Egypt's Democratic Generation Party Evaluates 84 Candidates Ahead of Parliamentary Vote    English version of Egypt's tax facilitation initiative laws – full text    UK to seal 1st post-tariff war trade deal with US    Egypt, Japan discuss ICT cooperation, AI strategy alignment    Egypt's FM urges stronger African role in global governance    Egypt, Bahrain discuss enhanced pharmaceutical cooperation    Egypt's EHA partners with Danone Egypt on clinical nutrition    Qatar holds key interest rates steady    Tax Authority prepares comprehensive guide on exported services: Abdel Aal    Egypt, Qatar reaffirm joint mediation efforts amid escalating Gaza crisis    Egypt-Greece trade exchange falls to $1.6bn in 2024: CAPMAS    Fotouh Al-Kuwait to build EGP 86m packaging factory in Sokhna Industrial Zone    Egypt, Greece sign strategic partnership in Athens, hold 1st cooperation council    Minister of Health discusses strengthening healthcare partnership with AFD    India strikes Pakistan, Islamabad claims 5 Indian jets downed amid escalation    Egypt welcomes Oman-brokered US-Yemen ceasefire agreement    Egypt inks deal with Merck to advance healthcare training    Health Minister orders expansion of residency training programmes to strengthen medical workforce    Al Ismaelia, Coventry University Cairo partner on urban development education    Egyptian FM addresses Arab Women Organization Conference opening    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    Cabinet approves establishment of national medical tourism council to boost healthcare sector    "5,000 Years of Civilizational Dialogue" theme for Korea-Egypt 30th anniversary event    Sudan conflict, bilateral ties dominate talks between Al-Sisi, Al-Burhan in Cairo    Cairo's Madinaty and Katameya Dunes Golf Courses set to host 2025 Pan Arab Golf Championship from May 7-10    Between Women Filmmakers' Caravan opens 5th round of Film Consultancy Programme for Arab filmmakers    Egypt's PM follows up on Julius Nyerere dam project in Tanzania    Ancient military commander's tomb unearthed in Ismailia    Egypt's FM inspects Julius Nyerere Dam project in Tanzania    Egypt's FM praises ties with Tanzania    Egypt to host global celebration for Grand Egyptian Museum opening on July 3    Ancient Egyptian royal tomb unearthed in Sohag    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.



Re-turn to the ancient land
Published in Daily News Egypt on 04 - 01 - 2007

Coptic icons, Bedouin textiles and Cavafy-inspired prints are some of the original pieces currently on exhibit at Mashrabia Gallery.
"Re-turn features works by three international artists who used to live in Egypt. It's a tribute to the days Ros Ford, Sally Hampson and John O'Carroll lived in the country and a testament to their ongoing relationship with Egypt and Egyptians which continues to inspire and inform their work.
Ford, who previously exhibited at Mashrabia and the British Council, will display works including a silk-screen, etchings, fabric and digital prints. He will also be showing artists books, some of which had been previously shown at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.
"I draw inspiration from the movement and vibrant color of contemporary Egypt, together with icons and textiles of ancient, Coptic and Greco-Roman Egypt, he says.
As for Hampson - who graduated from London's Royal College of Art and holds a master's degree in textiles - she uses narratives and stories, real and imagined to illustrate in her art.
The inspiration for these stories was 1920s-30s traveller and anthropologist Kitty Lake, whose own life hovered on the edge of a real and an imagined world.
Lake's illustrated journeys by Hampson grew into a collection of artefacts which were shown as installations at The Horniman Museum in London and The Pitt Rivers Museum Oxford, England in the early 1990s.
The exhibit coincided with an invitation to Egypt by The British Council to work with different groups of Bedouin weavers. That gave Hampson the opportunity to travel to the more remote parts of the desert.
The project, she says, enabled her to follow Kitty Lake's footsteps in the Western Desert and Sinai and the resulting exhibition was shown at the British Council in Cairo.
"When I first arrived in Egypt I immediately felt at home with its richness of colors and textures, and its history of storytelling and poetry, she recalls.
For "Re-turn she created a new collection inspired by the poetry of C.P. Cavafy (1863-1933) - the Greek poet who lived and died in Egypt's coastal city of Alexandria. It is a group of woven and printed textiles.
O'Carroll, who lived and worked for five months on the Dakhleh Oasis Project during each of the 20 years he spent in Egypt, combined work as an artist with that of an archaeological illustrator.
He says: "I learned from the conservators on the project how to make my own paints, grinding and collecting pigments in the desert and using beeswax and camel bone glue.
In Dakhleh O'Carroll would spend hours for instance, illustrating a stone tool from prehistoric times then go to his studio to make abstract impressionistic works.
He will be exhibiting a selection of academic images of ancient artefacts from Dakhleh, calligraphic color poems and works related to the landscape, environment and spirit of the oasis. -Agencies
Mashrabia Gallery of Contemporary Art8 Champollion St., Downtownwww.mashrabiagallery.com(02) 578 4494On until Jan. 18, 2007Closed Fridays 11am-8 pm


Clic here to read the story from its source.