Venus Fouad visits an exhibition that rethinks one of the basic tenets of Muslim tradition Following the screening of Al-Hassan Wal Hossein in Ramadan, and the earlier screening of Al-Farouq Omar, Khaled Ibn Al-Walid and Youssef al-Sahabi, the social media was abuzz with debate on the permissibility of showing major religious figures in performance art. The debate is equally applicable to painting and sculpture, which is why it was significant that Mufti Ali Gomaa and other religious figures showed up for the opening of an art exhibition by Taher Abdel-Azim in the Mahmoud Mokhtar Museum. These paintings by Abdel-Azim, who teaches art at Helwan University, depict the life of Prophet Mohamed. The imagery brings to life the oral tradition concerning, for example, the elephant-led battle of Mecca, which took place shortly before the Prophet's birth. We also see a representation of the familiar story of the opening of the Prophet's chest by the angels. And here is a scene in which the Prophet is arbitrating between rival clans during the rebuilding of the Kaaba, an incident that, according to tradition, took place before the revelation of the Qu'ran. I spoke to Abdel-Azim about the difficulties facing anyone wishing to integrate religious themes into their art. His view was that religion and art have every reason to stick together. The best argument for banning the personification of the prophets, Abdel-Azim says, came in a statement from Al-Azhar reacting to the release of the film Mohamed: Messenger of God by Mustafa Akkad. Abdel-Azim has no qualms about supporting the ban. Abdel-Azim says that viewers commonly associate actors with their roles. "So how can we let actors who have done a mixed bag of roles to get holy all of a sudden? Actors will inevitably have to play other roles, smugglers or thieves, lovers or clowns," he argues. However he is pleased to see leading religious figures admiring his panoramic depiction of the Prophet's life. Painters, Abdel-Azim says, have less of a problem than filmmakers, because their art is viewed separately, not sequentially. Interestingly enough, this is the first time anyone has painted the life of the Prophet in such a way. Most earlier depictions were confined to children stories and cartoons. Abdel-Azim hopes that his work will inspire other artists to incorporate their religious heritage in their work. Abdel-Azim wishes to see Egyptian artists stage an interdisciplinary national project combining art, antiquities and screening rooms. Abdel-Azim believes that religious scholars have been playing it too safe when it comes to art, and that the horizons are much broader than their imagination. Abdel-Azim understands why some people are over-protective about the imagery of the prophets and their entourage. He says that, however, the image matters less than the substance. The idea of having an exhibition about the Prophet's life first came to Abdel-Azim during the furor caused b offensive cartoons. The controversy made him think of bringing the Prophet's life into art and thus defuse some of the worst smear campaigns targeting Islam. Art is the best way of conducting dialogue among civilisations, Abdel-Azim believes. He suggests that the integration of art and Islamic heritage is useful for everyone, and not just for Muslims. Al-Azhar scholars who attended the exhibition seemed to concur. Al-Azhar scholar Gamil Allam said the aim of art was to educate people and inspire them, said he added that painting and sculpture were totally acceptable, so long as people did not idolise the imagery. He urged other artists to follow in the footsteps of Abdel-Azim.
