Golden Fly | Weaam el Masry By Fatenn Mostafa Founder, ArtTalks | Egypt Weaam el Masry’s work explores issues of her native society especially the position of women, relationships and religion, yet is timeless and universal. Women in the Middle-East are expected to be good housewives and mothers. Any other ambition becomes secondary, if not frowned upon. This is the dilemma Weaam el Masry seeks to challenge in her new body of work – where women who seek to do more are expected to make compromises in order to fulfill part of their dreams. Women’s priorities as dictated by the society, the traditional culture, the surrounding relatives, neighbors and friends are set and clear – home and children. Within that context, the (ambitious) artist, scholar, business executive or politician is faced with many physical but most of all intellectual, social and psychological challenges, imposing on her to make sacrifices. These sacrifices hurt, slow down, and have their toll on the women’s dreams and happiness. El Masry seeks to unravel that psychological pain, that longing for total freedom to fulfill the dreams and the ambitions, away from the shackles of a demanding and unforgiving society. While a sense of unease prevails, El Masry reminds us that success is possible and achievable, epitomized by brave Arab female icons she chose to pay tribute to, as they carry respect and awe.
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Influenced by the painting and drawing techniques of Egon Schiele, Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon, El-Masry realizes that bravery and persistence are required for a woman to achieve her dreams. In this new series, The Golden Fly, Weaam el Masry is fearless in tackling the road towards self-fulfillment and liberation in the life of a woman. Faced with the choice to either compromise or to defy the stigma imposed by the society to realize her dreams, the woman in Weaam El Masry’s world is reminiscent of the Golden Fly – an insect that symbolized persistence and bravery in Ancient Egypt. Golden Flies were given as medals of honor to soldiers who fought courageously in battles. Queen AhHotep of the XVIIIth Dynasty is known as the only woman to have ever received a Golden Fly medal as she took up arms to save Egypt from the enemies when her husband and son got killed. In Weaam El Masry’s world, there are many contemporary Ah-Hotep’s - women who take control of their life with boldness, courage and determination, rejecting submission, in order to fulfill their ambitions, despite the patriarchal domination and the moral enslavement witnessed within our societies. They, too, deserve The Golden Fly Medal of Honor. Universal gender-based issues are all the essence of el Masry’s visual language and the product of her experience as an Egyptian wife, mother, artist - but most of all, a woman.
“Can you hear me? I am visible” 2013 120x80cm, pen, acrylic and chinese ink on hard paper
“I am a woman, no more and no less.”Mahmoud Darwish (1942-2008) “Djamila ou le cri de la colère” 2013 Homage to Djamila Bouhired (b. 1935), Algerian Independence Freedom Fighter. 120x80cm, pen, chinese ink and glass colors on hard paper
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“Unchain My Soul” 2012 60x40 cm, pen and collage on chinese paper.
“Solace” 2013 100x70 cm, pen, corrector and chinese ink on paper.
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“Won’t you stand by me?” 2013
“Let me be me” 2012
“I am the Sacred Fly” 2013
35x35 cm, pen and chinese ink on paper.
“Fairy Tale Beauty Load” 2013
that we are always plural. Not either this or that, but “thisI think and that.” Leila Ahmed, Egyptian/American writer.
“For there are many silences to be broken” 2013
35x35 cm, pen and chinese ink on paper.
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“I will be taught how to fly” 2013
“To follow without halt, one aim� 2013 120x80cm, pen, chinese ink and acrylic on hard paper.
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“Don’t be late, I am waiting for you” 2013 120x80 cm, pen and chinese ink on hard paper.
We should free the woman, so that her children won’t grow up to “become slaves.” May Ziade, prolific Lebanese/Palestinian Poet.
“Performer of the Sacrifice” 2013 110x70 cm, pen and glass colors on transparent paper.
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“We can be heroes just for one day” 2013 Homage to Huda Shaarawi (1879-1947), Egyptian feminist leader. 120x80cm, pen, chinese ink and acrylic on hard paper.
“I am a Woman” 2013 Homage to Om Kolthoum (1904-1975), the greatest Arabic female singer in history. 120x80cm, pen, corrector and glass colors on hard paper.
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“Yes I can be. Tender, if you want me to be” 2013 Homage to Marie Curie (1867-1934), Physicist, First Woman to Win a Nobel Prize and to Teach at the Sorbonne. 120x80 cm, pen and glass colors on hard paper.
in life is to be feared. It is only to “beNothing understood.” Marie-Curie, 1867-1934
“Love me a little. I adore you” 2013 Homage to Frida Kahlo (1907-54), Mexican Painter. 120x80cm, pen, acrylic and glass colors on hard paper.
At the end of the day, we can endure much “more than we think we can.” Frida Kahlo.
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“I will not die an unlived life” 2013 150x35 cm, pen and chinese ink on chinese paper.
and happiness…how to escape “theFate first and pursue the second” Fatima Mernissi, Moroccan Writer.
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WEAAMEL MASRY Education 2007: PhD in Media Arts, Faculty of Applied Arts, Helwan University, Egypt. 2002: Master Degree in Fine Arts, Faculty of Applied Arts, Helwan University, Egypt International Exhibitions 2012: Participating at the 5th Beijing International Art Biennale, China, 2012, Painting. (Group exhibition) 2012: Participating in a group exhibition at the Gallery of Contemporary Art “Paul Bardwell”, Medellin, Colombia showing the results of my residency in Medellin. 2010: Arabian cultural week, Pretoria, Johannesburg 2008: One Minute Film & Video Festival in Aarau, Switzerland 2007: Egyptian Cultural week in Algeria, Ministry of Culture 2007: Egyptian artist’s Exhibition in Spain 2006: Artiste Egiziane Exhibition, Associazione PROLOCO, Italy 2005: Gwacheon Hanmadang Festival, South Korea 2002: Kunstpunkte, Photography, Düsseldorf, Germany 2002: WHITE Exhibition, photography, Germany Residencies: 2012: The UNESCO-Aschberg Bursaries for Artists, Centro Colombo Americano, Colombia 2010: Curator in residence scholarship from (Pro-Helvetia) “Swiss arts Council”, Switzerland Home Exhibations: 2011: “Sublimation”, Drawing and Painting Solo Exhibition, Gezira Art Center, Egypt 2010: “Black & White”, Drawing, Gezira Art Center, Egypt 2010: “Why Not?”, Installation, Art palace, Cairo Opera House, Egypt 2009: Solo Photography exhibition, Gezira Art Center, Egypt
2009: The Third annual CIC Photography exhibition, The Contemporary Image Collective (CIC), Egypt. 2009: National Exhibition for Fine Arts, video, Art palace, Cairo Opera House, Egypt 2008: National Exhibition for Fine Arts, Media Installation, Modern art Museum, Opera House, Egypt 2008: Bibliotheca Alexandrina Art Collections Exhibition, Alexandria, Egypt. Awards 2007: Second award (Drawing), Victory Forum for fine arts Port Said, Port Said, Egypt 2006-2008: Dedication award “Photography”, The Supreme Council of Culture, Egypt 2006: Graphic award, Pioneers Exhibition, Art lovers Association, Egypt 2006: Culture Resource Award for Artistic Production for Young Arab Artists & Writers, Egypt 2005: Drawing award, Pioneers Exhibition, Art lovers Association, Egypt 2004: photography Award, Pioneers Exhibition, Art lovers Association, Egypt 2004-2005: Dedication award “Painting”, The Supreme Council of Culture, Ministry of Culture, Egypt 2003: An encouragement award (painting), Biennale Port Said, Egypt 2003: Second award (painting), Rateb Seddik Award Exhibition, Atelier Du Caire, Egypt 2003: First award (painting), Pioneers Exhibition, Art lovers Association, Egypt 2003: Salon award (photography), Salon of Youth, Art palace, Cairo Opera House, Egypt 2002: Third award (painting), Pioneers Exhibition, Art lovers Association, Egypt 2002: Salon Certificate (photography), Salon of Youth, Art palace, Cairo Opera House, Egypt Acquistions Museum of Modern art, Egypt Ministry of Culture, Egypt Alexandria Library, Egypt
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Born in 1987, Weaam el Masry lives and works in Cairo, Egypt. With over 17 awards from different institutions in Egypt such as the Youth Salons of the Ministry of Culture, Rateb Sedik Award and Port Said Biennale and over 40 exhibitions under her belt, Weaam el Masry is a rising contemporary artist in Egypt. A painter who at times moves to photography or installations, El Masry offers works that evolve around women and their struggles at different stages of their lives. Pictures: Weaam el Masry with internationally-renown Egyptian-German artist Susan Hefuna.
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