The distinguished Egyptian artist and puppeteer Nagy Shaker died on 18 August at the age of 86. His name became synonymous with puppet theatre after he designed the puppets for the great musical Al-Leila Al-Kebira (The Big Night) in 1961, but his achievement is far more wide-ranging and he is likely to be best remembered as a teacher and a mentor to whom generations of artists owe their sense of direction. Born in 1932, Shaker worked as a director, set designer and painter. He experimented with nearly all forms of art: poster, graphic and interior design. His film Seif 70 (Summer 70), co-directed by Paolo Isaja, is in the film collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa). Shaker received the State Appreciation Award, granted by Egypt's Supreme Council for Culture, in the field of the arts in 2015. Shaker's last art work was an exhibition entitled Light Talk, displaying 14 light installations. Made before his death, Egyptian director Youssef Nasser's short documentary on Shaker's life and work, Al-Naht Fel Zaman (Sculpting in Time), won the Jury Award at the Arab Cinema Festival in Paris.
