Rania Khallaf was one of the many who attended this week's opening of Mohamed Abla's new exhibition Indian culture sounds familiar to Egyptians, but we know really little about it. We might understand something of its politics and we all adore Mahatma Gandhi, but contemporary Indian culture remains as remote as the country itself. In a brave and rather hasty way, Mohamed Abla, one of Egypt's most prominent artists, has attempted to transfer to canvas the peculiar Indian spirit, those unforgettable scenes of Indian temples and his encounters with people on the streets. On Sunday, Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni and the Indian Ambassador to Egypt, R. Swaminathan, inaugurated 56-year-old Abla's exhibition, "A Trip to India". The exhibition hall at the Azad Cultural Centre in Talaat Harb Street was as crowded that night as the streets of India itself might be. The idea for the exhibition sprang to Abla's mind last December, when he was in charge of arranging an exhibition of work by younger Egyptian artists to go on show in New Delhi. The show fell within the framework of fostering Arab-Indian cultural relations and was sponsored by the Arab League. "It was my first journey to India and it lasted for 10 days, a short time to discover and enjoy this bizarre country," Abla told Al-Ahram Weekly a few hours before the opening. "But I exploited every minute of it, touring many places, from temples to villages, and meeting artists in New Delhi and surrounding areas. "I visited places like Agra and Utter Pradesh and was fascinated by the unique architecture of old and modern temples. I witnessed the traditions of the temple goers, and watched the way rural people behave, since New Delhi is surrounded by small villages." One of his most unforgettable experiences was a visit to Utter Pradesh in northern India, where Krishna was born. Krishna is worshipped across many traditions of Hinduism in a variety of perspectives, Abla explains. He is often depicted as an infant playing a flute or as a youthful prince giving guidance. Krishna, born in 3228 BC, became a favourite subject of performing arts in the 10th century AD, and since 1966 the Krishna- hakti movement has spread to the West with the establishment of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Abla was smitten. "The coexistence of different religions, beliefs and temples in New Delhi is amazing. There is no dead history there. In other words, people there are not separated from their ancient history. Temples are still built on the old architectural fashion. Ancient beliefs and rituals are still practiced on a large scale. And this is what makes art, and life in general, as vivid as legend," he says. "This diversity of religions and political trends yields different and amazing colours and a unique spirit once you walk in the street. Although the experience was completely new, a kind of odd encounter in a completely new world, I enjoyed it. And I felt safe, as if I were at home." As I toured the exhibition I was fascinated not just by the paintings themselves but by the spirit behind them. It was as if Abla were travelling the city streets, riding a bicycle while painting hasty sketches of the people he fell instantly in love with. The bright colours prevailed in the sketches, reflecting the vivid scenes and this unlimited freedom of using rich colour in everyday life, including clothes, façades of buildings, and street food vendors. The paintings depict features of daily rituals in New Delhi streets: vendors, temple goers, and this odd variety of means of transport. Most of the sketches are small in size, 50 x 60cm maximum, giving a limited chance for viewers to interact, but more freedom to imagine. One impression that hangs on in my memory is that the painter was more obsessed with questions than impressed with the scenery. "Yes, this is very true," Abla agrees, "This unbelievable balance between the abject poverty and the speed of development in scientific research was something that puzzled me. And I am still searching for an answer. "What astonished me on this trip were not the hot and bright colours in the scenery there, nor this carnival-like life in New Delhi, but actually the fact that most people live in abject poverty, and yet India is a developed country in terms of its technological and scientific development," Abla added. During his short visit to India, Abla gave a workshop at the school of Fine Arts in New Delhi on interactive media, an artistic trend he has made his own. "Although art had begun to flourish in India by the early 20th century, approximately the same time it began to flourish in Egypt, Indian artists have managed to access the international art movement and market more professionally than their Egyptian counterparts. "Galleries there are very well organised, and they know how to market contemporary Indian arts internationally, and this is one thing we should envy them for." The exhibition's portraits are an example of how artists can reflect their travel experiences on paper and in color. Travel literature, as a genre, should then be expanded to cover such unique experiences, which are very rare in our cultural life. This exhibition was preceded by another held about 10 years ago after Abla made a trip to Yemen. Although he has toured several Western and Arab countries, he has only been influenced by these two: Yemen and India. Is there a common links between the two exhibitions, or rather the two experiences? "What is common between the two experiences is the idea of living history. In Yemen, I felt as if I were walking on the lines of a historical book, or as if I were reading a story from The Thousand and One Nights. You feel as if time has stopped there, since there is no sign of modern life. In India, too, you can enjoy this variety of colours and costumes, this freedom of movement and thought. You might encounter a fortune teller as you walk in the street, sitting just beside a street vendor. This is a perfectly normal feature in the streets. The streets of New Delhi are very crowded with people and different means of transport, such as tuk-tuks, Lorries, cars, tricycles and elephants: the living carnival of a really bizarre society. "Yet, and contrary to this exhibition where people are featured in the paintings more than places, in the exhibition featuring my visit to Yemen the landscape was more evident. The way Indian people walk so confidently, the way they behave, and the gentleness with which women adjust their saris which always fall down off their shoulders, is what fascinated me." Some of the paintings bear comments, hand- written in colour by the artist himself. In one example, a painting depicting the contradictions of Indian society -- one man is seen riding an elephant while another rides a rocket, referring to the fact that Indian scientists made a scientific journey to the moon several years ago -- the comment reads: "A man is riding a rocket, and the other is riding an elephant... This is India, my dear Abla." Another one reads "democracy is the keyword". The comments seem pointless and further disturb the viewer's vision, if not that they are written in large letters then because of the poor handwriting. Abla opposes my opinion. "I write them because I consider the sketches as a daily journal, and I hope one day I will publish the Indian portraits in a book. "I also believe that contemporary art should change this idea about the holiness of the painting. Such comments break the illusion that art brings to the viewer's consciousness. "One thing that has changed in me is that I have become freer in the use of colour. And there is some spiritual effect I have begun to discern in myself; somehow there is a kind of change that has happened deep inside," he smiles mischievously.
