By Mursi Saad El-Din The Aswan International Sculpture symposium is with us once more. The eighth session is taking place, from 15 January to 1 March, with artists from Poland, France, Germany, Bahrain, Canada, Romania, Palestine, Georgia and, of course, Egypt. Like a big top that pitches its tent once a year, much to the joy of children, the annual symposium has become a source of enjoyment for adults. I don't know whether Aswan lends a special significance to the symposium or if it is the other way round. But there is no doubt that while Luxor is associated with Karnak, Aswan has now become identified with the symposium. Artist Adam Henein, commissar of the symposium, gave a press conference last week in which he explained the workings of the event. He also had a surprise for the media representatives, a 15-minute film tracing the story of the stones used from the quarry to the finished artwork. The film demonstrated a process I have had the pleasure of witnessing in previous symposia. It showed the skill of the local assistants, many artists in their own right, and how they manage with simple tools to cleave huge blocks of granite. Of course there are also the pneumatic drills which help loosen the stone, which is then pushed by the feet of local masons. Watching that process took me back to the ancient past when stone was cut in massive quantity from the Aswan quarries. Thousands of men then transported it on barges along the Nile to Memphis where the stone was used to build pyramids and temples. I don't know who originally thought of holding the symposium in Aswan but it was an intelligent move to link the present with the past while at the same time underlining Egypt's status as one of the cradles of art. Aswan was not a haphazard choice. Aswan is the source of beautiful stones and has played an important political and cultural role in history. But what really drew my attention was the interest shown by new artists and sustained by others who had participated in previous symposia. The film is an example of this. It includes artists who have participated in previous rounds only to return, inspired by love of both the event and the beautiful setting in which it is held, not least the hill where work is carried out which commands a majestic view of the wonderfully green area around Aswan. I am enthusiastic about the symposium not simply because it revives and resurrects an ancient art, but because it affords artists, both Egyptian and non- Egyptian, a great opportunity to work with material that is unavailable elsewhere. It was, after all, Aswan stone that helped build pyramids, temples, obelisks, colossi and tombs. Aswan stone has become legendary and it is hardly surprising that artists from many countries are eager to come and work with it. When I watch the incredibly hard physical labour it takes for the artists to tame the tough stone I am reminded of a rider trying to break in a wild and uncontrollable horse. Indeed stone sculpture is the one modern art form that combines a feeling for aesthetics with an understanding of nature and an artisan's physical prowess. The stone is rarely transformed entirely, the artist's job being to develop as close a relationship as possible with the stone, take in its natural contours, its shape, and, rather than using it as raw material for something premeditated, work to interpret and enhane its form. This takes time and perseverance. Watching the colossal pieces of stone in Aswan being eventually subjugated I almost felt like cheering, particularly when one of the local masons managed to cleave a huge block from the quarry. Overt its seven year history 64 sculptors from 25 countries have participated in the Aswan symposium. They have produced 86 works of art, some of which adorn public sites in Aswan and in the Alexandria Library. The symposium is not simply sculpture for its own sake but sculpture in the service of international understanding and cooperation. I would finally like to welcome all participants to Aswan. I am sure they will receive a warm welcome from everyone, especially the staff of the Basma Hotel, a home away from home.
