As it celebrates the 17th round of its International Sculpture Symposium, the city of Aswan is the source of inspiration for sculptors Oscar Aguirre from Cuba and Miguel Isla from Spain. Reham El-Adawi talked to them in Aswan For the 17th year, the Aswan International Sculpture Symposium (AISS) is underway and will run until 3 March. This year nine of the 11 participating sculptors from Egypt and abroad have resumed work on the same themes they have been working on for some years. The two exceptions are newcomers Oscar Aguirre from Cuba and Miguel Isla from Spain, who quickly chose themes associated with the city of Aswan. Aguirre heard about the annually held symposium some years ago from other foreign sculptors taking part in the symposium. Born in Las Tunas, Cuba, he studied art at the Superior Institute of Arts from 1987 to 1993 and from 1990 to 1995 at the National School of Arts in Havana. He has held a number of solo exhibitions in Spain and Cuba and has taken part in several national events such as the sculpture project "Centuries are not Forgotten" held at the Local Art Gallery and "Christian Solution" project at Saint Jeronimo Church both in Las Tunas and Cuba, in 1989. At the symposium Aguirre, who is carving granite for the first time, is finding the experience not only novel but highly significant. "Granite is much harder than other materials like marble and limestone and a little more complicated to treat, so it will add a lot to my career as a sculptor," he said as he carved his piece, covered head to toe in white dust. At this moment he finds granite an extremely hard stone, which he says is very appropriate for this experience. Going through his portfolio, one can't help noticing that he is enthralled by geometric and abstract forms, and he confirms this when he says that while most of his forms are abstract and geometric, he sometimes uses figurative forms and reliefs in his paintings when he mixes abstract with relief in the same work. As to the theme of the sculpture he has carved for the AISS, he says he had been working on the theme of ships and boats, and once he landed in Aswan he realised that the idea was totally appropriate since the Nile plays a vital role in the nature of Aswan. To embody this idea in a piece of hard rock he has resorted to his abstract and geometrical style so that each viewer will interpret the work in his or her very own way. He has named his piece of rose granite "Almudena by Boat on the Nile", Almudena being the name of his wife, and the title meaning that he imagines her travelling by boat on the Nile. The work is in two parts; the boat and a figurative piece placed over it like a human figure to symbolise his beautiful wife. Miguel Isla was born in Tudela de Duero, Spain, and studied art at the Valladolid Art School from 1969 to 1974. He has shown in 65 international sculpture symposiums, but this is the first time he has come to the AISS. For Isla, Aswan does not only mean fabulous weather but also an ancient civilisation and Egyptian culture, and he believes that what distinguishes this symposium from others is that while the tools or systems applied in all symposiums are more or less the same, Aswan is a more historically significant place. "I am familiar with carving granite because I have created granite sculptures before in Greece, but in Aswan the colour of the granite is very distinguished. It is a noble stone that ancient Egyptians used to carve their statues and temples," he says. Isla likes to use different art media such as steel, bronze, basalt, marble and wood. He points out that steel is strong but delicate, while basalt is hard but fragile. With his face glowing with the effort and burnt by the Aswan sun, the veteran Spanish sculptor says that despite the tough nature of granite it needs a high degree of sensibility when it comes to handling it. "I don't feel there is a war between me and the material; even if it is hard I still need to communicate with the stone and create a secret relationship with it so we can exchange roles sometimes, and that is why I hate to make a maquette or a model before I start working on a piece. After my first encounter with the piece of stone I then came up with the theme of the work," he says, endeavouring to make himself clear by jumping between English and French. The piece he is carving for the symposium is not figurative, but is inspired by the place. His sculpture is about Egypt; it reflects the atmosphere in Aswan including the Nile, the desert and the Nubian people, and so it is a portrait of Egypt's rich culture. It could be a tomb or a sarcophagus. Isla has been impressed by Aswan's pharaonic statues. The straight and abstract lines depicted in them are very special and are distinguished from the statues in the Chinese civilisation or any other culture. Inspired by the enchanting Nile and the Nubians, he says that he has reflected all his feelings inside the rose piece of granite. Isla is a versatile artist, and a unique installation will be his new production for the world of art and will be exhibited soon in South Korea. His passion for painting and ceramics is also unlimited, but he still prefers sculpture more than painting or any other art genre. And, as painters do with different types of paint and colour, he likes to mix different materials together, sometimes mixing bronze with marble or basalt with granite. He only resorts to this solution when the idea of the work requires it, which is not every time. Sometimes, he says, a large block of granite is a thing of beauty in itself without the addition of any other material. He sometimes likes to colour steel and always colours wood, but he never uses any colours on granite. Isla also creates paper artworks, making special textures that make them look like sculptures when exposed to the light. His passion for music is echoed in some of his sculptures, and he also believes that sculpture is very important for the blind who can touch and feel, in their very own way, the curves and the polished and rough areas. "While sculpturing a piece of stone or creating paper sculptures I always have blind people in mind," he says.
