Mariam Hamdy keeps up with the art scene Ramadan coincides with the end of summer and art galleries are opening anew. Hoping to start the new season with a spark, they are nonetheless offering distillations of what the past nine months have seen -- a chance for art lovers to catch up on what they have missed, and perhaps buy out what remains of the galleries' stock. Described by some as the low season, this period is always interesting -- if only because it is so hectic for exhibition spaces which, wrapping up their summer shows, compete for the new year's best reviews. Mashrabiya looks particularly promising, with French photographer Aurelia Frey offering images of shop windows -- their contents combined with reflections of the outside world -- that typically tread the line separating reality from fantasy. An interesting dialogue between what is and what seems to be, Frey's pieces do not disappoint. And appropriately enough at the Townhouse Gallery, Youssef Nabil's latest hand-tinted prints are entitled "Realities to Dreams". Though beautiful and strong in themselves, these self-portraits are perhaps not as strong as Nabil's earlier shows. Concluding re-renovations with a bang, the Townhouse is also offering a design show, "Somewhat Different", in collaboration with the Goethe Institute and the Outside the Box competition, sponsored by Millennium Arts Center International. According to Townhouse director William Wells, "A call for submissions was sent out over the summer to Egyptians aged 16 and above to submit what they thought was a creative and functional construction of a box. Out of approximately 40 boxes submitted, 12 were selected and are currently on exhibition in the Design show." During Ramadan, opening mid-October, the Townhouse is focussing on more traditional media, offering drawings by Ahmed Nosseir: "His images depict a strange and magical world replete with winged creatures and masked faces." In the so called factory space, a series of activities are aimed at raising money for the families and victims of the Beni Sweif tragedy -- including local theatre troupe performances run through the Outreach Program. Three nights a week, plays and concerts will be held alternately. Several other galleries are taking the Townhouse's cue in Ramadan: Arabesque Gallery is holding what director Gamal Essa describes as an "oriental show", a collection of 20 oil paintings depicting typically Egyptian scenes and characters collectively named "Manazir min Masr" (Scenes from Egypt). The American University in Cairo's Falaki Gallery is also featuring tapestry and quilt makers Ibrahim Hussein and Jenny Bowker. Not far from such subjects are the photos of Ahmed Tambouli, depicting "Views from Islamic Cairo" in the French Cultural Centre. The photos are serene, calm and recognisable. On a similar note, Khan Al-Maghraby Gallery, beginning this Tuesday (18 October), will be showing Eveline Ashmallah's colourful folklore-inspired paintings. Local or not, colour is what will fill the Picasso Gallery by the end of October, with a group show by Sudanese artists elected by director Ibrahim Abdel-Rahaman. Till then, calligrapher Khodier El-Bursaidi maintains the "traditional" designation. At Al-Sawy Cultural Centre, too, a series of calligraphy exhibits will start with Ezzat Abdel Aalim in "Hourouf wa ayat" (letters and verses), followed by a group exhibition organised by the Egyptian Association for Arabic script; both are rumored to be exceptional. The Zamalek Art Gallery, on the other hand, shows a gem of a mural by the late Abdel-Rahman El-Nachar, winner of 4th Cairo Biennale. Found by one of his students, it sums up the artist's last phase of creativity. "I like shows in my galleries to have a story behind them, to have a moral, and for the viewers to walk away with a message or an emotion because of that story," says Nahida El-Khoury, the gallery director. Other works by the artist will be exhibited alongside the mural, and it is safe to say that El-Nachar's geometric paintings, architectural manifestations of epics and stories, are not to be missed. Espace Karim Francis's La Bodega space too departs from the traditional, with the German artist, architect and master of philosophy Christian Voigt's "The Storyteller", an interesting take on portraits. Facial expressions presented with childlike lines and a deliberate naiveté evidence a witty sense of humor. There are also landscapes, yet they also verge on abstract while remaining recognisable.
