Egypt, Elsewedy review progress on Ain Sokhna phosphate complex    US employment cost index 3.6% up in year to June 2025    Egypt welcomes Canada, Malta's decision to recognise Palestinian state    Pakistan says successfully concluded 'landmark trade deal' with US    Sterling set for sharpest monthly drop since 2022    Egypt, Brazil sign deal to boost pharmaceutical cooperation    Modon Holding posts AED 2.1bn net profit in H1 2025    Egypt's Electricity Ministry says new power cable for Giza area operational    Egypt's Al-Sisi, Italian defence minister discuss Gaza, security cooperation    Egypt's FM discusses Gaza, Nile dam with US senators    Aid airdrops intensify as famine deepens in Gaza amid mounting international criticism    Egypt exports first high-tech potato seeds to Uzbekistan after opening market    Health minister showcases AI's impact on healthcare at Huawei Cloud Summit    On anti-trafficking day, Egypt's PM calls fight a 'moral and humanitarian duty'    Egypt strengthens healthcare partnerships to enhance maternity, multiple sclerosis, and stroke care    Egypt keeps Gaza aid flowing, total tops 533,000 tons: minister    Indian Embassy to launch cultural festival in Assiut, film fest in Cairo    Egyptian aid convoy heads toward Gaza as humanitarian crisis deepens    Culture minister launches national plan to revive film industry, modernise cinematic assets    I won't trade my identity to please market: Douzi    Sisi sends letter to Nigerian president affirming strategic ties    Two militants killed in foiled plot to revive 'Hasm' operations: Interior ministry    Egypt, Somalia discuss closer environmental cooperation    Egypt's EHA, Huawei discuss enhanced digital health    Foreign, housing ministers discuss Egypt's role in African development push    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Three ancient rock-cut tombs discovered in Aswan    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Egypt's Irrigation Minister urges scientific cooperation to tackle water scarcity    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Gallery Misr offers unfulfilled promises with ''Selections''
Published in Almasry Alyoum on 19 - 05 - 2011

Mohammed Talaat, founder of the recently opened Gallery Misr, has a vision that extends far beyond this small commercial gallery in Zamalek, but his vision seems more ambitious than defined.
“I am starting [new projects] now, but much remains unclear as events unfold,” he told Al-Masry Al-Youm.
Talaat has been active on the Cairo art scene for over a decade and until recently, was the director of the state-run Palace of the Arts. He quit his job at the Ministry of Culture to start up his own projects. Talaat said he felt the need to work outside of the government establishment, particularly when his exhibition, “Why Not? Contemporary Art from Egypt,” shown at the Palace of the Arts in 2010, drew criticism from the ministry for addressing issues like poverty and hunger.
“I need to make independent work,” Talaat explained, “I don't want to have any limits on what I can do.”
Misr Gallery was one means of achieving that. Talaat had planned to open it earlier, but like many other projects, his plans were put on hold due to the revolution. Despite some trepidation, he hopes the gallery will do well.
“We need to send a message of support to the arts sector,” he said.
Though it remains to be seen what will come out of Talaat's more nebulous plans for the future, the gallery's first exhibition “Selections”, which opened last Sunday, does not present a departure from familiar themes and symbols.
“Selections” shows paintings and sculptures by nine Egyptian artists represented by Gallery Misr. There are bronze sculptures from Salah Hammad and Mohammed al-Fayomy, and large-scale representations of women by Essam Maarouf and Ibrahim al-Dessouky. Several paintings employ collage and painted pastiche, sometimes mixing photographs and paint, as in the case of Atef Ahmed, whose work combines a photograph of a Sufi Dervish with a painted background.
Although “Selections” does not have a theme, Egypt is the subject of most of the works on display. The imagery employed wouldn't surprise anyone even slightly familiar with Egyptian history and culture. Reda Abdel Rahman cites pharaonic icons and motifs in his painting titled “al-Haris,” while Adel al-Siwy's triptych mixes abstract streaks of paint with familiar and often commercial Egyptian symbols like the logos of Downtown Cairo's once opulent Groppi cafe, the ubiquitous Stella beer, and the popular cigarette brand, Cleopatra.
Among these familiar symbols were some of Egypt's newest revolutionary icons. In “Crossing the Red Line,” Huda Lutfi attaches the faces of the young Alexandrian Khaled Saeed -- who was tortured to death by police forces last June -- and visual artist Ahmed Basiouny -- who was martyred on 28 January -- to the bodies of police officers walking along a line of red tape. Lutfi's work frequently employs found objects and re-contextualizes familiar cultural symbols --and in this respect, the piece is consistent. It, however, lacks reflection -- a drawback likely to happen when artists feel they are expected to quickly respond to such overwhelming and still-evolving events. Lutfi's is the only work in “Selections” to directly take on the revolution. Exhibiting it among Egyptian icons like Om Kalthoum, the pharoahs, and Groppi cafe, gives the impression that the 25 January revolution has already taken its place in the pantheon of established Egyptian iconography, like a thing of the past.
Although Talaat passionately speaks about Misr Gallery's mission of supporting young artists, “Selections” seems to be mostly exhibiting established ones.
Nevertheless, Talaat is quick to emphasize that the new gallery is only the beginning of what he hopes will be an array of projects that extend past typical commercial fare.
“We need to go to the street,” he said, and at least in part he means it literally. Talaat hopes to organize performances and public installations outside of the gallery space. He is also planning exhibitions of video art and photography -- forms that rarely make their way into Cairo's commercial galleries.
Most of these projects need further articulation as Talaat admits, “I have so many projects, but maybe by October or November, I'd be able to see what the artists really need."
Selections can be seen until 15 June at Gallery Misr
4 A Ibn Zanki Street, off Hassan Sabry Street, Zamalek, Cairo


Clic here to read the story from its source.