LOCAL art enthusiasts are enjoying something different just now, contemporary art brought to them by seven Portuguese artists. Their exhibition, which opened on January 22 and runs till February 24, has been organised by Lugar do Desenho, an organisation, which studies, displays and disseminates a collection of drawings by Julio Resende, one of the greatest Portuguese artists of the 20th century. "The exhibition is part of the organisation's efforts to introduce Portuguese art to the world and establish communication with artists around the world," says Marta Resende, daughter of Julio Resende and herself one of the artists participating in the exhibition. Such exhibitions have travelled to many places, including Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, but every time with a different collection of works with a different group of artists. "It's our first trip to the Middle East and we are happy to be in a country like Egypt with its rich cultural heritage," adds Marta, who says that her time in Cairo will allow her to learn more about Egyptian artists and their work. "Our organisation also encourages artists from other countries to come to Portugal, in order to learn about Portuguese artists and their work." The seven artists participating in the exhibition have much in common. All were born in the city of Porto and studied at the School of Fine Arts, also in Porto. They share references, interests, influences and affections. However, their works in the exhibition are very different from each other, reflecting the richness of Portuguese modern art. In the exhibition, "Portuguese Drawing in Egypt", being held at Prince Taz Palace in Islamic Cairo, you can meet Julio Resende through his works. He's an artist with expressionist sensitivity, alert to places and people, their movements and their illusions. Julio, now in his nineties, lives in Portugal but was too frail to travel to Cairo for the exhibition. As well as his daughter Marta's works, you can also enjoy those of Armando Alves, Francisco Laranjo, Manuel Casal Aguiar, Victor Costa and Zulmiro De Carvalho. And if you haven't been to the 700-yearold Prince Taz Palace in Syufia Street in el-Khalifa district, then that's a treat in itself.
