األقصــر فــي مصــر عــام‬ ‫ يطــرح عملهــا‬.‫ نشــأت فــي القاهــرة وتعيــش اآلن فــي لــوس أنجلــوس‬.2001 ‫وشــهادة الماجســتير فــي الفنــون مــن جامعــة نيفــادا فــي الس فيجــاس عــام‬ ‫ حيــث يشــمل عملهــا القضايــا الرســمية واالجتماعيــة مــن خــال الجمــع بيــن اللغــة الغربيــة المختصــرة لعلــم الجمــال‬،‫تســاؤالت حــول سياســة الزخرفــة‬ .‫البســيط مــع ذلــك الجمــال الخــاص بالزخــارف العربيــة الشــرقية‬

Sherin Guirguis was born in Luxor, Egypt in 1974. She received her BA from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1997 and her MFA from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2001. Raised in Cairo and now living in Los Angeles, Guirguis’s work investigates the politics of ornamentation. Her work engages both formal and social concerns by juxtaposing the reductive Western language of minimalist aesthetics with that of Eastern Arabic ornamentation. Guirguis has held solo exhibitions including Daughter of the Nile/Bint al-Nil at the Tahrir Cultural Center, American University in Cairo, Egypt (2019); Of Thorns and Love, Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles, California (2018); El Beit El Kabir, The Third Line, Dubai, UAE (2016); Passages//Toroq, The Third Line, Dubai, UAE (2013); Solo Project, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Arizona (2012); Qasr El Shoaq, LAXART, Los Angeles, California (2010). In 2012, she was awarded the prestigious California Community Foundation Fellowship for Visual Artists. Guirguis’s work has been acquired by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California; the Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, California; the Houston Museum of Fine Art, Houston, Texas; the Las Vegas Museum of Contemporary Art, Nevada; the Metropolitan Authority Los Angeles, Public Art Commission, California; and the US Consulate in Jeddah, KSA.

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

Portrait courtesy of the artist.

‫)؛ "عــن الشــوك‬2019( ،‫ القاهــرة‬،‫ مركــز التحريــر الثقافــي‬،‫ "بنــت النيــل" بالجامعــة األمريكيــة فــي القاهــرة‬،‫أقامــت جرجــس معــارض فرديــة مــن بينهــا‬ ‫)؛‬2016( ‫ اإلمــارات العربيــة المتحــدة‬،‫ دبــي‬،‫ الخــط الثالــث‬،"‫)؛ "البيــت الكبيــر‬2018( ،‫ كاليفورنيــا‬،‫ لــوس أنجلــوس‬،‫ متحــف الفنــون الشــعبية والحــرف‬،"‫والحــب‬ ‫)؛‬2012( ‫ أريزونــا‬،‫ سكوتســديل‬،‫ متحــف سكوتســديل للفــن المعاصــر‬،‫)؛ مشــروع فــردي‬2013( ‫ اإلمــارات العربيــة المتحــدة‬،‫ دبــي‬،‫ الخــط الثالــث‬،"‫"طــرق‬ ‫ زمالــة مؤسســة كاليفورنيــا المجتمعيــة المرموقــة للفنانيــن‬2012 ‫ منحــت فــي عــام‬.)2010( ‫ كاليفورنيــا‬،‫ لــوس أنجلــوس‬،‫ الكــس ارت‬،"‫"قصــر الشــوق‬ ،‫ نيوبــورت بيتــش‬،‫ كاليفورنيــا؛ ومتحــف مقاطعــة أورانــج للفنــون‬،‫ توجــد أعمــال جرجــس الفنيــة فــي متحــف مقاطعــة لــوس أنجلــوس للفنــون‬.‫البصرييــن‬ ،)‫ نيفــادا؛ هيئــة العاصمــة (الميتروبوليتــان‬،‫ تكســاس؛ ومتحــف الس فيغــاس للفــن المعاصــر‬،‫ هيوســتن‬،‫كاليفورنيــا؛ ومتحــف هيوســتن للفنــون الجميلــة‬ .‫ المملكــة العربيــة الســعودية‬،‫ جــدة‬،‫ القنصليــة األمريكيــة‬،‫ كاليفورنيــا؛ ووزارة الخارجيــة األمريكيــة‬،‫ لجنــة الفنــون العامــة‬،‫لــوس أنجلــوس‬

Sherin Guirguis El Sokareya, 2012

Qasr Al Shoaq, 2010

Plywood

Plywood, aluminium and lead

213.36 x 213.36 x 223.52 cm

175.26 x 238.76 x 68.58 cm

Photo: Abdallah Dawestashy

Image courtesy of the artist and Third Line Gallery

ART D’ÉGYPTE

‫طارق جنا‬ The Ankh Tawi Redux: Phantoms of a Forgotten City Papyri and lotuses, rising from Hapi, creating the eternal knot of the Sema Tawi … within which ephemeral phantoms of a forgotten city are reimagined … dreaming of a certain rebirth … of a resurrection of its whole … Reimagining, and ultimately reconstituting, the great White Enclosures of Memphis and Heliopolis … of later phantoms of Babylon … of Fustat … of the City Victorious. Maq‘ad Mamay lies at the very nexus of historic Islamic Cairo … a physical spatial coincidence that invites those Sema Tawi ephemeral phantoms to inhabit its spatial memory

Thus, in an act of defiance of self-reflection, re-mapping a future Greater ‘Cairo’ … to become … to be unforgotten … and begotten, once again … The Ankh Tawi Redux! ‫ يتنــاول العمــل فــي اإلســتوديو مفهــوم‬.‫القاهــرة‬/‫طــارق نجــا هــو مؤســس ومديــر مشــروع ســتوديو نجــا للهندســة المعماريــة ومقــره لــوس أنجلوس‬ ‫ عرفــت أعمالــه علــى مســتوى دولــي ونشــرت علــى‬.‫ فــي مدينــة فينيــس بكاليفورنيــا‬1991 ‫ تجريبيــة) وقــد تأســس عــام‬/ ‫(ممارســة معماريــة اســتقصائية‬ ‫ دعــي إللقــاء‬.‫نطــاق واســع فــي مطبوعــات متنوعــة ومتخصصــة دوليــة فــي الواليــات المتحــدة وأوروبــا واليابــان والصيــن وروســيا والشــرق األوســط‬ ‫ لجائــزة ماركــوس فــي الهندســة‬2007 ‫ تــم ترشــيحه فــي عــام‬.‫محاضــرات فــي العديــد مــن الجامعــات والمؤسســات األكاديميــة فــي جميــع أنحــاء العالــم‬ ‫ إللقائــه الخطــاب الرئيســي فــي‬2009 ‫ كمــا تــم تكريمــه فــي أكتوبــر‬.‫ مصــر‬،2009 ‫المعماريــة (الواليــات المتحــدة) وجائــزة الدولــة لفنــون التميــز اإلبداعــي‬ ‫ كان الدافــع وراء أعمــال نجــا التجريبيــة هــو مفهــوم "الهندســة المعماريــة المســتقبلية" حيــث‬.‫مؤتمــر التــراث العالمــي لــدول الشــمال فــي كوبنهاجــن‬ ‫ تشــمل‬.‫يطمــح إلــى خلــق مجموعــة مــن األعمــال التــي تتحــدى الوضــع الراهــن للهندســة المعماريــة وتشــارك فــي خطــاب معمــاري حقيقــي وطليعــي‬ ،‫ المخطــط الرئيســي لهضبــة أهرامــات الجيــزة والتصميــم المعمــاري لهــا‬،)‫المخطــط الرئيســي لممفيــس نيكروبوليــس (اليونســكو‬:‫مشــاريعه الحديثة‬ ‫ المتحــف المصــري‬،‫ تركيــب فــي الفــراغ (انستليشــن) لطوكيــو طوبــاري فــي أســبوع مصممــي طوكيــو‬،‫المخطــط والتصميــم الرئيســي ألوقيانــا فــي دبــي‬ ،)‫ تركيــب فــي الفــراغ (انستليشــن‬،‫ مركــز نــارا للموســيقى ودار األوبــرا‬،‫ محطــة رصيــف يوكوهامــا‬،‫ مصــر‬،‫ القاهــرة‬،‫ مســابقة متحــف العلــوم‬،‫الكبيــر‬ .‫ جنــاح مصــر‬،2000 ‫ بينالــي فينيســيا‬،‫الموســيقى الجنائزيــة فــي الجامعــة األمريكيــة بالقاهــرة‬ Tarek Naga is the founder and principal of the Los Angeles/Cairo–based Naga Studio Architecture, an investigative/ experimental architectural practice established in 1991 in Venice, California. His work has been internationally recognized and widely published in various international professional publications in the USA, Europe, Japan, China, Russia, and the Middle East, and he has been invited to lecture in many universities and academic institutions throughout the world. He was nominated for the Marcus Prize in Architecture (USA, 2007) and for the State Award in the Arts for Creative Excellence (Egypt, 2009). In October 2009, he was granted the honour of delivering the keynote speech at the Nordic World Heritage Conference in Copenhagen. Naga’s experimental work is driven by the notion of the ‘Architecture of Becoming’ and aspires to create a body of work that challenges the status quo in architecture and engages in a genuine avant-garde architectural discourse. Recent projects include the Memphis Necropolis WHS Master Plan (UNESCO); the Giza Pyramids Plateau Master Plan and Architectural Design (Egypt); the Master Planning and Design of Oqyana (Dubai); an installation for Tokyo Tobari at the Tokyo Designers Week (Japan); the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM, Egypt); the Science Museum competition (Egypt); Yokohama Pier Terminal and Nara Music Centre and Opera House (Japan); AUC Requiem Installation (Egypt); and the Venice Biennale 2000 Egypt Pavilion (Italy).

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

Portrait courtesy of the artist.

in an imaginary narrative … a collective dream … of eradicating the selective amnesia that befell that great city … that violated the inviolable Omphalos of the Ankh Tawi … the golden braid of the Black Land Kemet.

Tarek Naga The Ankh Tawi Redux: Phantoms of a Forgotten City, 2019 Multimedia installation Images courtesy of MO4 Network

This project is supported by the NADIM Factory and Foundation

ART D’ÉGYPTE

‫يامسني املليجي‬ THE MUSEUM GIFT SHOP A site-specific multimedia installation consisting of a sculpted reproduction of seventeenth and eighteenth-century ivory anatomical eye models from the Pharmazie-Historisches Museum in Basel, Switzerland placed on glass shelves in the form of mass-produced souvenirs at a museum gift shop and located inside Bimaristan Qalawun. The project is part of an ongoing series that explores the space between object and history. It integrates links between the history of Islamic ophthalmology in Egypt and Western pharmaceutical artefacts, through the observation of the current anatomy of Qalawun’s eye hospital, as well as the history of scientific studies that have been used for the development of medicine and of the pharmaceutical object industry and how it is affected by the political and economic changes in Egypt.

‫تقــوم فــي عملهــا بعقــد المقارنــات وتفنيــد التناقضــات المصاحبــة لعمليــة التجديــد مــع تلــك التــي تصــل للترميــم طامســة بذلــك الخطــوط بيــن مــا هــو‬ .‫ تتفحــص الفنانــة ممارســاتها أثنــاء تطورهــا عبــر دورات التنقيــب والترميــم واإلبــداع‬.‫ بينمــا تلهــو بمفارقــات الهشاشــة والقــوة‬،‫شــخصي وغيــر شــخصي‬ .‫ وبالتالــي مــع تجربــة المشــاهد‬،‫تســعى إلــى تجميــع التركيبــات فــي الفــراغ (االنستليشــن) التــي تعمــل بشــكل مجــازي حيــث تتفاعــل مــع مســاحة العــرض‬ ‫ حيــث يمكنهــم مشــاركة‬،‫ عواطفهــا الخاصــة وبيــن تلــك الخاصــة بهــم‬/ ‫ وهــي مســاحة بيــن ذكرياتهــا‬،‫تُ شــكل عروضهــا نقطــة التقــاء بينهــا وبيــن اآلخريــن‬ ‫ تتنــاول الفنانــة أعمالهــا بشــكل مــرح واستكشــافي وتأملــي فهــي تعيــد بنــاء األشــياء مــن الحيــاة اليوميــة التــي تجســد أســئلة‬.‫األســئلة نفســها أو غيرهــا‬ ‫ فــإن أعمالهــا مغرقــة فــي الماديــة والتــي تتــم‬،‫ وكونهــا فنانــة تفكــر بيديهــا‬.‫متنوعــة حيــث يعكــس تناولهــا العملــي فــي األســتديو مواضيعهــا الرئيســية‬ ‫ ســوف يــروي‬،‫ فمــن الجبــس إلــى الزجــاج ومــن الشــمع إلــى األســمنت‬.‫بعــد بحــث بســيط وتلقائــي مــن خــال إنتــاج دقيــق وتعامــل مــع الوســائط المختلفــة‬ .‫الوســيط القصــة بجانــب الشــيء الموجــود فــي مســاحته الخاصــة‬ Yasmine El Meleegy is a multidisciplinary artist based in Cairo, Egypt (b. 1991). El Meleegy studied multimedia at the École supérieure des beaux arts de Nimes (ESBAN) in France and was part of the 2016 MASSALEX programme for contemporary arts in Alexandria. She uses sculpture, video, multimedia installation and interdisciplinary approaches to probe existential questions and personal emotional triggers. She delves into the many connotations of (re)construction to explore the essence of production, infrastructures, and renovation as she views them in the context of architecture, monuments, public and private spaces. She investigates the ways in which renovation attempts will inevitably result in reconstructions, while highlighting the contrasts and discrepancies of this process. Is renovation a way to bring the past into the future? What is gained, lost, or revealed during a process of renovation? In her work, El Meleegy compares and contrasts the process of renovating with that of healing, blurring the lines between personal and non-personal, while toying with the paradoxes of fragility and strength. Her practice becomes one that constantly looks in on itself as it evolves through cycles of excavation, restoration, and creation. She seeks to assemble installations that function metaphorically, as they engage with the space of exhibiting, and in turn with the viewer’s experience. Her displays form a meeting point between herself and others, a space between her memories/emotions and theirs, where they might share the same questions or new ones. Her approach is playful, explorative, and introspective as she reconstructs objects from daily life that embody those various questions. Her hands-on studio process mirrors her central themes. An artist who thinks with her hands, her process is steeped in materiality, following an intuitive exploration through rigorous production and the handling of different mediums. From plaster to glass, wax to cement, the medium will tell the story alongside the object in its space.

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

Portrait courtesy of the artist.

‫ بعــد تخرجهــا مــن كليــة الفنــون الجميلــة بالقاهــرة قســم‬.‫حاليــا‬ ‫ حيــث تعيــش وتعمــل‬،1991 ‫ياســمين المليجــي فنانــة بصريــة ولــدت فــي القاهــرة عــام‬ ً "‫ كمــا شــاركت فــي برنامــج "مــاس‬،‫ قامــت بدراســة الوســائط المتعــددة فــي مدرســة الفنــون الجميلــة العليــا بمدينــة نيــم بفرنســا‬2013 ‫تصويــر عــام‬ ‫ تهتــم فــي أعمالهــا الحاليــة بالبحــث عــن األســئلة الوجوديــة والمؤثــرات عاطفيــة شــخصية مــن خــال بالنحــت‬.2016 ‫باإلســكندرية للفنــون المعاصــرة عــام‬ ‫ تتعمــق فــي العديــد مــن دالالت إعــادة البنــاء الستكشــاف جوهــر اإلنتــاج والبنــى‬.)‫والفيديــو والتركيــب والوســائط المتعــددة فــي الفــراغ (االنستليشــن‬ ‫ وتبحــث الفنانــة عــن الطــرق التــي ســوف تــؤدي بمحــاوالت التجديــد بالتأكيــد‬.‫التحتيــة والتجديــد فــي ســياق العمــارة واآلثــار والمســاحات العامــة والخاصــة‬ ‫ هــل التجديــد يعتبــر وســيلة إلحضــار الماضــي‬.‫ بينمــا تســلط الضــوء فــي نفــس الوقــت علــى التناقضــات واالختالفــات لهــذه العمليــة‬،‫إلــى إعــادة البنــاء‬ ‫ أو تــم كشــفه أثنــاء عمليــة التجديــد؟‬،‫ أو خســارته‬،‫إلــى المســتقبل؟ ومــا الــذي تــم كســبه‬

Yasmine El Meleegy Bimaristan Qalawun Gift Shop, 2019 Mixed media installation 3 x 3 m & 280 x 70 cm Photos: Abdallah Dawestashy

This project is supported by MARMONIL Marble and Granite

ART D’ÉGYPTE

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‫كتابات‬ ‫عن الفن‬ ‫‪ART D’ÉGYPTE‬‬

Dr Yannick Lintz

I immediately responded positively to Nadine Abdel Ghaffar when last March in Cairo she asked me to contribute to the catalogue for the third edition of Art D'Égypte’s annual exhibition. This dialogue between ancient artistic heritage and Egyptian contemporary creation is a splendid idea. For me, who is in daily contact with the ancient art of Egypt, it stimulates me and raises my curiosity.

Fig. 1 Panel with hunters. © Musée du Louvre, dist. RMN - Grand Palais / Hughes Dubois

Fig. 2 Ewer with bird decorations and Kufic inscriptions. © Musée du Louvre, dist. RMN - Grand Palais / Hughes Dubois

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

The ancient art featured in this edition is notably that of the prestigious monuments built by the Fatimid caliphs and Mamluk sultans. These were times when the city of Cairo with its unique monuments was like a gem within the Mediterranean and Islamic worlds. Under the Fatimids (tenth–twelfth centuries CE), emblematic monuments such as the mosques of al-Azhar, al-Hakim, and al-Aqmar were built, as were the great gates of the wall surrounding the city. During this period, the arts flourished, between research of the movement for the animated scenes and stylization for the interiors. Mosque pulpits and wooden furniture were finely carved. The ivory marquetry depicting live scenes gave us a glimpse of the lives of princes, whether hunting wild animals or watching dancers turn to the rhythm of music. Luxury ceramics proliferated in shimmering magnificence. This economically rich period for Egypt also produced objects and jewels of precious stone, rock crystal, and gold, which, at the time, were renowned around the world, from Spain to India. The treasures of the Fatimid caliphs of Cairo—jewels, fabrics, weapons,

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and precious objects of all kinds—are often described by the Arab authors of the time (Fig. 1 & 2). And finally, Cairo owned the largest and most beautiful library in the Muslim world. Islamic Art, as defined by European art historians, really took off with the Fatimids.

Fig. 3 Lamp bearing the name of Sultan Al-Nasser Muhammad bin Qalawun © Musée du Louvre, dist. RMN - Grand Palais / Hughes Dubois

This power and glory for Egypt and its capital Cairo resurged from middle of the thirteenth century until the beginning of the sixteenth century during the reign of the 49 Mamluk sultans. The famous fourteenth-century historian and philosopher Ibn Khaldun wrote, having discovered the city in one of his travels, ‘Whoever has not seen Cairo does not know the greatness of Islamism. It is the throne of royalty, a city embellished with castles and palaces, adorned with convents and colleges, illuminated by the moon and the stars of erudition’. Who among us has not been captivated by the gigantic complex of Sultan Qalawun or by the madrasa of his predecessor Baybars? The monumental proportions are complemented by the play of the twotone coloured stones, the epigraphic friezes that delicately unfold their cursive calligraphy. Let us imagine some of the luxury objects in these great Mamluk monuments—glass lamps with blue calligraphy (Fig. 3); large red, black, and gold basins; and silverencrusted metalwork (Fig. 4)—and we come to realize the magical grandeur of these places of yesterday that were intended for the splendour of sovereigns and their families. It is a beautiful adventure to confront today this many-centuries-old heritage of Cairo with contemporary Egyptian creation. We all know how difficult it is for a visitor strolling amongst ancient monuments to imagine the ART D’ÉGYPTE

Fig. 4 Basin bearing the words, ‘Baptistery of Saint Louis’ with detail. © Musée du Louvre, dist. RMN - Grand Palais / Hughes Dubois

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Fig. 5 View of the ground floor hall of the Department of Islamic Arts. © Musée du Louvre, dist. RMN - Grand Palais / Philippe Ruault. © R. Ricciotti - M. Bellini / Musée du Louvre

splendours that accompanied them. This dialogue of the past with contemporary creation is a beautiful way to develop imagination and curiosity. Learning to see the monument, to look up, and to immerse oneself in the past thanks to the presence of living art is undoubtedly a way to better understand them as well as to comprehend the value of preserving these artistic treasures (Fig. 5). Beyond this beautiful experience with its unique educational dimensions, a question presents itself to me, as someone immersed daily in old Islamic art: Where does a contemporary work of art stand in relation to this Fatimid, Mamluk, or even Ottoman heritage? Do the artists feel they are heirs to this heritage? Or do they find their inspiration in more recent and international tradition, in the artistic questions and issues of the contemporary art market in Beijing, Los Angeles, Paris, or London? In other words, what is the essence of today’s Egyptian art? Is there a specific Egyptian style or is it inscribed in an international style? For me, a historian of medieval and modern art, the subject of the cultural identity of today’s artist is important because it raises in a broader sense a question, that of the relevance of discussing how cross-border Islamic art often denies its regional identity. Today’s artists are there to show their bias in the choices of their creation. They can therefore provide interesting answers to the historian of the past about this feeling of the specificity of Egyptian creation in relation to a more international taste and style. An exhibition is often the place where art raises questions. The uniqueness of this experience, that of the dialogue between generations of medieval and contemporary artists, urges us to face the very essence of artistic creation in its relation to heritage and cultural identity. ART D’ÉGYPTE

Dr Bahia Shehab

Ever since the earliest days of Islam, architectural and visual components have evolved with the rise and fall of the different Islamic dynasties. Arabic calligraphy, abstract geometric decoration, and soaring domes and arches are just a few examples. Islamic rituals also introduced a new set of architectural features: water fountains for the performance of ablutions, minarets for the call to prayer, and courtyards for congregation. All these components identified a city, a building, or an artefact as predominantly Islamic. Around the thirteenth century, Islamic dynasties began developing unified visual styles expressed in similar motifs appearing on different mediums. One example of this phenomenon is the artwork developed by the Mamluks, who ruled Egypt and Syria from 1250 to 1517 CE. Their geometric star pattern could be seen on mosque doors, tiles, woodwork, and in manuscripts. The Safavids (1502–1736 CE), in what is modern-day Iran, had a delicate floral motif on blue tile that could be seen on buildings, in manuscripts, and on textiles. The Ottoman Empire (1301– 1922 CE) saw the establishment of the nakkaşhane, the imperial design atelier, which employed artists to produce, among other things, designs for vegetal motifs such as blooming palmettos, carnations, pomegranate fruit, roses, peony and cherry blossoms, hyacinths, tulips, and the saz leaf. The vast array of floral motifs produced was used on mediums that ranged from textiles and tiles to religious and secular manuscripts. We can deduce therefore that these dynasties designed visual systems that identified each of them as having a unified visual language of their own. This unity reflected stable economies, rich patrons, and an intellectually thriving society. It is evident that at some points in history, visual systems developed across and within different Islamic dynasties. Before these features evolved into systems, there were key visual elements that were shared and produced in Islamic lands. Lead designers in charge of imperial workshops or studios collaborated with other workshops to produce the highly developed objects and buildings. A close modern parallel to this process would be the Bauhaus school of

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design, where a design was conceived and then applied across the different mediums and workshops that were placed at the designer’s disposal. Unfortunately, the knowledge developed by Islamic designers was not documented for posterity. With the death of each design master, their accumulated mastery and craft were lost. But even though this body of knowledge was never handed down in writing, the evidence of these Islamic designers’ genius is all around us. Their visual systems are alive in the architecture and artworks they have left behind, and which reflect the organizational management and hierarchy within a cultural system that produced art of magnificent quality. The keyword here is ‘systems’; add to it frameworks, patrons, and cultural operators, and you have a thriving cultural ecosystem. What the Arab world is lacking today is the support needed for the many small-scale cultural ecosystems that unfortunately are not finding the right channels to enter the mainstream. Art D'Égypte is creating one such ecosystem. They are on a mission to bring life to the beautiful but forgotten historic spaces of Cairo. With every edition, they bring the Egyptian and global art community into spaces that are in desperate need of attention and repurposing. Through this juxtaposition of the contemporary art scene with the rich history of the city, a new visual language is created. However, Art D'Égypte does not only shed light on the rich cultural heritage of Cairo, but also affirms that art should be accessible to everyone. They introduce people who would not necessarily consider going into an art gallery to works of art by world-renowned artists. After two successful editions—the first at the Egyptian Museum (2017) and the second at the Manial Palace (2018)—the team is focusing their attention on Islamic Cairo. Art D'Égypte chose al-Mu‘iz Street, a UNESCO World Heritage site, to host their third edition. Muhib al-Din Hall, Maq‘ad Mamay al-Sayfi, the Qalawun Complex, and Bayt al-Suhaymi, each a magnificent example of Islamic architecture in its own right, are the key spaces on al-Mu‘iz Street that Art D'Égypte will be utilizing to host work by contemporary Egyptian artists. Each of these spaces has its story, its history, and its patrons, and has witnessed centuries of human life passing in and around it. Some of them have been closed to the public while others are accessible. The Qalawun Complex (1284–85 CE) is composed of a mausoleum, a madrasa (school), and a bimaristan (hospital). Bayt al-Suhaymi (1648 CE) was built by Abdel Wahab al-Tablawy during the Ottoman rule of Egypt and purchased in 1796 CE by Sheikh Ahmed al-Suhaymi. The house opens out onto a central courtyard with the selamlik (men’s quarter) and haremlik (women’s quarters) on either side. The beautiful wooden mashrabiyyas (latticework windows) are a prominent feature of the house. Both Qalawun and Suhaymi have been open to visitors since they were restored. The Muhib al-Din Hall, built in the fourteenth century, is the only surviving part of a larger palace. The Maq‘ad (seat) of Mamay al-Sayfi is just a balcony remaining of a palace from the Mamluk era. The surviving portion consists of a main façade overlooking Bayt alART D’ÉGYPTE

Qadi Square. Near the ceiling of the maq‘ad, visitors can see a magnificent Quranic verse, the Throne Verse (2:225), transcribed in blue, red, and gold, the colours of the Mamluk dynasty. Muhib al-Din Hall and Maq‘ad Mamay are surviving structures of a bigger whole that has disappeared, similar in a way to the memory of these spaces. While both buildings have been restored, they are not always accessible to the public. Art D'Égypte is not only providing a rare opportunity for visitors to experience contemporary art in these remarkable historic buildings, it is also allowing contemporary artists to interact with exhibition spaces that would not necessarily be available to them.

Art D'Égypte is bridging historical gaps by connecting the past to the contemporary and thus to the future, allowing us to reconsider the utility of our current historic spaces and giving artists the opportunity to test ways in which they can bring them to life. We have to consider the historic design and usage of a space before we design its future. For example, when one walks into the courtyard of any of the large historic mosques in Cairo, the first thing one notices is how quiet it is. This immediate detachment from the noise and hustle of the street forces the visitor into a state of reflection. The silence signals that it is time for the mind to make room for a spiritual experience. Mosques are religious spaces for prayer and meditation. But mosque courtyards, other than alerting the visitors to the expected reverence, were also designed to host the larger number of worshippers on Fridays and served as social spaces for their communities. The mosque was a place where traders, scholars, and different factions of society met to discuss, learn, and interact. As with any building, the utility of that building guided its design. The most important word here is utility, the human experience of the space. It is no secret that with time, we have lost the multipurpose utility of, and connection to, some historic Islamic spaces for different social and political reasons. We no longer walk to the sebil for water, and we no longer bathe in a hammam on Fridays. With the advent of technology, these needs and functions have moved inside our own houses. Repurposing these historic spaces remains one of the most challenging and interesting urban exercises in many cities around the world, Cairo being no exception. With thousands of years of history, Egypt has a treasure trove of historic buildings from different eras. While many are in danger of disappearing, there are exceptions that have withstood the ravages of time. Al-Mu‘iz Street, the street that witnessed the birth of the city, is one such treasure. It is the only street in the world to combine monuments from the Fatimid (969–1171 CE), Ayyubid (1171–1250 CE), Mamluk (1250–1517 CE), and Ottoman (1517–1867 CE) eras. The experience of strolling down the street allows visitors to witness almost a millennium worth of evolution of Islamic architecture. Named after the fourth Fatimid caliph, al-Mu‘iz Street has rightfully earned its title of ‘open-air museum’ and houses architectural masterpieces that continue to reveal their secrets to this day. With time, the inhabitants of the city changed, rulers came and went, and unfortunately the

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stories of the master architects and designers who built and designed the monuments did not make it into the collective memory of the inhabitants of the megalopolis that is Cairo today. But their genius has survived: their creative solutions for sound and space, their decorations of beautiful geometric and vegetal motifs, their Arabic epigraphy, and so much more. The brilliance of these artists and architects remained on al-Mu‘iz Street over the centuries, at times recognized and appreciated and at others neglected and left to deteriorate, until the advent of another generation conscious of the importance of preservation. I always wondered about the reason why monuments on al-Mu‘iz have survived when other Cairo streets with buildings just as valuable and glorious have not. In spite of the huge losses to cultural heritage that we have witnessed to key monuments all over Cairo, al-Mu‘iz is thriving. Why? Is it because the monuments of al-Mu‘iz historically have had the richest patrons? Is it because the street has been populated since its founding? Is it because it lies on the periphery of Khan al-Khalili, a historic centre of trade and current tourist attraction? Is it luck? Patrons come and go, as does their legacy. Maybe the reason for these monuments’ survival could be their proximity to each other, as if they have been guarding each other. Is this one of the lessons al-Mu‘iz is trying to teach us? By being present and there for each other, maybe we have a chance of surviving? Currently art in the Arab world is limited to the educated elite, either because it does not speak to the masses or because it is not accessible to them. In both cases, it is the responsibility of the art community, its operators, curators, patrons, and artists, to bridge this gap. When an artwork is placed out in the world, we should take into consideration that there is an audience on the receiving end. Artists must make a conscious choice to produce art that engages and is accessible to a broader audience. If we want to move art out of its closed circles and into people’s lives, there needs to be a deliberate effort to that end. Art refines the soul, it educates, and it heals. There is no art without an audience. By collaborating with multiple parties—government, private sector, Egyptian artists, and the global art community— to renovate and repurpose closed historic spaces as art spaces, Art D'Égypte is actively bringing art to the people. The importance of this initiative cannot be emphasized enough. We need to reconsider the dead spaces in the city that have been closed off for decades and create areas where the people of Cairo can live and interact with beauty. Art is a basic need, separate from the routine consumerist activities of its audience. Just like historic Islamic spaces were places of social interaction, today’s unused spaces can also fulfil a social purpose and bring art into our daily lives. Some ideas in this article are explored further in A History of Arab Graphic Design, Bahia Shehab and Haytham Nawar, AUC Press, NY-Cairo, 2020.

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Princess Alia Al-Senussi, PhD

I am not going to offer words on the academics of archaeology, on the mechanics of a city, or even on the splendours of Cairo. Rather, I will write here an ode to what Cairo means to non-Egyptians, and perhaps what it means to the generations of people who found themselves in this city. I am half-Libyan and half-American, yet I am a product of Cairo. My mother came here to find herself, from smalltown Minnesota to this mega—magnificent—metropolis. She fell in love with Egypt, and in turn with an exiled Libyan whose family, the Senussi, were welcomed here after the coup d’état. Cairo, of course, is more than just a city, it’s the beating heart of Egypt, and in the ebbs and flows of history, often the beating heart of the Arab world. I continued my mother’s tradition, and found my life’s calling in Egypt as well, although a bit further afield. My first—unexpected—job in the arts was with Albion Gallery working on a non-profit project with world-renowned artists Ilya and Emilia Kabakov and the schoolchildren of Siwa, welcoming a community of Westerners to the desert of Egypt, the outermost Western desert, in fact, just on the border with Libya. At that time, Libya was just a myth to me, like the Oasis of Siwa, and even like the Pyramids of Giza, although I had often visited the latter. I was compelled to break down, to reimagine, what I thought of my own heritage, Libyan, Egyptian, and otherwise, as well as of the traditional structures in the arts, in film, poetry, everything. I was confronted with something that was a tangible demonstration about how art, artists, and those who support these artists can truly make a change in a community. It was a story—and a reality—of how artistic participation brings about positive social change, something we see now more and more as our world evolves, and the norms we held so dear disintegrate. I have since made my personal and professional life’s work about how the arts can help us better the world and better understand ourselves. I have even embarked on a PhD to hone this comprehension. As my advisor Charles Tripp writes, whatever the reason or medium, the city and society are essential preconditions in the works of artists.

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General view of al-Mu'iz Street. Photo: Abdallah Dawestashy

It is for this reason that visual art is a symbolic intervention that embodies memories that can affirm some aspects of collective interests in which people see a valuable case for engaging in and being part of an art work’s conversation. Art can elicit awareness from the act of mirroring the minds of the public. This makes it an important platform for change. Artistic interventions create ’a powerful shared vocabulary’ which can foster solidarities and collective identities. The art historian Nicolas Bourriaud’s ‘relational aesthetics’ of art provide insights into how social activism intersects with artistic production. Relational aesthetics are based on a set of artistic practices and human interactions with them in different social contexts, rather than the autonomous physical art object. So, in this case, it is about how we reimagine the pyramids, and how artists re-represent them for a modern time, revitalizing them through contemporary lenses. We can embrace the underpinnings of traditional cultural values, of history, through engagement with the arts, but also understand that this does not mean a refusal to evolve or to modernize. It is contemporary culture that helps preserve, transform, and expand our understanding. Relational aesthetics remind us that contemporary art, to a large extent, exists outside the museum and does not always consist of object-based pieces that sit within a space. The theory, therefore, supports the importance of analysing and understanding art based on its relational qualities and intrinsic values. It is about art’s capability as an alternative platform of social relations and how contemporary art practices can be mobilised against aspects of the status quo, but also how they can embrace a movement. That movement can be the reimagination of our most prized histories, our heritage, and how ART D’ÉGYPTE

these monuments can help us to truly make the world a better place. Romanticizing the past is often some misguided attempt at nostalgia, but instead what we hope it to be is an analysis of what we can use in the here-and-now to not repeat the mistakes our ancestors made before us.

Artists, as the scholar William Kelly affirms, can be harbingers of social commentary with the power to promote different voices. By imaging the thoughts of citizens, artists explore and re-imagine difficult issues, which then provoke challenges to the status quo through the call for genuine understanding. Accordingly, artists may engage the public on issues that reflect public interests but which the public may otherwise fail to see or choose to ignore. These can include conflicts over identity, religion, ethnicity, and gender, but also can simply be the mirror needed for society to embrace and see what their heritage and history mean—the nuances of an ancient past rather than simply the tourist attractions of the present. This is about embracing—and preserving—beauty, but also about letting some of the ugliness seep in so one understands it—for what is order without chaos, particularly in the streets of Egypt. We see the proliferation of new cultural spaces, policies, investments, and programmes that support the arts and that are examined in relation to historical identity as well as contemporary understandings. However, the key to this is not allowing something to be completely cleansed, as that eradicates the intricacy of it all. Art D'Égypte encourages contemporary artists to work with ancient themes but in the moment of now, asking themselves why can’t we be of the past, in the present, and for the future? Art D'Égypte, to me, is about the art of what it means to be Egyptian, and how this indeed affects so many who mythologize the land and its culture. Do I need to be an art historian or a scientist to understand the pyramids? Perhaps, but they also touch all those who have ever just even heard of them, let alone seen or studied them. I believe that true comprehension lies in that moment when one allows a complete and utter transformation; to be a contemporary in an ancient land and to reimagine the narrative of that place, in that time. This is not just about sentimentalizing the past, but embracing the present, and seeing visual art as a method of commemorating historical influences— pharaonic or otherwise. We ask our artists to be our historians and our revolutionaries.

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Antonella Leoni

Art opens the human soul to mysteries, and faith provides its inspiration. When art is able to transfer matter into spirit and spirit into matter in a beautiful form, a profound interaction occurs between the artist and the quintessence. Art is a journey from ‘Beauty’ that is the source of inspiration to ‘beauty’ that is its end result. This is true whether in the case of an image in Christian art or in calligraphy and ornaments in Islamic art, where both are made in the name of God’s love. Christian art uses themes and imagery from Christianity. Images of Jesus and narrative scenes from the Life of Christ are the most common subjects. When Islam was revealed, inhabitants of the Hijaz area worshipped idols shaped into statues of different forms. To ensure that such depictions would not be worshipped any more, the illustration of human form in any medium was frowned upon and declared forbidden. But art in the human heart is strong and seeks the light. Since figural imagery was not permitted in Islamic art, other themes of decoration—such as calligraphy, arabesque, and geometry—gained in importance and became perfect vehicles to express Islam and the Divine Being. Muslim artists moved away from painting and sculpture and developed calligraphy and arabesque as a way of expressing beauty. Rendering in beautiful form the divine words of the Quran became almost like a mystical exercise in worshipping Allah, the perfect Beauty. The image of the word from the Quran and the names of Allah and of holy persons were a manifestation of the invisible and intangible. Sometimes letters become a pattern and are considered sacred images to be seen more than read; the image becomes the word and the word becomes the image, the manifestation of God in visual form through the art of writing. Arabesque was also considered an artistic manifestation of the Divine Creator and Muslim artists developed new variants and transferred the natural law into unreal forms. ART D’ÉGYPTE

”‫ـب ْال َج َمال‬ ٌ ‫”إ َّن اللـ َـه َج ِميـ‬ ُّ ‫ـل ُي ِحـ‬ ِ God is beautiful and loves beauty’, this is a verse from a hadith of the prophet Muhammad PBUH, saying that external beauty reflects God’s blessing. Arabic calligraphy embodies the word of God through the Quran and it is regarded as a sacred language and a supreme art in the Islamic world. When art encounters the highest aspect of beauty, the human soul is uplifted and art becomes a contemplation, an ambiguity, a mystery, as well as a collection of thoughts and questions. Fig. 1 The Philosopher Ludwig Deutsch 1905 Oil on panel, 55 x 37.5 cm Shafik Gabr Collection

Ludwig Deutsch was an Austrian artist (1855–1935 CE) who is considered to be the best and most prolific nineteenth-century Orientalist painter. His works are exceptionally detailed and offer rich scenes of everyday Cairene life. Born in Vienna on 13 May 1855, his earliest paintings are dated 1881. He travelled to Egypt three times, in 1886, 1890, and 1898 and captured the West’s fascination with Eastern cultures and lifestyles through the remarkable craftsmanship in the rendered objects in his paintings. In The Philosopher (Fig. 1), Ludwig Deutsch depicted an inscription on marble in the square Kufic-style script commonly employed in early Mamluk architecture. This style is considered ‘the essence’ of Islamic art. In the marble panel, we read the names ‘Muhammad’ and ‘Ali’. Similar but larger marble panels at the Qalawun Complex in al-Mu‘iz Street have identical square Kufic composition, where the name ‘Muhammad’ stands out from the name ‘Ali’, which we can see in the negative space around ‘Muhammad’ (Fig. 2). Square Kufic is a geometric calligraphy in a stylized abstract form. It is a script difficult to decipher even by native

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Fig. 2 Marble panels in square Kufic calligraphy at the Qalawun Complex. Image courtesy of the author

speakers. It is a script style that attests to human inventiveness and genius, and when applied on marble, it gives a feeling of ‘whispering stones’. Kufic is literally from Kufa, a city in Southern Iraq founded in 638 CE, which was one of the prominent intellectual centres in early Islamic times. The intensive use of calligraphy appeared in the seventh century and continues to the present. It became one of the most important ways of sanctioned artistic expression in the Islamic civilization. Its importance is clearly revealed in the Quran. In Suret (chapter) al-‘Alaq we read: ‘… and your Lord is the Most Generous; He was taught by the qalam (pen)’. In Suret alQalam, we read: ‘Nun’ and ‘by the pen, and what they inscribe’.

The Quran describes the importance of writing also in the mention of two recording angels who document men’s deed with reed pens. These kinds of pens are still used by calligraphers, and each script requires a reed of different size and different cut-nib. On the occasion of Writing the Divine Comedy exhibition in Cairo, I was asked by the curator Prof. Paolo Sabbatini to prepare a few Arabic calligraphy works (Fig. 3). They were displayed in Cairo, Luxor, and Alexandria, Egypt, and Amman, Jordan. Given the importance of Dante’s poem in the history of literature, it was drawn on as a bridge fusing cultures exhibiting great calligraphic traditions: Italian, Arabic, and Chinese.

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One of my exhibited works consisted of a piece of square Kufic calligraphy on silk with the word ‘‫’جــھنم‬ meaning ‘inferno’ (Fig. 3). The word is repeated four times in a square unit, and the dot belonging to the letter ‘‫ ’ج‬was used to create a central motif for the square composition. Square Kufic in its stylized, abstract, genius form—although one of the oldest calligraphic styles— looks very much contemporary. Calligraphy is indeed a beautiful vehicle to represent art in all its styles. Arabic calligraphy institutions, like Khalil Agha School, Egypt’s oldest specialized institute of Arabic calligraphy, are struggling to survive, and many others have sadly closed their doors. Khalil Agha School was inaugurated on 29 January 1928 by King Fuad I of Egypt with the aim of training skilful calligraphers. It would indeed be a cultural tragedy if it too disappeared into oblivion.

Arabic calligraphy is not only an art that reflects Egyptian culture and identity, but it can be used to promote cultural tourism and learning opportunities for students abroad, thus generating revenues for the government. Although not legible to foreigners, Arabic calligraphy is very much appreciated by non-Arabic speakers. The reason probably lies in the very way foreigners relate to letters that they cannot comprehend but rather appreciate for their melodious, harmonious, and beautiful fluidity. Arabic calligraphy evokes soaring feelings of transcendence when seen with fresh eyes that seek to comprehend the essence of the beautiful letters. The question is, why should students learn an art that is fading away and does not offer job opportunities? Art empowers people; it is an investment in culture. Art connects people within each society, as well as globally, and most importantly, art transforms us into better persons. Job opportunities are then within our reach when we are able to master creativity and knowledge.

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Fig. 3 Antonella Leoni Writing the Divine Comedy, 2017 Modern interpretation of square Kufic on silk. Exhibition at the Italian Cultural Institute, Cairo Image courtesy of the author

While in Western countries Arabic calligraphy is considered a pleasant and innovative art, in Egypt it is little known and quite neglected. There is no doubt that the world needs beauty, beauty in buildings, schools, hospitals, houses, streets, and every other physical aspect of our everyday lives. Egypt with its architecture and monuments is indeed an open-air museum. Ludwig Deutsch was able to capture its aesthetic and emotions meticulously, and today, many more artists should look at the country with reason and wonder. The rich and multi-faced cultural heritage of Egypt requires strong support from its own people. They must believe in their own power and in their unique art so that it can be presented and appreciated all over the world.

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‫شارع‬ ART D’ÉGYPTE

Dr Paul G.C. Hector

As contemporary societies evolve, the creative faculty of artists and performers constitutes a crucial factor for the preservation of people’s identities and the promotion of a universal dialogue. These ideas have been supported since 1997 by the UNESCO Recommendation concerning the status of artists. Artistic creativity constitutes the cultural heritage of the future. Cultural identities and references cover practically the whole scope of human history, so artists’ inspiration also comes from understanding the past and taking stock of the great accomplishments of previous thinkers and creators. This contemporary art event is the living example of history, cultural heritage, and contemporary creativity brought together.

Historic Cairo is one of seven Heritage Sites in Egypt recognized as having ‘Outstanding Universal Value’ and inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1979. Its significant monuments demonstrate the architectural wealth of the city, not only as a capital of the Islamic World but as a wonder of the human urban experience with unquestionable historical, archaeological, and urbanistic importance. The overall urban structure of Historic Cairo, as well as its visual integrity and recognizable skyline, is still intact. The tangible and intangible city layout, including monuments, domestic architecture, markets, handicrafts, and festivals maintaining their original locations has been largely preserved. From the ruins of the Fatimid nucleus of Medieval Cairo, the Citadel, and the surrounding Mamluk palaces, to the urban domestic architecture, mausoleums, and bazaars, Historic Cairo has inspired the contemporary artists who have married their talent to some of the most outstanding historic monuments in the famous al-Mu‘iz Street. The layout of the city core, with its concentration of streets and old dwellings has maintained, in the heart of the traditional urban fabric, forms of human settlement that date to the Middle Ages. Although centuries old, these streets, with

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their architecture and textures—the soaring minarets, the cacophony of haggling traders, the braying of mules, the call to prayer, the smell of spices—transport the visitor like a time machine to a distant yet ever-present past. This unique atmosphere continues to be a source of inspiration for artists, performers, artisans, and poets who, like their predecessors, practice their craft in numerous workshops and ateliers. Cultural heritage also includes traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants: oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, practices concerning nature and the universe, or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts. The loss of traditions and artisanal skill is a loss of identity. It puts transmission of key skills and associated knowledge at risk. The tangible heritage of Historic Cairo can only be preserved if life is kept in it by improving the living conditions of the population and revitalizing the urban fabric with new functions and uses. Art D'Égypte’s event not only commemorates 40 years since the inscription of Historic Cairo in the famous World Heritage list but also the enduring testimony to the city’s ongoing contribution to world history. UNESCO views heritage as a collectively owned treasure of humanity held in trust by the present generation for transmission to future ones. Actions to protect this legacy have been undertaken by UNESCO and the Government of Egypt in close partnership with various stakeholders to support the urban revitalization of Historic Cairo. Through the project Urban Regeneration for Historic Cairo (URHC), whose first phase was implemented between 2010–2014, UNESCO and its partners worked with local authorities to support the socio-economic revitalization and environmental upgrading of Historic Cairo. This effort went beyond the mere preservation of heritage buildings and spaces, it adopted a people-centred, future-aware approach designed to nurture the unique, tangible, and ART D’ÉGYPTE

intangible aspects of the city that touch the soul and are a well-spring of creativity and identity. The exhibit of contemporary art expressions and the different education and awareness raising activities organized by Art D'Égypte with the local communities in collaboration with UNESCO Cairo harness these impulses and seek to strengthen the social fabric, drive positive socio-economic well-being, and create a sustainable urban regeneration experience nourished by heritage, creativity, and culture. The present event is indeed a remarkable vector to create public awareness of the importance of Historic Cairo as a World Heritage site and of the diversity of its living cultural expressions. It is important to recognize that heritage protection and artistic events are not an end in themselves. Rather they are critical pillars for enhancing and encouraging socio-economic and environmental well-being of individuals and societies. 94

Policies, plans, and regulations are important frameworks for concerted action but, unless enabled by the human spirit, remain bland and sterile. We are therefore grateful to see the growing number of festivals and artistic events organized by the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Antiquities, the Cairo Governorate, as well as by private sector initiatives such as Art D'Égypte, that serve to bring broader awareness across all social classes—among Egyptians and foreigners alike—of Egypt’s rich cultural heritage. Through contemporary interpretations, they show that heritage is not a relic to be tossed aside, rather a vibrant resource teeming with life and possibilities. A source of inspiration, identity, pride; something that connects us all and has the potential to be an engine of socio-economic value and change. Grounded in an inclusive social vision, Art D'Égypte has been fostering public-private and community partnerships and promoting contemporary arts, artists, and artisans in traditional heritage sites. Through their contemporary re-imaginings, Art D'Égypte is bringing heritage sites like Historic Cairo to life. By triggering curiosity, by unveiling the link between the present and the past, they allow us to pause and to think of the future we want. Art D'Égypte places heritage sites at the centre of a shared collective experience, enabling each of us to reclaim these sites as a very personal shared space. Public ownership and individual engagement are central to realizing UNESCO’s vision of heritage as a shared, lived experience to be cared for and passed on to future generations.

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HE Farouk Hosny

Al-Mu‘iz Street: a unique cultural situation, a veritable textbook of Islamic architecture that reveals through its pages the scent of time and glory, sadly neglected and devalued. The case of al-Mu‘iz Street demonstrates what years of neglect and waste can do to heritage sites. Reviving it means not only restoring a legacy but also resurrecting a civilization. I admit that I had mixed feelings when I took the decision to start work on the al-Mu‘iz Street project. It was a combination of many factors: Fear at the sheer number of glorious historical monuments involved; panic that somehow these magnificent buildings might be damaged; trepidation at the huge volume of effort needed to accomplish this work; apprehension at the daunting task of raising the required funds and mobilizing the necessary experts; and last but not least, dread at the prospect of motivating the myriad partners to be equally invested in reviving this neglected treasure. Yet, I knew it was necessary. Steps had to be taken to prevent more loss and to shield coming generations from having to deal with these dilemmas. We had achieved much in the revitalization of ancient Egyptian and Coptic museums and monuments, but we could not afford to be complacent. Islamic monuments required the same, if not more, effort from us. So, it wasn’t just a challenge; it had become an adventure! The first steps focused on benefiting from existing scientific, academic, and archaeological expertise and forming committees tasked with surveying, assessing, and studying the status of each monument on al-Mu‘iz Street. We identified the threats to each one and initiated a dialogue with the community to understand their problems, incorporate their point of view, and ensure their wholehearted support for this great project. Month by month, year by year, the features of al-Mu‘iz Street started to emerge thanks to the holistic scientific approach and the concerted efforts of all involved. The appreciation and joy felt by the academic researchers was no greater ART D’ÉGYPTE

than that felt by international heritage and archaeological institutions and even that of the groups who had initially opposed the project for assorted reasons. Soon there was consensus that the revival of the monuments of al-Mu‘iz Street was the best protection for this invaluable cultural treasure. I would go so far as to say that neglecting it is treason. For years, it was just a beautiful dream, a distant possibility. And yet, here we are, presenting it to Egypt as a reality and an investment in our future. Every step taken to revive al-Mu‘iz Street provides value; and whether circumstances allow us to continue the project or not, we will at least have started. Those who come after us will have a solid basis to build upon. That is the important thing. What Nadine Abdel Ghaffar and Art D'Égypte are doing by linking this magnificent momentum to the present artistic renaissance and embracing the contrasts and continuities between past and present will encourage others to persist. We have liberated future generations from the fear of taking that first step. We have demonstrated that giving up is essentially self-destruction, while contributing to civilization leads to immortality.

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Shahira Mehrez

Fig. 1 Bab al-Futuh, Pascal Coste. Image courtesy of the author.

Visitors entering through the northern gate of Cairo (Fig. 1) to visit the street today called al-Mu‘iz should know that they are walking along a footpath where every step tells the story of a different phase of our capital city’s extraordinary history. This large thoroughfare linking the northern gate of Bab al-Futuh to the southern gate of Bab Zuweila was called the ‘Qasaba’, and ever since Jawhar al-Seqilli founded al-Qahirah, the City Victorious, in 969 CE, it has been of very special importance. The huge heavy wooden doors reinforced with large iron studs securing its entrance were only meant to be opened for the grandees of the realm. During the first century of Fatimid rule, commoners had to pass through a khokha—a smaller wicket gate—and show a special permit to enter a city meant only as a residence for the caliph and his court. The trajectory from Bab al-Futuh to Bab Zuweila split this royal enclosure longitudinally in two almost equal elongated rectangles. For this reason, the ceremonial processions that followed this path were designated by the expression shaqqa or yashuq alQahirah or ‘dividing’ Cairo. Because the Fatimids were strong believers in astrology, in good omens, and in the talismanic power of words, the names given to the main gates were quite symbolic: When armies prepared to go to war, they gathered in the large square close to the Great Eastern Palace and went out of the city through Bab al-Nasr, the Gate of Victory, thus presaging a future victory. They then paraded outside the walls and re-entered the city through Bab al-Futuh, the Gate of Conquests, hence anticipating a triumphant return from their campaign and the enlargement of the dominions of their master, the Fatimid caliph. This impressive procession with armoured cavalry and infantry in full regalia, carrying banners and marching to the resounding sounds of drums and trumpets would come to a stop in Bayn al-Qasrayn (Fig. 2). This was the name of the area enclosed between al-Qasr al-Kabir al-Sharqi (the Great Eastern Palace), built for al-Mu‘iz, the founder ART D’ÉGYPTE

of the Fatimid dynasty, and al-Qasr al-Saghir alGharbi (the Small Western Palace) built by his son al-‘Aziz. The area was large enough to allow all the dignitaries of the realm as well as an army of ten thousand men to gather in front of the most important entrance to the Great Eastern Palace, Bab al-Dhahab, the Gate of Gold, and pay homage to the reigning caliph.

On important occasions, all of Bayn al-Qasrayn, as well as the path leading to it, would have been swept clean, sprinkled with water, strewn with immaculate sand, and sometimes even covered with precious textiles. Upon arrival, the cavalry would dismount, and infantry and courtiers would kneel at the ready to prostrate themselves at the appearance of their prince. His presence would first manifest itself by movements behind a curtained opening Fig. 2 high above Bab al-Dhahab. When the royal A parade of cavalry and infantry, attendants would partially lift this curtain, the Louis-François Cassas crowd might, for a fleeting moment, catch sight Image courtesy of the author. of his face accompanied by a wave of his right hand; they would also hear loud and clear his resounding voice, ‘The Commander of the Faithful is returning your greetings’. In most cases, however, they would only be allowed a glimpse of his shrouded head. With time, al-Qahirah would gradually lose its royal character. The first blow came at the end of the eleventh century CE when the vizier Badr al-Gamali granted whoever could afford it the right to build within his new extension of the walls. A second blow occurred during the last days of the Caliph al-‘Aded, when, for fear of crusaders, the older city of al-Fustat was set on fire and the population forced to take refuge within al-Qahirah’s fortifications. The final blow came shortly after, in 1171 CE, when at the death of al-‘Aded, Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi ended the Fatimid Shi‘ite dynasty and restored Egypt to Sunni Islam. Though he nominally recognized the suzerainty of the Abbasid caliph, Salah al-Din declared himself sultan thus starting his own dynasty. To discontinue their lineage, he confined the remaining offspring of the Fatimids to their residences, the men in the Great Eastern Palace and the women in the Western Palace. For his own use he chose a palace

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contiguous to the Western Palace, Dar al-Wizara that had been since the foundation of the city the abode of Fatimid viziers. His generals and companions in arms followed suit and also settled in whatever remained of the stately mansions of the Fatimid courtiers. From that time on, to the great regret of medieval chroniclers, the royal enclosure gradually lost its aura and regal spoils became accessible to the ‘common and the vulgar’. Expropriations were soon to be followed by demolition and reconstruction, and the layout of the two palaces became the blueprint for a quite different post-Fatimid city: the clusters of princely pavilions separated by gardens were replaced by buildings erected by the entourage of the new rulers, and the maze of passageways connecting them to each other became the alleys and streets of the re-defined new capital of Ayyubid and Mamluk monarchs. Fig.3 A view of Wikalet al-Ghury, David Roberts. Image courtesy of the author.

However, what the city lost in aristocratic status was offset by thriving commercial activities: the same historians who deplored the ‘plebeian’ invasion also waxed lyrical about the unprecedented wealth of the souks of Cairo and admitted that it had become the most important commercial hub of the region (Fig. 3) . Moreover, Ayyubid Egypt, whose armies had reclaimed Jerusalem from the crusaders, remained a regional power to be reckoned with. The change of rulers notwithstanding, the Qasaba’s status as a voie royale persisted: For some three decades, and until the completion of the Citadel of Salah al-Din in 1206/1207 CE, Ayyubid sultans ruled Egypt from Dar al-Wizara and therefore their presence was continuously felt along its path. However, it is important to point out that when the Ayyubids finally moved their residence to the Citadel, the prestige of the Qasaba did not ebb: Later sultans cemented their position as legitimate rulers of the country by building their madrasas on the Bayn al-Qasrayn, the square that symbolized Fatimid majesty. The first of these was the Madrasa al-Kameliyya built by Sultan al-Kamel Muhammad in 1225 CE and the second was the Madrasa al-Salehiyya (Fig. 4) built in 1242–44 CE by the last of the Ayyubid ART D’ÉGYPTE

rulers of Egypt whose Mamluks had successfully repelled the Seventh Crusade. This was the sultan al-Saleh Negm minaret of al-Salehiyya, al-Din Ayyub, at whose death in 1249 CE, his widow, in an David Roberts. unprecedented historic decision, was empowered by his Image courtesy of the author. Mamluks to succeed him, thus becoming the first female ruler of an Islamic country. In spite of the fact that her reign only lasted for a few months, Queen Shajar al-Durr strongly impacted the architecture of our city. To perpetuate the memory of her dead husband, she built him a mausoleum contiguous to his madrasa. The Qubba Salehiyya was to be the first Mamluk building constructed on the erstwhile location of the Fatimid palace; it was also the first example in Cairo of a mausoleum built for a secular ruler. The second instance of such a funerary edifice is the mausoleum that same queen built for herself during her lifetime outside al-Qahirah; in doing so, she revived a very old but long forgotten Ancient Egyptian tradition of building, in one’s lifetime, for the ever-after. Both these instances started a trend. From that time onwards, all of the Bahri and Burji Mamluks who successively reigned over Egypt from 1250 to 1517 CE took pride in asserting their power by building on the Qasaba. They also all endeavoured to erect, during their lifetime, the most luxurious burial places for themselves, though only few of them had the opportunity to do so on the Qasaba, or in its prime location, Bayn al-Qasrayn. Fig. 4

A view of the madrasa and

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The first of these constructions, the Madrasa of al-Zaher Baybars al-Bunduqdari, was demolished in the nineteenth century CE to open Bayt al-Qadi Street. Later on, Sultan al-Mansur Saif al-Din Qalawun (known as Qalawun al-Alfi), the founder of the Qalawun dynasty, erected his madrasa-mausoleum and bimaristan opposite to it, on the grounds of the Western Palace. When Qalawun’s son, al-Nasser Muhammad bin Qalawun inherited the realm, he chose to build his own madrasa-mausoleum against the northern wall of his father’s complex using a similar though more modest plan. Finally, when the Emir Barquq deposed the last of the Qalawuns and appointed himself sultan thus inaugurating the reign of the Burji or Circassian Mamluks, he so wanted to measure up to the dynasty of his old masters that he purposely built his own madrasa-mausoleum contiguous to that of the most important princes of their line, Qalawun al-Alfi and al-Nasser Muhammad. As his predecessors had done and to legitimize his usurpation of the throne, he chose the most prestigious location of the capital for his construction associating his name to the heroic rulers who had repelled Mongol and crusader invasions.

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Thus, gradually, the last vestiges of the Fatimid palaces were obliterated, Louis-François Cassas. and the large square called Bayn Image courtesy of the author. al-Qasrayn was built up, shrinking to become the street that we have today. Nonetheless, its status was not diminished, on the contrary: throughout the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods, riding along the Qasaba in an imposing procession was the height of prestige for state dignitaries and foreign emissaries alike (Fig. 5). For these very special events, the expression shaqqa al-Qahirah persisted. Moreover, during that same period, the area outside Bab Zuweila was developed and a network of new streets replaced gardens and empty spaces, thus adding to the importance of the Qasaba: on its left side, Khat al-Darb alAhmar, Tabbana, and Bab al-Wazir led to the Citadel, the new residence of the rulers of Egypt; on the right side the Khat Taht al-Rab reached al-Khalig al-Masri, the canal feeding the city with water. The extension of the Qasaba, the al-A‘zam Street, linked alQahirah to the thriving commercial centres of al-Fustat. Fig. 5

An official procession entering Cairo,

Medieval chroniclers draw vivid descriptions of how this vital artery was maintained. They inform us that messy carts carrying hay and firewood were not allowed on the Qasaba; that a contingent of guards patrolled it at night; and that cleaners were appointed to collect garbage and sprinkle the ground with water, keeping the dust down. Shopkeepers had to stock water on their doorsteps in large earthenware containers (zir) in case of fire, and they also were obligated to sweep the street in front of their shops and leave a light on their façades after closing. We are told that in certain wider areas, street vendors were allowed to rent space to set up small benches to exhibit their merchandise. These were called asshab al-maqa‘id (owners of the seats) and the rent they paid produced an income for the building whose façade they occupied. However, the space granted to each was tightly regulated, and they were mercilessly removed in case of trespassing. Negative accounts are also reported, and they mainly deal with traffic congestion along this main thoroughfare: Some of these can be funny such as the description of the scheme that allowed two young shoplifters to make use of the density of commuters to remove forty watermelons, one after the other, in full sight of the helpless owner of the fruit stall. Narratives could also be quite satirical such as the detailed depiction of the mess occurring when the official procession of a vizier and his retinue of thousands, in full regalia, ART D’ÉGYPTE

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Fig. 6 A view of a wedding procession, Louis-François Cassas. Image courtesy of the author.

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bumped into a fallen bull cart; Not only was the whole Qasaba brought to a stop for hours, but to the delight of the masses, the vizier’s ceremonial clothes were fully impregnated with the smell of fat from the charcoal grills of a neighbouring restaurant, and he almost suffocated from the fumes! Other eyewitness testimonies are quite shocking, in particular those that describe the molestation with impunity, due to overcrowding, of women—and young men.

Historical texts also describe at length the different kinds of foods, accessories, furnishings, and luxury items sold in the markets right and left of the Qasaba. They marvel at the daily displays of festive decorations and illuminations as well as at the wide variety of attractions such as magnificent processions (Fig. 6), poetry recitations, dancing, singing, jesting, and buffoonery taking place for the benefit of the crowds (Fig. 7, 7a). They conclude that such entertainments made the Qasaba the favourite evening promenade of the inhabitants of the city. It is interesting to note that already centuries ago, some traffic regulations were put in place. Historians explain that to avoid being immobilized in the congested traffic one should always keep to the left, and we are assured that once this rule is observed it is possible to flow smoothly unhampered through the crowd! Centuries passed and rulers changed … with the West’s interest in the East, al-Qahirah acquired new importance as the door to an exotic world: ‘C’est au Caire que l’Orient commence’ (‘Cairo is where the Orient commences’), commented a French Orientalist. Luxury products, local as well as imported, piled up in its markets, and western travellers strolling along its paths were full of admiration about ‘ce peuple qui ne fait aucune faute de gout’ or ‘these people with impeccable taste’. It therefore appears that, for centuries, life along the Qasaba remained as described by medieval sources. However, by the mid-nineteenth century CE, the rulers of Egypt decided to ‘Westernize’. In a few decades, all modes of traditional life became synonymous with backwardness. The final blow came in 1874 CE when Khedive Ismail abandoned the Jawharah Palace built within the fortifications of the Citadel by Muhammad

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Fig. 7 The Mahmal procession leaving Cairo, Cooper Willyams. Image courtesy of the author. Fig. 7a Detail of the Mahmal procession, Cooper Willyams. Image courtesy of the author.

Ali al-Kabir and moved the seat of power to a newly reclaimed neighbourhood, Abdin. His new palace was designed by the French architect Leon Rousseau in the neo-classical style fashionable in European courts. His entourage followed suit, and the princely mansions of the historic city were abandoned for fashionable villas in new quarters modelled on western prototypes. The centre of town shifted, and the commercial hub was transplanted to the new Khedivial ‘downtown’, dubbed ‘Paris on the Nile’. When the rich and powerful abandoned the traditional city, it lost its prestige; Moreover, because it was left to poorer sectors of society who could not afford proper maintenance, it quickly deteriorated. The adoption of western styles also meant that markets lost the affluent native patrons who, for centuries, had encouraged, indeed even required, continuous innovation. Since the new fashion was to import from Europe or have European styles copied in Egypt, master craftsmen who, from generation to generation, had inherited the knowhow required for the elaboration and development of archetypes reflecting the sense of beauty of the nation, gradually, found themselves without sponsors. Skilled artisans had no other alternative but to compromise to please their new clients, the Orientalists, or to join the masses of unskilled labourers. In the absence of the interaction between enlightened clients and knowledgeable masters, artefacts were bastardized to satisfy tourist fantasy. From that time onwards, the Qasaba was gradually transformed into a touristic market displaying poor imitations—today for the most part made in China—of its glorious past.

This is why an endeavour such as Art D'Égypte’s Reimagined Narratives is important for the Qasaba as well as for the country as a whole: it reintroduces an iconic street to contemporary art worthy of prestigious days gone by and allows it to escape from the vicious circle of kitsch artefacts and pastiches that betray our past and will certainly not survive the test of the future.

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Dr Chahinda Karim

The four historical buildings where the exhibition will take place are all in the Gamaliyya area, either on or just off al-Mu‘iz Street. This area may have overlooked the Nile at some point in its history, but the river changed its course over the centuries moving westward. By the time of the foundation of al-Qahirah (Cairo) in 969 CE by the Fatimids, the area’s eastern boundary overlooked al-Khalig al-Masri, today’s Port Said Street, instead of the Nile. Ali Pasha Mubarak in his al-Khittat al-Tawfiqiyya al-Jadida mentions that, while digging a cistern for the Sebil of Muhammad Ali there in 1829, part of a boat was found, which may indicate that a canal from the Nile flowed where al-Mu‘iz Street stands today. We know of only three buildings that were there before the founding of al-Qahirah: the Garden of al-Ikhshid situated between al-Khalig al-Masri and al-Mu‘iz; the Monastery of Saint Gregory—known as the Monastery of the Bones—located where the Mosque of al-Aqmar stands today; and the Fortress of Qasr al-Shawq, which became part of the Fatimid palace of the same name. The Fatimid city built in this area was originally called al-Mansuriyya by its founder, the army general Jawhar al-Seqilli. The name was changed to al-Qahirah by the Fatimid caliph al-Mu‘iz li Din Illah after his arrival four years later. In the centre of the city, two palaces were built overlooking the main north-south thoroughfare today known as al-Mu‘iz Street. This is the reason that the area where the exhibition is taking place is also known as Bayn al-Qasrayn, or between the two palaces, a name that survives although both palaces are no longer extant.

General view of al-Mu'iz Street. Photo: Abdallah Dawestashy

Al-Qahirah was surrounded by a wall with eight gates, two on each side, but the old wall was replaced by a newer one in 1087 CE by Badr al-Gamali, and the surviving three gates, two to the north and one to the south, date to that period. The Fatimid palace city was based on old Roman city plans, especially the Roman city of Timgad, in the east of Algeria, with two north-south roads, al-Mu‘iz Street and the shorter al-Gamaliyya Street. The area of the exhibition ART D’ÉGYPTE

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Interior view of the Qalawun Complex. Photo: Abdallah Dawestashy

is located between these two streets and bordered by al-Darb al-Asfar Alley in the north and Bayt al-Qadi Street in the south. We start with the Turkish Mosque of Sulayman Agha al-Silahdar built in 1780 CE at the corner of al-Burjuwan Alley on the west side of the street. Al-Burjuwan was the tutor of the caliph al-Hakim bi Amr Illah and lived in a house in this area. The only part surviving of this house is a little zawiya near the Mosque of Sulayman Agha. The famous architect and art historian Hassan Abdel Wahhab also located the house of the Mamluk historian al-Maqrizi in the same area. Opposite the Turkish Mosque is al-Darb al-Asfar Alley, which leads to the parallel road, al-Gamaliyya Street and where Bayt al-Suhaymi is located, one of the monuments where the exhibition is taking place. The house, with its wonderful projecting mashrabiyyas, is the third Ottoman house along the picturesque street. It is a typical example of the houses of rich sixteenth- and seventeenthcentury merchants with its enclosed courtyard, the summer loggia facing the north, and the beautiful mashrabiyyas and rooms.

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Further along the road on the eastern side is the Fatimid Mosque of al-Aqmar built in 1125 CE. Originally, at the beginning of the Fatimid dynasty, this area was a wheat market, which according to al- Maqrizi became a candle market during his time. One must add here that opposite the Mosque of al-Aqmar stood the Dar al-‘Ilm built by al-Hakim bi Amr Illah, which was then closed during the first half of the twelfth century CE. Al-Maqrizi also mentions a bird market in that area, but today there is an aluminium market. The area of between the two palaces starts south of the Mosque of al-Aqmar. Al-Maqrizi divides it into two sections. The northern one, which he calls the metal market, facing the Madrasa of Sultan Barquq, and the southern section, the copper market, where we reach today Bayt al-Qadi Street, which like al-Darb al-Asfar Alley, joins al-Mu‘iz Street to al-Gamaliyya Street and marks the southern limit of the exhibition area. Bayt al-Qadi Street was built during the reign of Khedive Ismail (1870s), destroying large parts of three Mamluk buildings: the Madrasa of Baybars al-Bunduqdari, built in 1263 CE; the Maq‘ad

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of Emir Mamay al-Sayfi ; and the Qa‘aa (Hall) of Muhib al-Din. The latter two are also buildings where the exhibition will take place. Maq‘ad Mamay al-Sayfi was built in 1496 CE during the Burji Mamluk period when Emir Mamay was commander of one hundred emirs under Sultan Qaitbay. The second-floor sitting area facing north for a pleasant breeze in summer once overlooked a garden but today faces Bayt al-Qadi Square. The name Bayt al-Qadi, meaning house of the judge, was given because it was used as a court of law during the Ottoman period.

Exterior view of the Qalawun Complex. Photo: Abdallah Dawestashy

Palaces always included a main reception area, known as the qa‘aa. An interesting but not very well-known surviving qa‘aa is located at the corner of the two main streets, Bayt al-Qadi and al-Mu‘iz, just opposite the complex of Sultan Qalawun al-Alfi. This is the Qa‘aa of Muhib al-Din built originally in 1350 CE then restored and used as a residence by Uthman Katkhuda, the chief emir in Cairo from 1730 to 1736 CE, and by whose name the building is known today. The qa‘aa has a simple doorway, that of a normal house, with only a small plaque in green and white indicating an Islamic monument. The plan of a qa‘aa is usually a rectangular area divided into two iwans and a central covered court. Here we see a long narrow room with a high ceiling (a reception area) and a raised portion at the south end (a diwan). The woodwork is only partly original and the fountain of a later date. Going south after the Mosque of al-Aqmar, you pass the spectacular Ottoman Sebil-Kuttab of Abdel Rahman Katkhuda, dated to the year 1750 CE, which stands today between ART D’ÉGYPTE

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108 General view of al-Mu‘iz Street. Photo: Abdallah Dawestashy

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two roads and is used as a venue to sell pottery made in al-Fustat. Next comes the palace (qasr) of the Mamluk emir Bishtak (see figures), one of the emirs of the Sultan al-Nasser Muhammad bin Qalawun, whose madrasa lies only a few steps further to the south on the western side of the street. Between the shops on the ground floor of the qasr and facing alMu‘iz Street is a small prayer area, today a shop, which as known as Masjid al-Figl. Few sources refer to this little mosque but al-Maqrizi mentions that when Emir Bishtak decided to build a palace in this area, he demolished eleven mosques and four ma‘abid (chapels or sanctuaries) built by the Fatimids, restoring only one—known as Masjid al-Figl—which he included in his palace. Ibn Taghribirdi in his Al-Nujum al-Dhahira repeats the same information and adds that Maliki judges used to sit there to resolve disputes, and he also adds that it was on a higher level than the street. The street level has risen today, and the shops can be accessed directly from the street. Ali Pasha Mubarak is a bit confusing because he calls it Zawiyet Ma‘bad Mussa, but he does add that al-Maqrizi locates this latter zawiya on al-Tambakshiyya Street further north. The name Masjid al-Figl may appear strange, but it possibly indicates an earlier figl (radish) market near the area. Ravaisse in his Essai sur l’histoire et la topographies du Caire d’apres Maqrizi says this zawiya held the remains of the Sheikh Abdel Rahman al-Kikhya buried there in 1798 CE. However, there are no signs of any burial there today, so the remains may have been moved at a later date. Muhammad Ramzy in the footnotes in Ibn Taghribirdi calls the sheikh Muhammad al-Kikhya and not Abdel Rahman al-Kikhya, and the inscription on the main

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door gives the date 735 AH and mentions that this mosque is also known variously as Zawiyet Qasr Bishtak, Zawiyet Bayn al-Qasrayn, or Zawiyet Muhammad al-Kikhya. Masjid al-Figl has two entrances, the main one on al-Mu‘iz Street flanked by two shop entrances and leading directly to the prayer area. The side entrance is on Darb Qirmiz Street facing the Sebil-Kuttab of Abdel Rahman Katkhuda and also leads to the prayer area but through the washing area. Strangely enough there is no access from the palace to the mosque. The main entrance facing al-Mu‘iz Street has an interesting flat and deep stalactite hood, which reminds us of the almost contemporary entrance of the Mosque of Emir Ulmas al-Hajib dated 1335 CE and located in the area of New Hilmiyya behind the famous Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hassan. The carved inscription on this gate is from Surat al-Tawba, verse eighteen. The side entrance is much simpler and leads through the washing area, four steps down to the prayer area. The interior is just an irregular rectangular area with one iwan opening with a pointed arch in the south, to the right as one enters from the main entrance. The whole area has a flat wooden ceiling with a lantern in the centre, which was restored by the German Archaeological Institute in 1986 as part of the restoration of the palace. The rather plain mihrab lies opposite the main entrance and slightly to the right with its recess bent somewhat to the right to face Mecca. As mentioned before, this mosque is not well known today because of its reuse as a shop, which hides the stalactite hood of the entrance. One of the most famous buildings where the exhibition will take place is the complex of Sultan Qalawun al-Alfi built in 1285 CE over the ruins of the Great Western Palace and facing the Madrasa of al-Saleh Negm al-Din Ayyub, which was built over the ruins of the Eastern Fatimid palace in 1244 CE. The complex, which included a madrasa, a mausoleum, and a bimaristan (hospital), dominates the area with its Gothic-style façade, stone minaret, beautiful metal facing of its entrance gate, and magnificent mausoleum decorated with coloured marble, marble mosaic inlaid with mother of pearl, granite columns, and carved and painted ceiling. This complex stands immediately beside the madrasa of his son, Sultan al-Nasser Muhammad bin Qalawun, built circa 1300 CE with its unique brick minaret—completely covered with stucco carving—and its gate, which is, in fact, a gate from a church in Acre. Opposite this madrasa on the eastern side is the Sebil-Kuttab of Muhammad Ali, today the Textile Museum. The area chosen for the exhibition is definitely one of the richest areas in Cairo in terms of history. The variety of buildings, both religious and secular, is stunning and includes mosques, madrasas, khanqahs, and sebil-kuttabs as well as palaces, wikalas, and hammams, dating from the Fatimid dynasty (starting in 969 CE) until modern times. All the buildings in the area are witness to a long history full of political, cultural, and social events and will remain a showcase of Islamic art and architecture through the ages. ART D’ÉGYPTE

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View of the inner courtyard at Bayt al-Suhaymi. Photo: Abdallah Dawestashy

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Hind Mostafa

Bayt al-Suhaymi is the chef-d’œuvre of domestic architecture in Cairo and embodies the epitome of upper-class Cairene lifestyle and livelihood from the seventeenth century onwards. It adapted to the needs of its inhabitants with an exquisite sense of harmony in form and function, as apparent through the various decorative styles and materials implemented with impeccable craftsmanship. The house is indeed both a model and a challenge for present day architects, designers, artists, and traditional craftsmen, given its precarious condition particularly after the 1992 earthquake (magnitude 5.8), which further damaged its already ailing structural and physical state. Such is the importance of this architectural gem, however, which encapsulates the tangible and intangible heritage of a time gone by, that NADIM 1 decided to give the house a new lease on life. Dr Asaad Nadim was able to secure a grant from the Arab Fund for Social and Economic Development (AFSED) for the documentation and restoration of the house. As the work progressed, it became apparent that working on the house/monument alone was not enough to ensure the its well-being. Monument restoration within an ailing urban fabric is simply futile and leads to the loss of both assets. This was especially critical in this case given that the traditional urban fabric of the area was one of the main reasons for inscribing Historic Cairo on UNESCO’s World Heritage list in 1979.2 Hence, the project evolved into the first comprehensive area restoration in Historic Cairo and included the buildings, the community, and its services, as well as the area’s infrastructure. The house of Mostafa Ga‘far, Sebil Qitas, the house of Khurazati, and the hara (alley) with all its buildings and infrastructure were added to the project, giving an urban and social welfare dimension to the methodology and implementation plan of the project. Other efforts by different entities had been made prior to the al-Suhaymi project, but were primarily concerned with, and limited to, the restoration of scattered monuments in the same area. ART D’ÉGYPTE

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But what has Bayt al-Suhaymi got to offer to present-day Cairo and its community? First and foremost, it is a living encyclopaedia of the architectural and decorative elements of its time. It can unlock the mysteries of production techniques, decorative motifs, artistic styles, and functionality as we see these elements in their complete form, representing the sophisticated lifestyle of its inhabitants and the means they had to commission exquisite craftsmanship and apply the latest technologies of the era to produce astounding results with extreme utilitarian efficacy.

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For Art D'Égypte to decide to include Bayt al-Suhaymi in its forthcoming event in celebration of Egyptian heritage is a reclamation in its own right and worthy of some reflection. Art D'Égypte means the art of Egypt. This, together with the title of the event, Reimagined Narratives, and accompanying statement made me wonder: What exactly do we mean when we refer to something as Egyptian art? Contemporary art? Ancient Egyptian art? Coptic art? Medieval Islamic art? This event will host contemporary works of art at the magnificent Bayt al-Suhaymi; a house built in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when traditional art and architecture were of ideal proportions. How can it relate to the modern creations of today? In order for artistic expression to be of worth, it should make itself relevant to the history and geography of the space it is coming out of and inspired by. The Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to Naguib Mahfouz for his body of work, much of it—including his famous Cairo Trilogy—set in Historic Cairo and titled with the names of the alleys of the area. Pioneering artists such as Mahmoud Mokhtar (1891–1934) and Mahmoud Saïd (1897–1964) as well as the contemporary Alaa Abul Hamd and Guirguis Lotfi have borrowed splendidly from the past, reformulating history through their own original and distinct styles in form, colour, and subject matter. Why is all this relevant to Bayt al-Suhaymi? Because the house is a coherent example of Cairene domestic architecture in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries with all its artistic and decorative glamour. It is an engine for inspiration and recreation. The traditional builders and craftsmen of the time had witty answers to problems they encountered while building and decorating. For example, the mashrabiyya is an ingenious response to many problems. Its technique of joining small, turned pieces to create a perforated screen to cover window openings is a delightful element that lends itself to many functions: it lets in a subtle light that minimizes the cruel effects of the sun and invites a fresh breeze to reduce the heat in the rooms and cool the ceramic water containers known as qollal. It can also be adorned with decorative elements—such as calligraphic inscriptions commemorating the life of the building—and with motifs influenced by the surrounding environment, such as the palm tree and ewer (Fig. 1). Another example is a delicate and elegant marble functional, yet decorative element created by intertwining one piece of

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Fig. 1 Inscriptions adorning a mashrabiyya to commemorate restoration activities carried out in 1912 by its owner Muhammad Amin. Fig. 2 Suffa with gassad wa rohayn colonettes. Images courtesy of the NADIM Foundation

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marble as if two people are embracing, giving it the name gassad wa rohayn, meaning one body and two souls (Fig. 2). Producing it requires excellent craftsmanship, aesthetic appreciation, and design stamina. A closer look at the work done to salvage Bayt al-Suhaymi and resuscitate it is highly pertinent in this context. Bayt al-Suhaymi is located in Historic Cairo on al-Darb al-Asfar Alley, off al-Mu‘iz Street in Gamaliyya. The architecture of Bayt al-Suhaymi is indicative of several historical and architectural periods. It has undergone several building phases as well as major modifications and restorations over time. Though the current iteration of the building is less than 370 years old, the site on which it stands dates back to the establishment of al-Qahirah (Cairo) by the Fatimid Dynasty (969–1171 CE). Excavations in the courts and gardens of the house reveal Fatimid-era substructures such as the manhar (slaughterhouse). Several historical

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Fig. 3 Ground level floorplan of Bayt al-Suhaymi. Image courtesy of the NADIM Foundation

references indicate that this original Fatimid structure was later demolished, and in the Mamluk period (1250–1517 CE), other buildings were built in this area including a khanqah and a ribat (both Islamic Sufi establishments). The oldest surviving part of the house, located in the south-east area, was built by Sheikh Abdel Wahab alTablawy in 1648 CE. The second major modification was undertaken over 50 years later by Hajj Ismail Shalabi in 1699 CE and involved the construction of the main qa‘aa (hall) on the ground floor. Additional work was carried out between in 1730 and 1796 CE, with the last major modifications undertaken by Sheikh Muhammad Amin al-Suhaymi, a professor at al-Azhar University, the last private owner of the house, which has been associated with his name ever since.

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In 1890, the Comité de conservation des monuments de l’art Arabe—an organization established in December 1881 by Khedive Tewfiq for the preservation of Islamic and Coptic monuments in Egypt— added the house to the list of historical monuments as number 339. In 1931, the Egyptian government, through the Comité bought the house from the heirs of Sheikh al-Suhaymi for six thousand Egyptian pounds, allotting another one thousand pounds for restoration. The Comité also bought the houses overlooking al-Mu‘iz Street in the hara (alley) in order to demolish them and create a midan (square) or public space thereby enlarging the alley. This was done to protect Bayt al-Suhaymi from demolition under Ali Mubarak’s tanzim (regulatory) laws for urban modernization, which stipulated that the house was too high in proportion to the width of the street! 3 The structure of Bayt al-Suhaymi covers an area of over 2,000 square metres with a 115 rooms and halls distributed over five levels surrounding a main internal courtyard with an area of more than 200 square metres (Fig. 3). The elements present in the surviving structure include decorated halls (Fig. 4), a takhtaboosh (an annex off the

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Fig. 4 Qashani Hall with beautiful ceramic tiles on the first floor for private and comfortable encounters among extended family members. Image courtesy of the NADIM Foundation

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courtyard for receiving male visitors during the summer); a maq’ad (a roofed balcony overlooking the court and facing north to take advantage of the cool breeze; and a malqaf, a slant-roofed windcatcher that allows the cool northern breeze to reach the southern-facing rooms. Traditional woodwork is exemplified most clearly in the outstanding mashrabiyyas, ceilings, doors, and cupboards; all fine examples of interlocking wood joinery. Decorated marble works are visible on the floors and fountains, and decorative stone carving is visible along the stone walls. Both a waterwheel and grinding mill are located in the north-eastern corner of the house. These are recurrent features in Cairo’s large medieval houses and palaces. Alleys and houses within them were locked during times of fighting among Mamluk factions for indefinite periods of times, which meant that families had to protect themselves from this political volatility by securing a source of water and ground cereals so they could be independent during times of insecurity. ART D’ÉGYPTE

Bayt al-Suhaymi had deteriorated significantly before the restoration efforts for a number of reasons: The natural aging process, misuse of the building, rising groundwater, water leakages, deteriorating sewage systems, lack of proper roof insulation, and various mediocre restorations all contributed to the overall deterioration of the building. At the start of the project, a traditional pickle factory on the north-eastern side of the house was dumping its industrial waste into the already-ailing sewage system, resulting in the seepage of contaminated water saturated with salts and chemicals into the building’s foundation. Weathering had affected the stones, bricks, and mortar of the external walls, resulting in major decay. Over 600 significant cracks were found—some penetrating the entire depth of the walls—mostly due to the various unstudied alterations done to the house to accommodate the needs of consecutive inhabitants over the course of its 300 years of history.

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The first stage of the restoration involved detailed documentation of the state of the house and surrounding area, including a survey of historical studies; assessment of the foundations and infrastructure of the house; excavations and soil-analyses; and monitoring the underground water table. Architectural drawings (plans, sections, and elevations), toscale models, and precise tracings of the ornamentation were produced. The state of the house pre-restoration was also recorded with detailed photos and professional video. Similar documentation was carried out for the whole area of al-Darb al-Asfar.3 The project was a tremendous team effort. The implementation strategy was laid out after consultation with experts in all relevant scientific fields, and the follow-up and coordination committee for the project had members from the Supreme Council of Antiquities and representatives from all relevant government institutions. Actual restoration was executed with the specific objective of preserving as much of the original materials as possible to maintain the historical authenticity of the elements and techniques. Obtaining identical stones, bricks, and mortar to match the original was considered a priority. NADIM built special kilns for the project and successfully manufactured bricks and mortar to match the original building materials based on the analyses undertaken. Restoration of the woodwork also complied with this prerequisite; the invaluable original pieces were restored unless it was absolutely necessary to replace them. Upon the completion of the restoration, the house was furnished with items similar to those from the time of its construction to truly reflect its era. Throughout the project, strong links with the surrounding community were established; the people developed a sense of pride and ownership towards the heritage of the house and to the alley as a whole (Fig. 5). There has been an increased awareness of the significance of the house and the area, which now serves as an open museum for visitors and residents alike.

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Fig. 5: Al-Darb al-Asfar Alley at night after the restoration was complete. Image courtesy of the NADIM Foundation

Since the completion of the project in 2000, however, the house and area have suffered from general neglect as a result of the overall turmoil Egypt has witnessed in the last decade. Limited resources have been a major problem. Deterioration is apparent in all corners of the house, demanding the development of a sustainability road map for its maintenance. Adaptive re-use could be the most feasible answer, as it will achieve sustainability by maintaining the house as a microcosm of traditional art and architecture and a centre for creative, intellectual, artistic, and design activities at the local, regional, and international levels. In this way, Bayt al-Suhaymi can become a paradigm of Egyptian tangible and intangible heritage for future generations.

[1] For further information, please see www.nadimfoundation.org and www.nadim.org. [2] https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/89/documents/ [3] Othman, M. ‘Abd al-Sattar et al., ‘Mostafa Ga‘far House Endowment Deed of 1151 Hijri, Cairo’, Al-‘Imara wa Al-Funoun Magazine, NADIM Foundation Archive, vol. 9, p 8. [4] All project documentation material and reports are available to the interested public at the NADIM Foundation Archive.

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Detail of Maq‘ad Mamay al-Sayfi. Image courtesy of the author.

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Dr Galila El Kadi

According to legend passed down from one generation of my family to the next, the ‘al-Qadi’ (or El Kadi) family can be traced back to Morocco. They came to Egypt with the army of the Fatimid caliph al-Mu‘iz li Din Illah in the tenth century CE and settled here. They built a magnificent palace known as Bayt al-Qadi (the House of the Judge) in the Gamaliyya neighbourhood, close to the street known as Bayn al-Qasrayn. All that is left of it now is a gate and a ruin of a building. I used to tell this story very proudly to my classmates when we studied the Fatimid invasion of Egypt. I soon realized it was not at all interesting to them at that age. Most of them had never heard of Historic Cairo, much less set foot there. Those who knew of it, imagined it an impoverished, dilapidated neighbourhood inhabited by lower social classes. So, I made up a new, and more interesting, story which put me in the spotlight; I told them that my grandmother Galila had invented the dessert called lokmet al-Qadi (similar to Greek lukumades) and that our family was named after that! In our youth, the legend soon lost its lustre, however, and my colleagues and I would often joke about the lokmet al-Qadi story. Meanwhile, my awareness of the history of the area began to blossom through my readings of Naguib Mahfouz and Yahia Hakki, which I later augmented with scientific and academic knowledge. I poured myself into research and exploration of the memory and development of places, with Bayt al-Qadi certainly getting its fair share of my attention. The real story of the origin of the palace and its features gradually began to form in my mind, expelling all old claims associated with our family legend. My eyes started to see the historical neighbourhoods of Cairo differently, observing the aesthetics of their architecture in old Egyptian movies and noting the simplicity and elegance of their inhabitants. The first literary mention of Bayt Al-Qadi I came across was in the novel Awlad Haretna (Children of the Alley) by Naguib Mahfouz, when Al-Qadi Square becomes a theatre for political protests and a child is killed. The writer also refers ART D’ÉGYPTE

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Nineteenth-century painting of Maq‘ad Mamay al-Sayfi. Image courtesy of the author. Maq‘ad Mamay al-Sayfi today. Image courtesy of the author.

to another demonstration in the same square in the novel Hadith al-Sabah wal-Misa’ (Morning and Evening Talk). The great value of this location is that it is the birthplace of Mahfouz himself, the world-renowned winner of the Nobel Prize in literature. In his memoirs, published by Raga’ al-Nakash in 2011, he says, ‘All my brothers were born in the house of Darb al-Qazazin except me; I was the only one born in Bayt al-Qadi. If my memory isn’t cheating me, our home address was No. 8, Bayt al-Qadi Square. The house faced the Gamaliyya police station; the doors of the house would open out to the square while its side windows looked down over Darb Qirmiz’.

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Naguib Mahfouz continues to describe the big square full of trees and the small streets branching out from it without mentioning Bayt al-Qadi itself or Maq’ad Mamay. This area is considered a small open museum that includes a heritage building used as Gamaliyya police station and the ‘stamp and scales’ building, dating back to the end of the nineteenth century CE and where today jewellery is stamped after inspection, scales are tested, and official seals are manufactured and reviewed. Maq’ad Mamay al-Sayfi is the most important of these buildings as it represents part of a big palace built in the fifteenth century CE and purchased by Prince Mamay al-Sayfi, a Mamluk who belonged to Sultan Qaitbay. He held several positions before finally becoming a prince (emir) sent several times by the sultan as an ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. The prince purchased the palace from the (unknown) original owner and started renewing, expanding, and adding several annexes. The whole palace was demolished in 1889 by a khedivial committee in order to lay down the street to Bayt al-Qadi and only the maq’ad

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was spared. It is a rectangular hall measuring 7 x 32 metres with a height of 11 metres and consisting of two floors. The first floor has four rooms or vaulted storage units, and the upper floor has a single hall covered by a wooden ceiling decorated with gold paint with a wooden cornice at its base and divided into areas separated by a wooden logia. The main façade of this floor opens to the courtyard of Bayt al-Qadi through five horseshoeshaped, pointed arches anchored on four cylindrical marble pillars topped with lotusflower-shaped crowns. During Napoleon’s Egyptian campaign (1798–1801 CE) and the years preceding the era of Muhammad Ali, the palace of Mamay was called Bayt al-Qadi, because the legal Islamic court was located there. At that time, a momentous event took place there, one that was to change the course of Egypt’s history. On 12 May 1805, the senior clerics assembled in the Great Courthouse to demand the replacement of the corrupt and inefficient governor Khorshid Pasha with Muhammad Ali, who had gained the support of the general public. The judge summoned the representatives of the governor to attend the court session. Next day, clerics met at Bayt al-Qadi with representatives of the public but were prevented entrance. The crowd went to Muhammad Ali and said, ‘We will not accept anyone but you as our governor according to our conditions as we trust the justice and goodness in you’. After initially refusing, he was finally swayed, and popular leaders Omar Makram and Abdalla al-Sharqawi dressed him in the governor’s scarf. Khorshid Pasha resisted and barricaded himself in the Citadel but public pressure forced the Ottoman state to submit to the will of the people, and the sultan issued a decree (firman) officially appointing Muhammad Ali as governor of Egypt. The Bayt al-Qadi area is currently witnessing considerable development and reuse of its buildings for cultural and touristic activities. The restoration of Maq’ad Mamay, which began in 2015 and was inaugurated by the Minister of Antiquities in February 2018, has been completed as an initial stage in the project to revitalize the area. A last question remains that no one has been able to answer: Who was the mysterious original owner of the palace who sold it to Mamay al-Sayfi? Could he have been one of the grandsons of the al-Qadi family to which I belong? Historical sources have not yet revealed all their secrets to us, and my legend always comes back to urge me on in my quest for knowledge.

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Badya, the latest and potentially greatest undertaking by Palm Hills Developments promises a world of creative firsts, be they in-home technology, convenience, accessibility, or culture, coupled with a sincere pledge to observe, conserve, and preserve the world around us. Badya aims to leave a mark on both the urban and cultural landscapes of our city. The development spans an area of 3,000 acres and consists of 6 fully integrated, independent districts in the heart of 6th of October City.

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While Creativity is the platform of the community, Badya’s philosophy is based on four principles: Connectivity— new roads will make Badya the heart of the city, bringing together the east and west sides of Cairo; Cognition—smart homes are no longer a luxury; at Badya, they are the norm; Sustainability—Badya will be the first city in the MENA region prioritizing the UN Sustainable Development Goals; and Culture—Badya was conceived with the premise of enriching culture & exposing us to a more art-of-lifestyle mode of living. Art D'Égypte’s philosophy of reviving ancient heritage and promoting art and culture as human necessities meshes perfectly with Badya’s vision, and we are proud to sponsor this unique and ambitious exhibition. Here’s to new beginnings!

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Over the years, Commercial International Bank – Egypt (CIB), Egypt’s leading private-sector bank, has maintained its commitment to community development by leading initiatives and funding ideas and events in the fields of art, culture, social welfare, and sports. Believing that the advancement of a nation stems from improving the culture and aesthetic sense of society, CIB has been diversifying its activities in support of artistic endeavours across the country. Within this context, CIB works hard to uncover hidden artistic talents across Egypt and shed light on their distinctive artwork by supporting young student artists in the faculties of fine arts across Egypt. The Bank also sponsors major events to nurture Egyptian art talents, such as the Cairo Symposium, the Annual Egyptian Youth Salon, and the Upper Egypt Salon. CIB also supports Egyptian artists participating in international events, including La Biennale di Venezia, one of the world’s most prestigious arts and culture events, and the Florence Biennale. As part of its commitment to the development of the Egyptian cultural landscape, CIB is proud to support Art D’Égypte for the third consecutive year in its quest to highlight the richness of Egyptian contemporary art on local, regional, and international levels.

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A decade and a half of sustainable development.

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The Sawiris Foundation for Social Development (SFSD) was established with an endowment from the Sawiris family in 2001 with the aim of offering grants to support development projects and programmes implemented by NGOs, in partnership with the private and governmental sectors. Throughout the past 17 years, the SFSD has promoted the participation and empowerment of Egypt’s most underprivileged communities and improved their conditions by focusing on job creation, provision of high-quality education, addressing priority health topics, community development and cultural awards. The Sawiris Cultural Award is one of the most important of SFSD activities that support and enrich the cultural landscape in Egypt. The award was initiated in 2005 to recognize and encourage excellence in literature by emerging and established Egyptian writers. The SFSD also provides future artists seeking further education abroad with an exceptional opportunity to enrich and develop their talents. The Sawiris Arts & Culture Scholarship (SACS) targets highly motivated, talented and socially engaged applicants who are aware of the important role art plays in a flourishing and developing society. For more information, visit www.sawirisfoundation.org

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On the banks of the famed River Nile, the city of Cairo is the centre of Egyptian culture and commerce. Here, civilizations have met for centuries, creating a rich diversity of contrasts: modern and ancient architecture, urban sparkle and restful natural beauty, business and leisure. And there’s no better way to experience the majesty of the city and its history than through the gracious hospitality of Fairmont Nile City. Equipped with the most advanced technology to serve the needs of the discerning traveller. With sweeping panoramas of the Nile, Cairo’s natural beauty is always in sight throughout Fairmont Nile City’s luxurious guest rooms and suites. In addition to exclusive business settings and Fairmont Gold, the largest executive lounge in Cairo, the hotel, with its dedicated team of service professionals, offers its guests many opportunities to unwind at the largest spa in downtown Cairo, the Sky Pool on the hotel’s twenty-fifth floor, and its worldclass restaurants including Italian restaurant L’Uliveto, the signature Asian fusion Saigon Restaurant & Lounge, and the Middle Eastern restaurant Bab El Nil.

TITANIUM Art D’Égypte would like to thank Mrs Paula Cusi for her generous patronage.

PLATINUM Mr & Mrs Claude Abdalla Claude & Christiane Abdalla are the owners of MARMONIL, a vertically integrated Egyptian company and an industry leader operating in marble and granite. The family-owned business was founded in 1963 and has expanded worldwide through sister companies, agents and strategic partnerships. The MARMONIL name stands for solid delivery of quality work, attention to detail, experience, and innovation. The company is also proud to collaborate on community development projects with a number of organizations including the American Chamber of Commerce and the Children’s Cancer Hospital. Throughout MARMONIL’s history, there runs one dominant thread: constant investment in technology, people, and in the pursuit of excellence. The couple make it their policy to support initiatives they believe are helping to build a brighter future for Egypt and take pleasure in supporting Art d’Égypte as part of promoting Egyptian art and artists to a worldwide audience and enabling the development of artistic

talent across Egypt. They are also in the unique position of being able to offer their unmatched expertise in marble and granite-work to support artistic endeavours such as the Aswan International Sculpture Symposium founded by world-renowned artist Adam Henein. They have also recently awarded an artistic residency at MARMONIL to Yasmeen El Meleegy, one of Art D’Égypte’s contributors, in a unique programme melding industry, art, and culture.

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GOLD Mr & Mrs Rasheed Kamel Mr and Mrs Rasheed Kamel are proud supporters of the Egyptian art scene. Avid collectors of Egyptian art, they are particularly interested in contemporary and conceptual pieces. Their superb, skilfully curated private collection can almost be considered a small museum in their home. The couple firmly believe they have an ethical obligation to support young Egyptian artists as part of their commitment to putting Egyptian art back on the global art map and preserving the country’s incomparable artistic heritage. The couple are delighted and honoured to consider themselves part of the Art D'Égypte family. The initiative, started by Nadine Abdel Ghaffar, has taken Egypt by surprise and revolutionized the Egyptian art scene, creating a solid platform that not only ART D’ÉGYPTE

promotes art and artists in Egypt but also sheds light on Egypt's heritage, locally and internationally. Mr Kamel is senior partner at Al Kamel Law Office, one of Egypt’s leading independent law firms. His involvement with Art D’Égypte has encouraged him to start an art collecting initiative at his firm to promote Egyptian art. Dr & Mrs Ramzi Dalloul

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Ramzi and Saeda Dalloul are the founders of the Dalloul Arab Art Foundation, which aims to expand the global reach of modern and contemporary Arab art. With over 4,000 pieces, the Dalloul collection, although private, rivals those of many established national museums in terms of breadth, depth and cultural value. The Dallouls are also committed patrons of the arts and have dedicated significant resources to the promotion of art as an instrument of education and enlightenment. Their dream is to create a museum and cultural centre to position art as intrinsic to the development of the Arab world in the twenty-first century.

creating links between this heritage and contemporary art. The CCCOD and the Fayoum Art Centre have jointly initiated a residency programme to support French artists and provide them with new inspiration for their art. Mr Jamal Tuqan Jamal Tuqan is the managing partner of United Distributors (UD), the sales and distribution arm of the Clorox and Gourmet Operations in Egypt, and a partner in Household Cleaning Products Company, which manufactures all Clorox products in Egypt. He is interested in Egyptian modern and contemporary art and the promotion of Egyptian cultural heritage and institutions. Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi is the founder of Barjeel Art Foundation, an independent, UAE-based initiative established to manage, preserve and exhibit an extensive collection of modern and contemporary Arab art. The foundation’s guiding principle is to contribute to the development of the Arab art scene and to foster critical dialogue around regional art practices.

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Mr & Mrs Yasser Zaki Hashem

The Centre de Création Contemporaine Olivier Debré

Alia Saleh and Yasser Hashem began collecting art in the early 1980s. Since then, they have carefully built an important collection of modern Egyptian artworks. They have funded numerous local and international projects focused on promoting research, writing and publications on Egyptian Modern Art. Yasser Hashem is the Managing Partner of Egyptbased Zaki Hashem & Partners law firm, and a member of Art D’Egypte’s advisory board.

The Centre de Création Contemporaine Olivier Debré (CCCOD) is one of the largest contemporary art centres in France. Located in a modern building designed by the architects Aires Mateus, the CCCOD showcases leading figures from the art world including artists auch as Ghada Amer, Alicja Kwade, Lee Ufan, and Daniel Buren, among others, and is also a depository for artworks donated by the painter Olivier Debré,

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Art D'Égypte is a privately owned Egyptian multidisciplinary firm founded by Nadine Abdel Ghaffar to support the Egyptian arts and culture scene. It provides art consultancies to institutions, corporations and private collectors as well as curatorial services to artists, art centres and foundations, art projects, public spaces, museums, and art appreciators. The team has a strong background and extensive experience in the Egyptian art market and aims to develop strong local, regional and international collaborations to enhance and promote the rich Egyptian art scene. Art D'Égypte aims to bridge the gap between Egyptian artists and the world and to support young artists and artists with scarce funds to get their work displayed and published. Cataloguing Egypt’s modern and contemporary art heritage is a further goal of the company through the development of documentaries on modern Egyptian artists. The company’s strategy is to organize a yearly pop-up exhibition in a historic place in Egypt to shed light on the country’s abundant cultural heritage and to connect the art of Egypt’s past with that of the 21st century. This, the third edition, follows two highly successful exhibitions: Eternal Light at the Egyptian Museum (2017) and Nothing Vanishes, Everything Transforms at the Manial Palace (2018). By raising awareness, the team’s target is to help preserve Egypt’s heritage and advance the international profile of modern and contemporary Egyptian art, presenting an alternative view of Egypt to the world.

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Nadine Abdel Ghaffar is a multitalented professional with a passion for art and culture. In 2003, she founded the interior design consultancy Veradeco and, since then, her hard work and dedication to art and design have helped her enhance the cultural and social development landscape in Egypt. In 2005, Abdel Ghaffar decided to take her love of art to a more professional level and established Art D'Égypte, a multidisciplinary art consultancy. She started organizing exhibitions in Egypt and Dubai to promote Egyptian art and artists, and she works tirelessly to expand her knowledge of the field and maintain her formidable connections to both collectors and artists, recently obtaining a certificate in art curation from Central Saint Martins, London. She is committed to documenting Egypt’s modern art heritage and promoting Egyptian art worldwide. Thanks to her exceptional experience and deep commitment to the promotion of Egyptian art, she has succeeded in positioning Art D'Égypte as one of the most exclusive and sought-after art consultancies in the region. To date, Abdel Ghaffar has organized world-class exhibitions of Egyptian contemporary art in some of Egypt’s most exclusive heritage venues including Eternal Light at the Egyptian Museum (2017) and Nothing Vanishes, Everything Transforms at the Manial Palace (2018).

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Malak Shenouda studied visual art and sociology at the American University in Cairo (AUC). Her work includes archival research, curating, writing and organizing art-related events. She has worked with artists and cultural initiatives in Egypt, London, and Berlin and participated in the organization of the Downtown Contemporary Art Festival Cairo (D-Caf) and the Berlin film festivals, Berlinale and Forum Expanded. In 2018, she was selected as one of the 10 residents of the Roznama Studio Program organized by Medrar for Contemporary Art and the D-Caf Visual Arts Program. Shenouda also has her own multi-disciplinary artistic practice and has been part of several group exhibitions in Egypt, including the video and photography festival Cairographie at DARB1718. Currently Executive Director, Shenouda has been with Art D'Égypte for two years.

Hana El Beblawy studied visual art and architecture at the American University in Cairo (AUC). She is a research-based visual artist who tackles the topics of memory, cognition and forgetting in her work and undertakes archival research to create artworks that question the evidence of history. She has been involved in the organization of the Downtown Contemporary Art Festival Cairo (D-Caf) and has collaborated with various international artists and curators, including German curator Berit Schuck and Romanian artist Manual Pelmus. Her work was exhibited in the Roznama 5 exhibition (2016) organized by Medrar for Contemporary Art and she has taken part in various other group exhibitions for contemporary art in Egypt. In parallel to her art, El Beblawy is Senior Assistant Curator at Art D'Égypte.

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Nour Hassan is a Cairo-based writer, creative director, and strategist, who has been involved in the creative industries since graduating from AUC and UCLA in 2016 specializing in communications, creative writing, and film. Her passion is building brands and watching them thrive and she has worked across the art, fashion, writing, curating, and design industries in the MENA region including Jeddah, KSA—where she grew up—Dubai, and now Cairo. A writer first and foremost, she founded one of the MENA’s first indie online magazines and creative platforms called Radical. Hassan is Communications Manager at Art D'Égypte

Hadia El Masry studied painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Alexandria University. In her artistic practice, she focuses on conveying the particularities related to memory after passing through places and personal experiences using painting, drawing, video, soundscapes, and text. She is currently exploring different media to interpret elements of daily events. She has taken part in Puglia’s residency program LANDXCAPE in collaboration with Bjcem and she also participated in MASS Alexandria’s Studio and Study Program for 2016, among other group exhibitions. El Masry is Junior Coordinator at Art D'Égypte.

Hanya Elghamry is a multidisciplinary visual artist. She studied visual arts and integrated marketing communication at the American University in Cairo. She has taken part in various group exhibitions in Egypt, and her work focuses on the integration of memory with human metamorphosis and its surrounding environment. Elghamry is Junior Coordinator at Art D'Égypte.

Rania Ezzat is a multidisciplinary arts professional, visual artist, and curator. She has received diplomas in fine art (Cairo, 1998) and visual art (Geneva, 2007). Her artistic practice started with classical drawing and engraving to evolve into a conceptual and contemporary practice that includes performance and installation. Her professional field of experience includes graphic design, design consultancy, gallery management and curating, and art education, in both Geneva and Dubai. Ezzat is Cultural Engagement Director at Art D'Égypte.

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Princess Alia Al-Senussi currently serves as Art Basel’s UK and MENA representative. She is also an advisor to the Milken Institute on Arts and Culture and brings with her a breadth of experience from various affiliations in the art world, including the Tate Young Patrons (chair), the Tate Modern Advisory Council, the Tate’s Acquisitions Committee for the Middle East and North Africa, the Board of Patrons of Art Dubai, the Board of 1:54 The African Art Fair, and the Middle East Circle of the Guggenheim. She has recently obtained her PhD in politics from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS, University of London), examining the nexus of power and cultural patronage in Saudi Arabia. Previously, she graduated Magna Cum Laude in international relations (honours) and Middle East studies from Brown University and holds an MA in political science from Brown and an MSc in Law, Anthropology, and Society from LSE. Antonella Leoni was born in Italy and currently lives in Cairo (Egypt) and Parma (Italy). She is an artist specializing in Arabic calligraphy, marbling, and china painting. She holds a diploma in Asian art from Royal Holloway College, University of London, an MA in fine art china painting from Milan, and a diploma in Arabic calligraphy from the Khalil Agha school in Cairo. In 2018, she was the cultural advisor to the Italian Cultural Institute in Cairo. Previously, she was among the nine guests of honour at the International Biennale of Arabic Calligraphy in Cairo and has also received an award from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Luxor. She has participated in numerous exhibitions in Cairo, Alexandria, and Aswan in Egypt; Amman in Jordan; and Dubai in the UAE, including the al-Azhar Forum for Arabic Calligraphy and Decoration in 2018. Her challenge is to make the arts from the early Islamic world more widely known.

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Bahia Shehab is an artist, designer, and art historian. She is professor of design and founder of the graphic design programme at the American University in Cairo (AUC) where she has developed a full design curriculum mainly focused on the visual culture of the Arab world. She has taught over fourteen courses on the topic. Her artwork has been displayed internationally in exhibitions and galleries, as well as on the street. She has been included on the BBC 100 Women list (2013) and is a TED senior fellow (2016). She has received numerous international awards including the Prince Claus Award (2016) and the UNESCO-Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture (2016)—the first Arab woman to receive this honour. Her publications include A Thousand Times NO: The Visual History of LamAlif (Khatt, 2010) and At the Corner of a Dream (Gingko, 2019).

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

Chahinda Karim is an adjunct professor of Islamic art and architecture at the American University in Cairo. Her lecturing career spans more than three decades in a number of local and international educational establishments, including 15 years teaching at the Faculty of Tourism, Guiding Section, Helwan University. In tandem, she has established an equally rewarding career as an Egyptian art history guide in German, English, and French. Her most memorable activities include a lecture on Thutmose III at the Boston Museum and a two-week art history tour of Syria, Jordan, Southern Spain, and Morocco with the US-based Biblical Archaeological Society. However, it is in Islamic art that Dr Karim has truly anchored her work. She has channelled her passion for the subject to produce several publications on Mamluk architecture as well as a soonto-be-published book on Ottoman architecture. Farouk Hosny is an Egyptian artist, born in Alexandria. He graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Alexandria in 1964. In 1965, he held the post of director of al-Anfoushy Culture Palace and went on to serve as the director of the Egyptian Culture Centre in Paris, France (1970– 1978) and then as the director of the Egyptian Academy in Rome, Italy (1979–1987). He was then appointed Egyptian minister of culture until 2011 where he spearheaded many cultural and conservation initiatives including the rehabilitation of Historic Cairo as an open-air museum. He also established numerous new museums around Egypt and oversaw the upgrading of existing ones such as the Coptic Museum and the Museum of Islamic Art. During the 1960s and early 1970s, his artistic style shifted from an expressionist approach to a unique minimalist one. He has exhibited his work at many local and global exhibitions and museums and has been awarded numerous international awards. Galila El Kadi is emeritus research director at the Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD/France). She is a professor in urban planning and architecture and was head of the department of architecture at the French University in Egypt (FUE). In 2010, she cofounded the master’s programme on cultural heritage at the FUE in partnership with the University of Paris 1 Sorbonne. She is currently one of UNESCO’s international experts in the conservation of urban and architectural heritage in the Arab world. She studied architecture at the Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University and urban planning at the Institut d’urbanisme de Paris, Paris 12 University. She has also acted as a consultant to the governor of Cairo for the Khedivial Cairo Rehabilitation Project (2013–2017) and has numerous publications in the fields of urban and architectural heritage conservation and urban and regional planning. Hind Mostafa is an activist and expert on Egyptian tangible and intangible cultural heritage, particularly in Historic Cairo, and boasts a long-standing career in heritage documentation; the propagation and management of cultural heritage projects; and the production of multimedia heritage content. She is the co-founder and current managing director of the NADIM Foundation, overseeing numerous projects including the Encyclopaedia of Egyptian Woodworking. She is a former member of UNESCO’s National Memory of the World Program Committee (2007–2010) and was head of the International Relations and Special Projects Department at Bibliotheca Alexandrina’s Center for Documentation of Cultural and Natural Heritage (CULTNAT) from 2008 to 2012. She has also been involved in numerous projects including the Bayt al-Suhaymi restoration initiative undertaken by the NADIM Foundation (1994–2000) and al-Awqaf and al-Ghuriyya project, a joint research initiative awarded first prize in 2015 in a competition organized by the Greater Cairo Public Library (pending publication).

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Paul G.C. Hector is the advisor for communication and information at UNESCO’s Regional Bureau for Sciences in the Arab States. He joined UNESCO in 2000 under its Young Professionals Programme and has supported project initiatives and policy actions in Africa, South America, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East. His work has addressed inequalities in access to digital networks linked to issues of gender, language, literacy, island/rural living, and disability. Initially trained as a civil and structural engineer, he holds doctoral degrees in management science and in knowledge and innovation management. He is involved in various international academic conferences and research initiatives and occasionally reviews papers for journals in his fields of expertise. He has authored book chapters, conference and journal papers, developed various courses, and lectured in postgraduate business schools. He is an alumnus of the J. William Fulbright Scholar Program and the US State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program. Shahira Mehrez obtained her MA while teaching Islamic history and architecture at the Faculty of Tourism, Helwan University and later conducted post-graduate research at Linacre College, Oxford University (1974–1977). In the early 1980s, she left teaching and devoted herself to researching, collecting, and promoting Egypt’s hitherto scantly documented regional arts and crafts. For the past 40 years, she has been relentlessly lecturing at home and abroad to raise awareness of this endangered legacy, and her collections have been exhibited in cultural centres and museums worldwide. She has also established ‘Shahira Mehrez and Companions’, a shop specializing in regional costumes and traditional handicrafts. She was a member of the board of administration of the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo from 2011 to 2013 and has been an active member of the Egyptian Heritage Rescue Foundation since 2014. She is currently publishing her research on traditional costumes and jewellery.

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Venetia Porter studied Arabic and Islamic art at the University of Oxford. Her PhD from the University of Durham is on the history and architecture of Medieval Yemen. She is a senior curator at the British Museum responsible for the collections of Islamic and Contemporary Middle East art. She curated the exhibition Hajj: Journey to the Heart of Islam in 2012 and was the lead curator for the Albukhary Foundation Gallery of the Islamic World which opened in 2018. Her research and publications range from Yemeni history through Arabic inscriptions and amulets to contemporary art.

Yannick Lintz holds a PhD in Achaemenid history and has been director of the Islamic Art Department in the Louvre Museum since 2013. She is also a visiting professor at the Sorbonne University (Paris, France) and Senghor University (Alexandria, Egypt). As a member of the Scientific Council—Agence France-Muséums in charge of the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum project, she trained French curators on the idea of a global history museum from the point of view of the Islamic world. She has become known as an art historian of the Middle East, with a focus on the transition between Late Antiquity and the beginning of Islam, through the city of Antinoe (Egypt). She is also an international expert on Islamic art museums and the art market for classical Islamic art. Recently, she created the PAPSI programme focused on safeguarding endangered cultural heritage in Syria and Iraq and established the Islamic Art French Network.

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

Alexandra Stock is a curator and artist based in Cairo. She has held curatorial and/or managerial positions at three leading contemporary art institutions in the MENA and has consulted for the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities. Notable projects include the co-curated Bourgeois Leftovers (2013) at De Appel Arts Centre in Amsterdam; the six-week-long Alwan338//Foundations festival (2014) in Bahrain; the touring photography project “Modern Miracles” (2017–2018), first exhibited in a 15th-century heritage site in Cairo; and most recently, the Open Call-winning Occupational Hazards (2019) at Apexart in NYC, featuring 13 artists with ties to the MENA region. Arnaud Morand is the cultural attaché for France in the UAE. As a strong advocate of cultural dialogue, he leads several cooperation programs between France and the Middle East with a focus on contemporary arts, innovation, and heritage. He currently oversees the Emirati-French Cultural Dialogue and has organized several activities in cooperation with the Paris National Opera, Abu Dhabi Art, the Sharjah Biennial, and the World Government Summit, among others. He has also implemented a rich cultural program to accompany the Louvre Abu-Dhabi opening and is keenly interested in the practices resulting from digital transformation in the fields of arts, politics, and science. Bahia Shehab is a member of Art D'Égypte’s curating board. For an extended bio, please refer to the Contributors section. Ridha Moumni read art history and archaeology at the Sorbonne University in Paris where he earned his PhD. He researches classical, modern and contemporary art from a global and transnational perspective, with emphasis on questions of collecting practice and intellectual history. Winner of several prizes, he was the first Tunisian Fellow at the French Academy in Rome (Villa Medici). He has curated numerous exhibitions of photography and modern art, including The Awakening of a Nation: Art at the Dawn of Modern Tunisia (1837– 1881) in 2016 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of national independence. Moumni is currently working on a project on modernism in Tunisia. Rose Issa is a curator, writer and producer who has championed visual art and film from the Middle East for more than 30 years. She has lived in London since the 1980s, showcasing upcoming and established artists and producing exhibitions and film festivals worldwide. As well as holding exhibitions at Rose Issa Projects in London, she is also the founder of the publishing units Rose Issa Projects and Beyond Art Production, where she has published almost 30 catalogues and monographs, including the most recent Signs of Our Times: From Calligraphy to Calligraffiti (Merrell Publishing, 2016) and Ourouba, The Eye of Lebanon (Beirut Art Fair, 2017). Salma Tuqan is Deputy Director of the Delfina Foundation (London), a cross disciplinary non-profit foundation dedicated to facilitating artistic exchange. Previously, she was the Contemporary Middle East Curator at the V&A, where she co-curated the biennial international Jameel Prize exhibition and co-founded the Culture in Crisis stream. She is a committee member of the Arab Image Foundation (Beirut), The Palestinian Museum (Birzeit), and The Khatt Foundation (Amsterdam); a trustee of the Crossway Foundation (London); and strategic advisor to NuMu (Guatemala City). She holds an MA in History of Art from Cambridge University and an MA in Arts Policy and Cultural Management from Birkbeck University.

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I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the many contributors and supporters who made Reimagined Narratives a reality. It has truly been a privilege to witness their faith in us and their unwavering love for Egypt, a landof ever-changing yet eternal narratives. This event would not have been possible without the support of so many people:

The stars of Reimagined Narratives, our wonderful Egyptian artists, who gave us time, energy and so much of their exceptional creativity to make this exhibition a reality:

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Ahmed Askalany Ahmed El Shaer Ahmed Farid Ahmed Karaly Ahmed Keshta Amir Youssef Diaa El Din Daoud Farida El Gazzar Fathi Hassan Ghada Amer Hany Rashed Heba Y. Amin Huda Lutfi Ibrahim Ahmed

Ibrahim El Dessouki Ibrahim Khatab Islam Shabana Karim El Hayawan Marianne Fahmy Marwan Elgamal Medhat Shafik Moaaz El Dmasy Mohamed Banawy Mohamed Monaiseer Mohamed Shoukry Sherin Guirguis Tarek Naga Yasmine El Meleegy

The Minister of Antiquities, H.E. Dr Khaled Al Anany The Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Sameh Shoukry Associate Minister for Fundraising and Investment, Eman Zidan Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Dr Mostafa Waziri Nevine Aref for managing the press

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REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

H.E. Ibrahim El Khouli for all his support and for his dedication to establishing Egypt as a major Francophonie hub. UNESCO, ALESCO, and ISESCO H.E. Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Tatiana Villegas, Paul Hector, Cherif Al Akwar, Gheith Fariz, and most importantly Dr Ghada Abdel Bary, whose help, support, and encouragement were instrumental in helping us receive UNESCO Patronage. Brigadier General Eng. Hesham Samir, Assistant to the Minister for Engineering Affairs and General Supervisor of the Historic Cairo Development Project; Dr Gamal Mostafa, Head of the Islamic and Coptic Monuments Division; Brigadier General Gamal Auf and Auf Service for Cleaning and Maintenance; Mahmoud Abdel Baset, General Manager of the Historic Cairo Development Project; Amr Abdel Kerim, Supervisor of the Historic Cairo Heritage Department; Sherif Fawzy, General Coordinator of al-Mu‘iz Street Historic Area; Dalia El Gohary, Supervisor of the Archaeological Awareness and Community Outreach Unit; Ahmed Maher, Monitoring Supervisor for al-Mu‘iz Street Historic Area ; Mohamed Abu Serii, General Manager of the Gamaliyya Historic Area; Mohsen Anwar, Event and Photography Manager for the Gamaliyya Historic Area; and all Gamaliyya Historic Area inspection officials. The General Administration of Tourism & Antiquities Police; the Ministry of Interior; and Cairo Governorate, particularly Riham Arram.

‫ونخــص بالشــكر العميــد المهندس هشــام‬ ‫ســمير مســاعد الوزير للشــئون الهندســية‬ ‫والمشــرف العام على مشــروع تطوير‬ ‫ والدكتــور جمــال محمد‬،‫القاهــرة التاريخيــة‬ ‫مصطفــى رئيــس قطاع اآلثار اإلســامية‬ ‫ و العميــد جمــال عوف وشــركة‬،‫والقبطيــة‬ ،‫عــوف ســيرفس للنظافــة والصيانة‬ ‫واألســتاذ محمود عبد الباســط مدير‬ ،‫عــام مشــروع تطوير القاهــرة التاريخية‬ ‫واألســتاذ عمرو عبد الكريم المشــرف‬ ،‫علــى وحــدة التراث بالقاهــرة التاريخية‬ ‫واألســتاذ شــريف فوزي منســق عام شارع‬ ‫ واألســتاذة داليا‬،‫المعــز بالقاهــرة التاريخيــة‬ ‫الجوهــري المشــرف على وحــدة التوعية‬ ‫ واألســتاذ‬،‫األثريــة والتواصــل المجتمعي‬ ‫احمــد ماهــر مســئول المتابعة بشــارع المعز‬ ‫ األســتاذ محمــد علي‬،‫بالقاهــرة التاريخيــة‬ ،‫أبــو ســريع مديــر عام منطقة آثــار الجمالية‬ ‫واألســتاذ محســن أنور مســئول الحفالت‬ ‫ و جميع‬،‫والتصويــر بمنطقــة آثــار الجماليــة‬ .‫مفتشــي منطقــة الجمالية‬ ‫كذلــك نــود أن نشــكر الهيئة العامة لشــرطة‬ ‫ ومحافظة‬،‫ ووزارة الداخليــة‬،‫الســياحة واآلثــار‬ ‫ وخاصــة األســتاذة ريهام عرام‬،‫القاهــرة‬ ‫علــى الدعــم والمســاعدة فــي جميع مراحل‬ .‫المشروع‬

Mona Abdel Nazeer for her help on logistics. The galleries that generously collaborated with Art D’Égypte: Hamza El Serafi and Athr Gallery in Jeddah; Cecilia Ruggeri and Third Line Gallery in Dubai; Yuli Karatsiki and Kalafayan Galleries in Greece; Mary Mitsch and the Marianne Boesky Gallery in New York; Mohamed Talaat and Gallery Misr; Mona Saiid, Sherwet Shafei, and Safarkhan Gallery; and Stefania and Mashrabia Gallery of Contemporary Art, Cairo. The Art D’Égypte team, my backbone and the best team in the world, Malak Shenouda and Hana El Beblawy for their dedication and commitment to making our initiative work. They have been the true powerhouse behind this exhibition, and I am truly grateful for their creativity and passion

and for their perseverance in the face of all obstacles. I thank them from the bottom of my heart for believing in this project and I look forward to even greater successes together. Hadia El Masry and Hanya Elghamry for their hard work and perseverance with every task presented to them and for learning so much in such a short period of time. Nour Hassan, our communications guru, for successfully juggling a huge task. The contributors to our exhibition catalogue: Alia Al-Senussi, Antonella Leoni, Bahia Shehab, Chahinda Karim, Farouk Hosny, Galila El Kadi, Hind Mostafa, Paul G.C. Hector, Shahira Mehrez, Venetia Porter, and Yannick Lintz. Our lecturers who generously shared their knowledge: Bahia Shehab, Brenda Segone, Dominique Lammli, Esraa Zidan, Shady Elnoshokaty, Shahira Mehrez, Tatiana Villegas, Venetia Porter, Yannick Lintz, Yasser Mongy, and in particular, Thomas Girst. Dr Girst’s faith in our initiative and his incredibly helpful team have attracted journalists from all over the world to share our story and make it heard. Our curating board, and particularly Arnaud Morand, Ridha Moumni, Rose Issa, and Salma Tuqan for their true dedication to our initiative. Our copyeditor Nevine Henein and our book designer Jorell Legaspi for their tremendous effort in bringing this publication to light; Abdallah Dawestashy for his outstanding photographs of Historic Cairo; and translators Nancy Nasr El Din and Maysoon Mahfouz. Our esteemed printing partner Sahara Printing Company. Badya for their dedication to art and culture. Their public-private partnership with the Ministry of Housing is bringing Egypt’s

creative city to life, and their generous sponsorship for initiatives like Reimagined Narratives is revitalizing the Egyptian art scene. We would also like to thank them for renovating the landscaping of Bayt al-Suhaymi. Special thanks to Yassin Mansour for believing in Art D’Égypte, and of course, to his team, Mona Bagaly, Heba Abdel Monsef, and Aly Ghamry. The CIB team, particularly Romani Hafez and Reham El Geoushy under the guidance of chairman and managing director Hisham Ezz El Arab and CEO Hussein Abaza. The Sawiris Foundation for Social Development (SFSD) team for the great work they do in Egypt. Special thanks to Samih Sawiris for his support and trust; Dina Nagaty for assistance in every step; Rahma Zein for her help with press, and Nora Selim and Rosa Abdel Malek for putting so much effort into the foundation. MO4 Network, our official media partners, for their creative input and the efforts of the team, Dalia Awad, Federico Corno, Gasser Awadallah, and their ‘Hatshepsut’, Amy Mowafi. The Fairmont, our official hotel and catering partners and passionate supporters of art and top-quality service, and in particular, Mr. Frank Nabolsi, Chef Mohamed El Sherif, and Abdel Kader Hanafy. DHL, our logistics partners Ahmed Fayez for his willingness to solve every logistical obstacle, and our dear friend Lyne Roulin from Logitrans for the constant help and support. Special thanks to our tourism partners Travco, Karim El-Chiaty and his team members, Amira Helmy and Randa Gohary, for assisting our guests and facilitating their stay. BMW, our official automotive partners, especially Omneya Moussa, and Yehia El Kodous.

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EgyptAir for providing our guests with special flight rates, with special thanks to Nashwa Negm.

appreciate MBC al-Amal’s coverage with the support of Mariam Farrag and Youmna Gaafar.

Prolite and Baher George for providing the light projector and screen.

TV5Monde, especially Nabil Bouhajra, for unconditional support and for spreading our story on TV5 around the world.

Mireille Amin’s team at Eventfull for their dedication in making the private ceremony a magical experience. Mohamed Daghash, my brother and supporter, and his super company that can achieve anything, particularly Ahmed Hosny for always being responsive and cooperative. Special thanks to Mrs Sahar Talaat Mostafa and her Supergirl Molly for all the support, and of course, to the Four Seasons Nile Plaza for their professionalism.

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Al Ismaelia and Karim Shafie for their efforts to preserve downtown Cairo’s heritage along with Phelo Dimitri and Moushira Adel who have been extremely helpful. Inas el Nakeeb and Mohamed El Bashary for the amazing brunch they organized for our guests at the Diplomatic Club.

The supporters of our lecture series, Al Ismaelia, Ahmed Helmy and Meuble el Chark, Orange, and Nestlé. The British Council for their guidance and support with particular thanks to Cathy Constain, Peter Hawkins, and Shaimaa El Banna. H.E. Stephane Romatet, Ambassador of France, and the entire embassy team, with special thanks to Jamel Oubechou, Marine Debliquis, and Hachem Deif for their support and for hosting our afterparty at the beautiful residence on the Nile. Special thanks also to the man of the day, Aurélien Chauvier, for the press. Salwa El-Sheikh and Shaimaa Fayed from the Swiss Embassy, as well as H.E. Ambassador Paul Garnier.

Our guides Karim Badr, Michael Mitchell, and Ahmed Al-Bindari.

The team at the US Embassy, Dina Hafez and Michelle Angulo.

Farida Temraza for her heritageinspired couture.

The support of Hazem Badran and assistance of Nada Raouf from CI Capital.

Eva Cosmetics and the Armanios family for providing sunblock. Thanks to Yasmine, Linda, and Riad and special thanks to Riad’s beautiful wife, my little sister Natalie Ashbaa. Origin, Mona El-Zomor, and Mr and Mrs Hoseiny for their help with the press conference. Special thanks for our media partners: El Beit, al-Borsa Newspaper, Business Today, Canvas, Daily News Egypt, al-Mal, Masrawy, al-Masry al-Youm, Nisf El Donia, and al-Shorouk. We also greatly

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

Jamal Tuqan’s support through United Distributors and Alia and Ashraf Tanani’s support through Living In Interiors; Upsilon’s dedication to bringing timebased media to our exhibition and developing a phone app for Art D’Égypte. Lamia Kamel’s team at CC-Plus, our PR partners: Sarah Ahmed, Farah Zada, and Rasha Ahmed. The support of Total, CCCOD, and Alex Bank will surely grow to be fruitful partnerships. Kama Manufacturing, Nadim, and Marmonil for allowing Art D’Égypte

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

to embark on its newest adventure and launch artist residencies in Egypt, making space for industrial experts, artisans, and technicians to partner up with artists and help them defy all boundaries in creating their art installations. Friends and family who contributed tremendously to the success of Reimagined Narratives. My deepest gratitude to my beloved family: My parents, Mamdouh A. Ghaffar and Aida Fahmy, who fed us culture growing up; my husband Tarek El Mahdy who has financially and morally supported me in every step; my beautiful children, Omar and Taya; and my brother Omar A. Ghaffar. My dear friend and supporter Masha Al Shobokshy and her family who have supported me immensely over the years. Masha has been a true support and saviour; without her we would have had no cocktail reception. My friends, Zahrbanelians, Karim Wissa, Lotfy Mansour, Beatriz Betancourt, Hussam Rashwan, Mennat-Allah El Dorry, Sawsan Mourad, and Nora Abla. Anne Shelton for believing in us and for supporting Art D’Égypte and inviting us to Art Geneva. Paula Cusi, who has made herself available at all times for advice and help. Rawya Mansour, a true idol, who has given considerable time and effort to support our initiative. Special thanks to our patrons; without them this initiative wouldn’t have seen the light: Mr & Mrs Claude Abdalla, Mr & Mrs Rasheed Kamel, Dr & Mrs Ramzi Dalloul, Mr & Mrs Yasser Hashem, and Mr Jamal Tuqan. Barjeel Art Foundation and Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, its founder, for his immense support, patronage and steadfast commitment to the

arts of the Arab world. His passion and support for Art D’Égypte initiatives made it possible for our first endeavour, Night at the Museum, to see the light in 2017. Dr Mounir Neamatalla for his encouragement. My friends who believed in my work from the start, Nora Al Kholi, Noha El Kabbany, and especially Venus El-Rayes and Sherine Ghanem for her unconditional encouragement and dedication. They have been of great support and have helped make this dream come true. Superwoman Ghena Al Hariri, who was always working behind the scenes supporting me in every way possible. H.E. Ambassador Nasser Kamel, Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean, and the amazing Dalia El Batal for their devoted support. H.E. Ehab Badawy, Ambassador of Egypt in France and H.E. Tarek Adel in the UK. Special thanks to all the companies that trusted us and contributed with in-kind donations to the venues.

Signify for lighting various monuments in Historic Cairo, using the newest museum lighting technology; Mohamed A. El Azayem, John Fahmy, Omar Kerm, Menna Onsi, and Hossam Nabawy for making it happen. Mohamed Al Sagheer for the restoration of the Qalawun Complex architectural model. Duravit and Kamal Gabr for renovating various monuments in Historic Cairo. Laila El-Nofely, Hala Abdel Wadoud, and CEO Yasser Shaker at Orange for providing free Wi-Fi in historic Cairo and facilitating our guests’ stay with free lines. Rawan Abdul Halim for her architectural skills and helpfulness, and Mahmoud Ashraf for his dedication. Kamar El Shafie, Ahmed Refaie, Farah Abdel Hamid and Farah Hassan for their creative designs and attention to detail. Alyâa Kamel, a truly talented artist, for being there from day one and for her beautiful sketches. Ahmed Abbas, Ismail Badr, and Minatec for their high-quality productions.

George Mokhtar for his support and Laila Azmi, a super-volunteer. Over 100 dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers who have given up their free time to facilitate the visitors’ experience all month and guide them through the art on display. We are also proud to have launched a cultural awareness programme this year on al-Mu‘iz Street in our efforts to support sustainable cultural development. The programme included ‘Heritage Guardians’ training sessions for students as well as weekly street performances in the open theatre, highlighting cultural and ethical values through entertainment. Thank you all for your faith in Art D’Égypte. Your generous support has empowered us and made us more ambitious with each edition. This year, we truly reached for the stars, and we hope that the result of this amazing journey was worthy of your confidence in us. We are already looking forward to the next adventure! Nadine A. Ghaffar Founder and General Manager Art D’Égypte

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AHMED ASKALANY

AHMED FARID

2018 Nothing Vanishes, Everything Transforms, Art D'Égypte, Manial Palace, Cairo, Egypt 2014 Art Sawa Gallery, Dubai, UAE 2010 Khan El Maghrabi Gallery, Cairo, Egypt 2010 Magenta 52 Gallery, Milano, Italy 2010 Invisible Presence (curated by Stefania Angarano), Samakhana, Cairo, Egypt 2009 Egyptian Pavilion, Venice Biennale (with Adel El Siwi), Venice, Italy 2008 Sculptures, Mashrabia Gallery of Contemporary Art, Cairo, Egypt 2006 Sculptures, Mashrabia Gallery of Contemporary Art, Cairo, Egypt 2004 Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, Egypt 2003 Cairo ... here, Mashrabia Gallery of Contemporary Art, Cairo, Egypt 2001 Rats, Room and Other Tales, Mashrabia Gallery of Contemporary Art, Cairo, Egypt 1999 British Council, Cairo, Egypt

2019 Christie’s Auction, Modern and Contemporary Art, London, UK 2019 Group exhibition, Art Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon 2018 Chaotic Beauty, solo exhibition, Safarkhan Art Gallery, Cairo, Egypt 2018 Nothing Vanishes, Everything Transforms, Art D'Égypte, Manial Palace, Cairo, Egypt 2017 Melodies of Conflict, solo exhibition, Safarkhan Art Gallery, Cairo, Egypt 2017 Luxury Living, solo exhibition, Miami, Florida, USA 2017 Modern and Contemporary Art Auction, Christie’s, Dubai, UAE 2016 Art for Life, group exhibition sponsored by the Magdi Yacoub Foundation, Safarkhan Art Gallery and Bulgari Egypt, Cairo, Egypt 2016 Behind Closed Doors, solo exhibition, Safarkhan Art Gallery, Cairo, Egypt 2015 Group exhibition, Jerome Zodo Gallery, London, UK 2013 Group exhibition, Faustini Art Gallery, Florence, Italy 2012 Little Treasures, Trevisan International Art, Bologna, Italy

AHMED EL SHAER 2019 Crossover (the Scene) (curated by Sara Angel), Museum of the Moving Image, New York, USA 2018 Rencontres Internationales Paris/ Berlin Festival, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France 2018 INTERFERENCE Festival, Tunis, Tunisia 2017 Art Game Demos, Festival Nuage Numérique, Lyon, France 2015 UCLA Video Game Art Festival, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, California, USA 2015 In the Eye of the Thunderstorm Collateral Event (curated by Martina Corgnati), 56th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy 2014 20th International Symposium on Electronic Art, Zayed University, Dubai, UAE 2012 The Impossible Black Tulip of Cartography, Impact Festival, Amsterdam, Netherlands 2011 Bamako Biennale, National Museum, Bamako, Mali 2011 Disconnect Town House Gallery, Cairo, Egypt

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

AHMED KARALY 2018 Nothing Vanishes, Everything Transforms, Art D'Égypte, Manial Palace, Cairo, Egypt 2014 El Hanager Arts Centre, Cairo, Egypt 2013 El Hanager Arts Centre, Cairo, Egypt 2012 The Mahmoud Khalil Museum, Cairo, Egypt 2009 Sodic Symposium, New York, USA 2008 Solo exhibition, Gezira Centre for the Arts, Cairo, Egypt 2007 Panzuma Symposium, Russia 2006 Solo exhibition, Egyptian Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, Italy 2002 Solo exhibition, Mashrabia Gallery of Contemporary Art, Cairo, Egypt 2000/2001 International Sculpture Symposium, Aswan, Egypt

AHMED KESHTA 2019 Metaphor, 21st Islamic Arts Festival, Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, UAE

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

2017 The Judgenent of Maát, Ipsum Galería, Madrid, Spain 2016 First Step, 19th Islamic Arts Festival, Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, UAE 2016 Jasmine´s Shroud, Fine Arts Museum of Castellón, Valencia, Spain 2016 African art 1-54, Somerest House, London, UK 2015 Migrant Kites, Casa Árabe Cordoba, Spain 2015 Burned CD, Eugenio Trías Public Library, Madrid, Spain 2015 The Blanket, Casa Árabe Madrid, Spain 2014 MOYA Annuale 2014, Museum of Young Art, Palais Schönborn, Vienna, Austria 2014 Curs, M. Maria Exhibition Centre, Andorra La Vella, Andorra 2013 UTOPIA, Ministry of Culture Exhibition Centre, Andorra

AMIR YOUSSEF 2018 Voyage Voyage, Ecole supérieure d’art, Aix-en-Provence, France 2016 Biennale Milano, Milan, Italy 2015 1st Youth Salon, Eltarasina Gallery, Alexandria, Egypt 2015 26th Youth Salon, Opera House, Cairo, Egypt 2015 Youth Salon, Saad Zaghloul Museum, Alexandria, Egypt 2014 Agenda Exhibition, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria, Egypt 2014 25th Youth Salon, Opera House, Cairo, Egypt 2013 MASS-Alexandria Exhibition 3, Alexandria, Egypt 2012 MASS-Alexandria Exhibition 2, Alexandria, Egypt 2012 Markaz Elebdaa, Alexandria, Egypt 2012 Caricature , Goethe institute, Alexandria, Egypt 2012 Agenda Exhibition, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria, Egypt 2010 Atelier Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt

DIAA EL DIN DAOUD Solo: 2005/2011 Gezira Centre for the Arts, Cairo, Egypt 2006 Egyptian Academy of Fine Arts, Rome, Italy

Group: 2018 Nothing Vanishes, Everything Transforms, Art D'Égypte, Manial Palace, Cairo, Egypt 2007/2011/2015 Gyeonggi International Ceramic Biennale, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea 2003 53rd Faenza International Biennale for Ceramics, Faenza, Italy 1996/1998/2000/2002 Cairo International Biennale for Ceramics, Cairo, Egypt 1996–1999 Annual Youth Salon, Cairo, Egypt

FARIDA EL GAZZAR 2018 The Armory Show, Kalfayan Galleries, New York, USA 2018 Art Dubai, Kalfayan Galleries, Dubai, UAE 2018 Art Basel, Kalfayan Galleries, Hong Kong, China 2018 Nothing Vanishes, Everything Transforms, Art D'Égypte, Manial Palace, Cairo, Egypt 2017 Kabinett, solo exhibition, Kalfayan Galleries, Art Basel, Miami Beach, USA 2017 NP or the Possibilities of a Life (curated by Maria-Thalia Carras and Olga Hatzidaki), Locus Athens, Greece 2016 Glory, solo exhibition, Kalfayan Galleries, Athens, Greece 2015 Dream City, solo exhibition, Gypsum Gallery, Cairo, Egypt 2009 Rehang (curated by November Paynter and Sylvia Kouvali), parallel event to the 11th International Istanbul Biennale, Grand Hotel De Londres, Istanbul, Turkey 2009 The Ultimate Experience (curated by William Wells and Mayssa Fatouh), al-Riwaq Gallery, Bahrain

FATHI HASSAN 2019 Whispers, Lawrie Shabibi Galery, Dubai, UAE 2015 Migration of Signs, Williams Museum, Massachusetts, USA 2014 The Depth of Hope, V.C.U. Qatar, Doha, Qatar 2012 Faces and Voices, John Rylands Library, Manchester, UK 2011, Rose Issa Projects, Abu Dhabi Art, Abu Dhabi, UAE 2010 Arabicity, Bluecoat Arts Centre, Liverpool and Beirut Exhibition Centre, UK/Lebanon 2008 Fathi Hassan, National Museum Villa Pisani, Stra, Venice, Italy 2002 Group Show, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington DC, USA 1995 Containers of Memory, Annina Nosi Gallery, New York, USA

GHADA AMER 2018 Ghada Amer, Cheim & Read, New York, USA 2018 Ceramics, Knots, Thoughts, Scraps, Dallas Contemporary, Dallas, USA 2018 Dark Continent, Centre de Création Contemporaine Olivier Debré, Tours, France 2018 Nothing Vanishes, Everything Transforms, Art D'Égypte, Manial Palace, Cairo, Egypt 2012 Ghada Amer, Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal, Montréal, Canada 2008 Love Has No End, Elisabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, Brooklyn Museum, New York 2006 Ghada Amer: Paintings and RFGA Drawings (curated by J. Poodt), Stedelijk Museum, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands 2004 Ghada Amer (curated by Teresa Millet), Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, Valencia, Spain 2002 Works by Ghada Amer, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, USA 2000 Intimate Confessions, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel 2000 Whitney Biennale (curated by M. Lincoln Andersen), Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, USA

HANY RASHED Solo: 2001-2018 13 exhibitions at Mashrabia Gallery of Contemporary Art, Cairo, Egypt 2017 Soma Art Gallery, Cairo, Egypt Group: 2018 Beirut Art Fair, Beirut, Lebanon 2017 Very Sustainable—Environmental Revelation, Museum of Contemporary Art, Yinchuan, China 2015 A Season in Hell, Gypsum Gallery, Cairo, Egypt 2014 Back to (the) Square 1, Forum Box, Helsinki, Finland 2012 Identitaeten, Kunst-Nah Galerie, Hamburg, Germany 2009 Project Ankh, Berlin and Frankfurt, Germany 2008 Open Studios, Villa Romana, Florence, Italy 2007 In the Middle of the Middle, SfeirSemler Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon, and Frieze Art Fair, Regent’s Park, London, UK

HEBA Y. AMIN 2018 Kunstpreis der Böttcherstrasse (shortlisted artist), Kunsthalle Bremen, Germany 2018 We don’t need another hero, 10th Berlin Biennale, Berlin, Germany 2018 Dal Bahar Madwarha/The Island is What the Sea Surrounds, Valletta 2018, Malta

2017 The Earth is an Imperfect Ellipsoid (solo), Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany 2017 A Good Neighbor, 15th Istanbul Biennale, Istanbul, Turkey 2017 An Astronomical Determination of the Distance Between Two Cities (solo), Gallery Zilberman, Istanbul, Turkey 2016 Beton, Kunsthalle, Vienna, Austria 2016 The City in the Blue Daylight, Dak’Art Biennale of Contemporary African Art, Dakar, Senegal 2016 Fluidity, Kunstverein Hamburg, Germany 2014 9th Forum Expanded: What Do We Know When We Know Where Something Is?, 64th Berlinale, Berlin, Germany

HUDA LUTFI 2018 Nothing Vanishes, Everything Transforms, Art D'Égypte, Manial Palace, Cairo, Egypt 2017 Tell Me the Story of All These Things, Villa Vassilieff, Paris, France 2014 Fotofest Biennale, Houston, USA 2013 Cut and Paste, Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, Egypt 2013 Terms and Conditions, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore 2010 Making a Man Out of Him, Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, Egypt 2010 Dak’Art Biennale of Contemporary African Art, Dakkar, Senegal 2008 Zan’it al-Sittat, The Third Line, Dubai, UAE 2007 Contemporary Egyptian Art, the Museum of Modern Art, Bonn, Germany 2007 Out of Place, Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon 2002 Dawn Portraits, Fortis Circustheater Gallery, The Hague, Netherlands

IBRAHIM AHMED Solo: 2018 Burn What Needs to Be Burned, Sara Zanin Gallery, Rome, Italy 2018 Along Those Lines, Gallery Nosco, Marseille, France 2016 Something I Can Feel, Gallery Nosco / Volta Art Fair, NYC, NY 2016 Pressing Fallacies, Townhouse West, Cairo, Egypt 2014 The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, Artellewa Art Space, Ard El Lewa, Giza, Egypt 2010 In the Shade of Light (solo), Project House, Newark, New Jersey, USA Group: 2019 The Construction of the Possible, 13th Havana Biennale, Havana, Cuba 2018 Stories from the Water’s Edge, 4th International Biennale of Casablanca, Casablanca, Morocco 2018 The Red Hour, 13th Biennale de Dakar, Dakar, Senegal

ART D’ÉGYPTE

141

2018 Artissima, Piero Atchugarry Gallery, Torino, Italy 2018 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, Gallery Nosco, London, UK

IBRAHIM EL DESSOUKI 2018 Earth and all that is above it, Al Markhiya Gallery, Doha, Qatar 2018 Octagon, Gallery Misr , Cairo, Egypt2006 10th Cairo International Biennale, Cairo, Egypt 2015 Start, Saatchi Gallery & Hafez Gallery, London, UK 2014 Intersection, Gallery Misr, Cairo, Egypt 2013 Art and Design Gallery, Venice, Italy 2009 Undercurrent: Egyptian Contemporary Art, Art Sawa Gallery, Dubai, UAE 2008 Trilogy of the Mediterranean (Greece/France/Egypt ), Marseille, France 2008 Um Khulthum, Institut du monde arabe, Paris, France 2006 10th Cairo International Biennale, Cairo, Egypt

IBRAHIM KHATAB

142

2018 Sharjah Calligraphy Biennale, Sharjah, UAE 2018 Safarkhan Gallery, Cairo, Egypt 2016 Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Cape Town, South Africa 2016 Safarkhan Gallery, Cairo, Egypt 2016 Sharjah Calligraphy Biennale, Sharjah, UAE 2015 Supermarket Art Fair, Oslo, Sweden 2015 Art Lounge gallery, Cairo, Egypt 2014 Nabad Art Gallery, Amman, Jordan 2014 Arabian Youth Salon, Doha, Qatar 2013 Gezira Art Centre, Cairo, Egypt 2011 Bamako Biennale, National Museum, Bamako, Mali 2008 Malmo Artists’ Book Biennale, Malmo, Sweden

Performances: 2018 NaN, The Man Who Never Told a Lie, HAU3, CTM Festival, Berlin, Germany 2017 Delta3, Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, UK 2016 C31S39, MASAFAT, Boiler Room, Cairo, Egypt 2016 C31S39, Städtische Galerie Delmenhorst, Delmenhorst, Germany 2015 My Home, My Rules, At Home In The House, HFK, Bremen, Germany

KARIM EL HAYAWAN 2019 What if Art is Elsewhere (Hakawy Group Exhibition), Contemporary Arab Photography Biennale, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France 2019 Five is a Crowd, Institut Du Monde Arabe, Paris, France 2019 Missing Memory, Ghaya Gallery, Tunis, Tunisia 2018 Hafez Gallery, Abu Dhabi Art, Abu Dhabi, UAE 2018 What if Art is Elsewhere, 2nd Cairo Off Biennale Cairo, Darb1718, Cairo, Egypt 2018 Retro // Gression, Dak’Art Biennale of Contemporary African Art, Dakar, Senegal 2018 Not Him, Because I’m a Father with UN Women, Soma Art Gallery, Cairo, Egypt 2017 Cairo Cacophony, Contemporary Arab Photography Biennale, Institut Du Monde Arabe, Paris, France 2017 Kintsugi, Soma Art Gallery, Cairo, Egypt 2017 7 Vacant Jobs, w/ UN Women, Darb1718, Cairo, Egypt 2015 Toktok Connecting Dots, Destinations, 1st Cairo Off Biennale, Darb1718, Cairo, Egypt 2014 Hands, The Grid Cape Town Photo Biennale, Cape Town, South Africa

Group: 2018 Nothing Vanishes, Everything Transforms, Art D'Égypte, Manial Palace, Cairo, Egypt 2017 Factur, Living Gallery, Groningen, the Netherlands 2014 Mohamed Abla Selected Artists, Cairo Opera House, Egypt 2014 Roznama, Medrar for Contemporary Art, Cairo, Egypt 2014 Parallel Vision, Darb 1718, Cairo, Egypt 2012 Tache Art Gallery, Designopolis, Cairo, Egypt

MEDHAT SHAFIK 2019 Itaca (curated by Stefania Giazzi), Macro Asilo, Rome, Italy 2017 Palmira. Conflicts and Suspended Time, Politecnico di Milano, Bovisa Campus and Palazzo della Ragione, Verona, Italy 2015 Nel Mezzo del mezzo, Riso Museum, Palazzo Sant’Elia, Palermo, Italy 2012 Anthology (Solo), Parma, Salone delle Scuderie in Pilotta, CSAC University of Parma, Italy 2011 Archetypes: the Origins of the Future, Fondazione Stelline, Milan, Italy 2008 Mediterranean Crossroads— Damascus, Beirut, Cairo, The Italian Cultural Institute, London, UK 2007 The Invisible Cities, Palazzo Forti Museum and The Seventh Splendour, Palazzo della Ragione, Verona, Italy 2005 Identities and Nomadism, Palazzo delle Papesse, Siena, Italy 2003 Grand Prix, 9th Cairo International Biennale, Cairo, Egypt 2001 All the Colours of the World, Englische Kirche, Bad Homburg, Germany 1995 Egypt Pavilion, 46th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy

MARIANNE FAHMY MOAAZ EL DMASY

ISLAM SHABANA Exhibitions: 2018 Nothing Vanishes, Everything Transforms, Art D'Égypte, Manial Palace, Cairo, Egypt 2018 Talsam: Practicing Protection and Metaphysical Safety, Cairotronica: Egyptian Electronic and New Media Arts Symposium, the Arts Palace, Cairo Opera House, Egypt 2017 Architecture Of Memory: Hilde Marx, Iwalewahaus, Bayreuth, Germany 2015 Spaces, Cat Cologne, Germany 2014 breaTHING: Post-internet, PROFIT | PROPHET (Berlin Art Week), St.Johannes-Evangelist-Kirche, Berlin, Germany 2013 The Nymphaeum, Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, Egypt

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

2019 Monuments and Flowers, Postmasters Gallery, New York, USA 2019 After The Canal there was only ‘Our’ World, City Art Gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia 2019 Roznama, Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, Egypt 2019 Havana Biennale, Havana, Cuba 2018 Submerged, Contemporary Image Collective, Cairo, Egypt 2018 Dak’Art Biennale of Contemporary African Art, Dakar, Senegal 2018 The Garden of Forking Paths, Manifesta 5x5x5, Palermo, Italy

MARWAN ELGAMAL Solo: 2017 A Green House, Medrar for Contemporary Art, Cairo, Egypt 2014 Hadean, Alchemy Art Cafe, Cairo, Egypt

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

Group: 2019 7th Roznama Exhibition, Town House Gallery, Cairo, Egypt 2019 The Eur-mediterranean Ceramic Biennale, Nabeul, Tunisia 2018 and 2019, 1st and 2nd Spectrums Exhibition, Syndicate of Plastic Arts, Bag Gallery, Cairo, Egypt 2017 and 2018, 5th and 6th Youth Visual Arts Exhibition, Creation Centre, Alexandria, Egypt 2016, 2017 and 2018, 27th, 28th and 29th Youth Salon, Cairo, Egypt 2016, 2018, 1st and 2nd Dai Arab Youth Festival, Dai Gallery, Cairo, Egypt 2016, 2017 and 2018 55th, 56th, 57th and 58th Vanguards Exhibition, Fine Arts Lovers Association, Cairo, Egypt

Awards: 2017 Grand Prize, 5th Youth Visual Arts Exhibition, Creation Centre, Alexandria, Egypt 2017, 2018 First Award, 57th and 58th Vanguards Exhibition, Fine Arts Lovers Association, Cairo, Egypt 2017 Ceramics Award, 28th Youth Salon, Cairo, Egypt 2019 Artist Saleh Reda Award, Syndicate of Plastic Arts, Bag Gallery, Cairo, Egypt

MOHAMED BANAWY 2019 5th Shara Art Fair, the Saudi Art Council and Hafez Gallery, Jeddah, KSA 2019 Familiar Nostalgia, Jeddah, KSA 2018 The Scene, Magdoub Design Studio, Cairo, Egypt 2018 Cairo Art Fair III, Arts-Mart Gallery, Cairo, Egypt 2018 Mass & Space (group), Arts-Mart Gallery, Cairo, Egypt 2018 2nd International Symposium of Contemporary Mosaics, Egyptian Academy of Fine Arts, Rome, Italy 2018 1st International Symposium of Contemporary Mosaics, Egyptian Academy of Fine Arts, Rome, Italy 2013 Egyptian Pavilion, Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy 2013 White (solo), Faculty of Fine Arts, Cairo, Egypt 2013 XVIIIth Ceramics Contest, Valladolid, Spain 2011 10th International Biennale of Ceramics, Manises, Spain 2010 Mural Painting Exhibition (solo), Gezira Art Centre, Cairo, Egypt 2009 International Festival of Contemporary Mosaic, Ravenna Mosaico, Ravenna, Italy

MOHAMED MONAISEER Solo: 2019 Adrift in the Labyrinth of a Parallel Mind, Athr, Jeddah, KSA 2019 Taxidermy Dreams, Al Serkal Avenue, Dubai, UAE 2019 Taxidermy Dreams, Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, Egypt Group: 2019 Delfina Foundation, London, UK 2019 Out of Place, Athr, Jeddah, KSA 2018 Nest, Al Riwak Art Space, Manama, Bahrain 2018 Nothing Vanishes, Everything Transforms, Art D'Égypte, Manial Palace, Cairo, Egypt 2018 Refusing to be Still, Jeddah 21,39, Jeddah, KSA 2018 The Clocks are Striking Thirteen, Athr Gallery, Jeddah, KSA 2017 Blind Date, Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon

MOHAMED SHOUKRY 2017 Trap//03, Shopping Mall Exhibition, Galerie der Kunstler, Munich, Germany 2015 Green Void, Sharjah Art Museum, Islamic festival, Sharjah, UAE 2014 DAK’ART 2014, 11ème Biennale de l’Art Africain, Dakar, Sengal 2011 Fire (group), Haslla museum, Gangnueung, South Korea 2011 Breached Silence, F+F Schule für Kunst und Mediendesign, Zurich, Switzerland 2009 Scenography for Radio Muzzien, a play directed by Stefan Kaegi, Rimini Protokoll, Hebbel am Ufer Theatre, Berlin, Germany 2006 Critical Eye Exhibition, Kunstverien, Aschafeunberg, Germany 2005 Teramo Open City Exhibition, Teramo, Italy 2004 National Art Gallery of Athens, World Olympic Games, Athens, Greece 2003 Hwei Lan International Artists Exhibition, Hualien, Taiwan

SHERIN GUIRGUIS 2019 Bint al-Nil, The American University in Cairo, Tahrir Cultural Center, Cairo, Egypt 2018 Of Thorns and Love, Craft and FolkArt Museum, Los Angeles, California, USA 2016 El Beit El Kabir, The Third Line, Dubai, UAE 2015 El Beit El Kabir, Shulamit Nazarian Gallery, Venice, California, USA 2013 Passages//Toroq, The Third Line, Dubai, UAE 2012 Sweethearts, Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London, UK 2012 Duwamah, Frey Norris Contemporary, San Francisco, California, USA 2012 Solo Project, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale Arizona, USA 2010 Qasr al-Shawq, LA><Art, Los Angeles, California, USA 2005 Li’l Monsters, Patricia Faure Gallery, Santa Monica, California, USA 2002 Wall Installation, POST, Los Angeles, California, USA 2001 Living Lying Down, Miller Durazo, Los Angeles, California, USA

2004 Plastered: Political Prints (group), Block 7 Gallery, Denver, Colorado, USA 2003 Outsourcing & Ascension, Architectures Expérimentales 1950-2000, Orléans, France 2001, Research Architecture, Pratt Institute/Storefront Gallery, New York, USA 2000 Phoenix Rising, Egyptian Pavilion, Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy 2000 Archilab, International Conference and Exhibit, Orleans, France 2000 Project 2000 Exhibit, Global Architecture, GA Gallery, Tokyo, Japan 1991 Liberating the Architect, Doors, Scrolls & Ladders Exhibit, Avenue Gallery, Venice, California, USA 1986 Drawing Towards Building Exhibit, Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

YASMINE EL MELEEGY 2018 Nothing Vanishes, Everything Transforms, Art D'Égypte, Manial Palace, Cairo, Egypt 2018 Rites Of Passage (solo), Townhouse Factory, Cairo, Egypt 2018 Regionale 19, Kunsthalle Palazzo Liestal, Switzerland 2017 The Nest Festival, Al Riwaq Art Space, Bahrain 2017 Very Sustainable–Environmental Revelation, MOCA Yinchuan, China 2017 Topophilia exhibition, MEETINGS Festival, Nees, Denmark 2017 Urban Implosion, Acc Arts Space Network Exhibition, Acc Creation Space 2, Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju, South Korea 2016 12th Dak’Art Biennale of Contemporary African Art, Dakar, Senegal 2015 Bjcem Mediterranea 17, Young Artists Biennale, Italy 2015 Kevät Egyptistä, Äkkigalleria, Jyväskylä, Finland 2014 25th Annual Youth Salon, Cairo Opera House, Cairo, Egypt

TAREK NAGA 2010 The Architect & the Urn (group), Lundgern Gallery, Seattle, Washington, USA 2006 Xeperu Urn, Tokyo Designers Week, Tokyo, Japan 2005 Bridges and Beyond (group), Trek Thunder Kelly Gallery, Venice, California, USA 2002 Requiem, The American University in Cairo, Egypt

ART D’ÉGYPTE

143

144

CMY

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES

145

ART D’ÉGYPTE

146

‫سرديات معاد ختيلها‬

REIMAGINED NARRATIVES