The one and the multiple are the themes of Art Al-Lewa's latest show, a pioneering attempt to bring together artists from the north and south of the Mediterranean, writes Rasha Sadek Amidst the houses of the rundown neighbourhood of Ard Al-Lewa in Giza lies the Art Al-Lewa centre, a pioneering independent non-profit project that has been providing the opportunity for contemporary art to emerge from the heart of a multifaceted society since 2007. Art Al-Lewa is currently exhibiting "The One and the Multiple", a group show by 11 Egyptian and Spanish artists, that opened on Tuesday with a concert by French DJ Saasci and Sudanese group Al-Wazza and a session by Sylvie Astié. The philosophy behind the exhibition, says curator Pedro Soler, is "the unity, yet also the diversity, of the artists involved. It is through breaking down the differences between us that we can understand our own context in order to appreciate what is around us -- the context of the world." Soler's vision differs little from that of Hamdy Reda, co-curator of the exhibition and the man responsible for setting up Art Al-Lewa in an informal residential neighbourhood that lacks many of life's basic amenities. Soler's global context is shared by his Egyptian counterpart, Reda being a firm believer in encouraging creative dialogue between the poorer residents of Ard Al-Lewa, for whom art could be considered a luxury they cannot afford, and the Egyptian and foreign artists who work at the Art Al-Lewa studios as part of Reda's Artist in Residence programme. First shown at La Capella in Barcelona in May and June this year, "the exhibition deconstructs stereotypes in art and culture, showing similarities to the north and south of the Mediterranean, as well as the diversity of Mediterranean artists," Reda says. Interactive art is the focus of the One and the Multiple, and the exhibition includes works that employ photography, video, installations, maps and embroidery. Egyptian-Armenian artist Nork Zakarian's installation invites viewers to stand outside a room and in front of a door featuring a projected image and magic eye. In the room is a further projected image, but this cannot be seen clearly by viewers unless they step through an illusory wall. Wensh, another Egyptian artist, uses audio as a medium, installing sound systems that play beats of different tempos according to the distance between them and the viewer. If viewers stand close to the speakers, the beat goes faster; stand back, and it slows down. Spanish artist Vahida Ramujkic worked with young people living in Ard Al-Lewa, these helping her to create a 3x2m map of Cairo in embroidery. Beige and brown are dominant colours in this piece, and Ramujkic's embroidery adds a little something to conventional cartography. As for Reda himself, he has long specialised in the visual arts and has a long list of awards and exhibitions behind him. Here, Reda has collaborated with artist Sameh Ismail and used photography and calligraphy to create the piece entitled "Isolation Ritual". This uses photography and calligraphy to allow the viewer to "transcend analysing simple characters and border instead on reading the text by means of the emotional sense of the word." Shadi El-Noshokati, a professor of plastic and visual arts at the American University in Cairo, has contributed an artwork to the show and has even added space to the Art Al-Lewa gallery. El-Noshokati has recently bought a gallery just a few steps away, with the intention of dedicating it to education in the contemporary visual arts. His piece in the present show, entitled "Stammer", is a multimedia work in which the artist has used video, installation and performance. Created at various exhibitions in different ways, the work is very close to El-Noshokati since it relates to his work as a teacher and to what he goes through to deliver instruction to students. Other artists in the show include Alvaro Sau, whose video works investigate the lives of people living close to villages and also close to the urban environment, as well as Magdi Mustafa, Mahmoud Khaled, Pablo de Soto and Tarek Hefni. With this exhibition, Art Al-Lewa is continuing its efforts to put itself on Egypt's artistic and cultural map. Besides organising over 30 exhibitions since it opened, the centre runs workshops, lectures, concerts and film screenings for local residents all the year round. The centre's ground floor comprises an exhibition space, and the rooftop is used for various programming activities run by Art Al-Lewa. The Artist in Residence programme has proven a success for both Egyptian and foreign artists, these being invited to stay at the centre's studios for up to three months in order to produce work that is then exhibited at the centre. Many of these works are the result "of the positive interaction between people of different backgrounds and cultures," in Reda's words, Reda himself taking a special interest in the relationships between people and their environment. Workshops conducted by the centre are led by artists of different nationalities, and they aim to teach young people, particularly the district's children, skills including video animation, painting, photography and filmmaking. The aim is to give underprivileged young people a good starting point in learning about contemporary art, helping them to find ways of expressing themselves. Every summer, an open atelier on the centre's roof offers amateur artists the chance to see their works on show. The One and the Multiple runs through 27 December at Art El-Lewa, except Saturdays.
