LAST Wednesday wasn't an ordinary day in El-Gezira Art Centre in Zamalek; the atmosphere was festive, with a group of Egyptian artists launching a large exhibition there in the presence of Mohsen Shaalan, the head of the Fine Arts Sector, who inaugurated the exhibition. The visitors to the exhibition are treated to photography, installation art, sculpture and wire jewellery accessories. There are four rooms for four artists, each room exhibiting the works of one of them. The first room displays the works of Egyptian photographer Samah el-Laithy, 42, most of her photos include people. El-Laithy started taking photographs 22 years ago, with her interest in photography stemming from her interest in moving images. Not having the opportunity to study cinema, she taught herself photography instead. "I have to be honest with myself and then the picture will be good; I must ‘feel' first. Sometimes when I click the camera there is another click in my heart, and sometimes I know the picture will be horrible," she explained in an interview with The Egyptian Gazette. El-Laithy studied psychology, which was the springboard that compelled her to study people and the world through a lens. "I approach photography both intellectually and emotionally. Part of my intuitive feelings involves being in touch with art in all its diversity and imbibing all the knowledge I can," she said. El-Laithy has contributed around thirty of her best portraits and natural landscapes in the exhibition. Her photos feel real and vibrant. "A photographer once said a picture without a human being in it is dead. I have an intuitive feeling for world I inhabit and I'm convinced that this feeling must be at its strongest when I squint through the lens," she commented. El-Laithy agrees with the philosophy of Stieglitz, a famous photographer, who said: "To be a good photographer you have to study the best paintings and photographs, and visit exhibitions and museums, steeping yourself [in these pictures], until they become a part of you." In the next room, Hassan Kamel, an Egyptian sculptor, displays his stone statues and ‘shapes'. When you enter this room, you feel as if you're walking into an ancient temple, because of the abundance of Pharaonic statues. "Ancient Egyptian sculpture is my primary source of inspiration. I prefer working with natural materials such as stone, bronze, wood and clay composite," he told this paper. Hassan Kamel was born in 1967 in Cairo. He studied at the University of Art Education, which gave him the chance to investigate various approaches to handling art-related problems. Kamel has experimented with different materials, allowing him to express different ideas and emotions. "The compositions, artistic ideas, elements and treatment methods enrich the relationships among the materials, creating different characteristics," said Kamel, who likes teaching talented art students. Research is his window to meditation and he has learnt a lot by listening to other professors' points of view, especially those working in the same field as his, in addition to writers and critics interested in art. "I have participated in numerous group exhibitions including university exhibitions, youth salons, small artwork salons and exhibitions for special occasion," he said. Kamel likes symposia as they inspire him, which is why he has taken part in a number of international stone sculpture symposia in Egypt, Europe and Asia, with his sculptures often being exhibited in the towns where the symposia are being held. As you go from the second to third room, you move from ancient to modern. There, a young Egyptian artist called Rania Hilal proudly exhibits her wonderful collection of jewellery, made out of wire and copper plated with gold and silver. Hilal, who graduated from the Faculty of Applied Arts, Interior Design and Decoration Section, Helwan University in 2000, took a training course in designing wire jewellery in August 2007. "I was very excited while I was preparing for this exhibition," she said. "This is my chance to prove myself as this is my first exhibition." Hilal has participated in an artistic bazaar at el-Sawy Cultural Wheel, but this is her first solo exhibition. Her accessories are adorned with precious stones, as well as semiprecious stones like onyx and orange agate. In the fourth and the last room in the exhibition, Salwa Hamdy, an Egyptian artist, conveys her idea of life through her installation art that depicts ‘the journey of ups and downs' through stickers, on which ladders and snakes are printed.
The four exhibitions, being held at El- Gezira Art Centre in 1 el-Marsafy st, Zamalek, Tel: 2737-3298 run until March 16, opens daily from 10am to 2pm and from 5pm to 9pm except on Fridays.
