Egypt's Medrar explores the city at Berlin Art Week

Cairo's artist-run space Medrar is set to hold a collaborative exhibition at the upcoming Berlin Art Week

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Medrar for Contemporary Art, a Cairo-based artist-run space, is set to participate at Berlin Art Week with an exhibition entitled 'Profit | Prophet' in a collective group exhibition with German artists.
The exhibition will open on 20 September and the artists and curators will host a talk on 21 September in the exhibition space.
Berlin Art Week is one of the biggest contemporary art events in the city. Stretched over six days, the event includes dozens of exhibitions, talks and art events at several spaces.
Medrar is collaborating with Team Titanic, a Berlin-based female artist collective, who are curating works by the artists from Berlin.
"We are exploring digital media and arts in relation to the two cities: Cairo and Berlin," Medrar's Nada Fathy, co-curator of the exhibition, told Ahram Online. "Cairo and Berlin are similar as cities in that they are constantly changing," she explained.
"Both cities have this constant dreaminess that is met with reality; thus both cities find themselves always between dreams and reality,” she added.
Medrar and Team Titanic are hoping the audience will – through the works presented by the twelve artists – see how the art works reflect the changing nature of the cities.
However, after the process of meeting with the artists and them working on their pieces, Fathy saw that the works presented host a deeper meaning.
“The Berlin artists' works are reflective of their inner feelings; while the Egyptian artists focus on the internal changes they face within the strong change the city is undergoing,” Fathy added.
The participating artists include: Ahmed Shoukry (Cairo), Khaled Galaledeen (Cairo), Kareem Lotfy (Cairo), Sarah Samy (Cairo) and Islam Shabana (Cairo); along with German artists: Peter Feiler (Berlin), Anne-Sophie Kneer (Berlin), Hanne Lippard (Berlin), Pussykrew (Berlin), Santiago Taccetti (Berlin), Britta Thie (Berlin), and Helga Wretman (Berlin).
Khaled Galaledeen, one of the exhibitingartists, worked directly on the street protesting culture of the city and the army's involvement in Cairo through manipulated photos of the revolution. The artist edited the photos to show new patterns and produced a video with the final outcome.
The works vary in both form and presentation. They will include video works, digitized photographs and even 3D installations.
In spite of the fact that 'Profit | Prophet' will be shown in a church, it is not religious or tackling any religion.
The project's text reads out “The title is to be understood as the basis of working together: by bringing together two cities, as the works of artists from Cairo and Berlin convene, exchange reaches a physical here and now. Prophet. The program, as a result of the encounter, can be seen as the prognosis of an already set future. Profit.”
Following the exhibition in Berlin, the same artists will show either the same works or new works dealing with the same theme in Medrar's space in Cairo at an unspecified later date.
Opening night will also host performances by musicians whose music deals with the exhibit's theme which includes Egypt'sQuit Together along with Cockpit and Soda Plains both hailing from Berlin.
On Sunday 21 September, the day following the opening night, Medrar and Team Titanic will give a talk on the exhibition's theme joined by Quit Together.
Programme:
Saturday 20 September at 6pm
Exhibition opening and music performances by Quit Together, Cockpit and Soda Plains
Sunday 21 September at 6pm
Panel talk with Medrar, Team Titanic and Quit Together
St. Johannes-Evangelist Church
Auguststraße 90 | 10117 Berlin
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/111011.aspx