PEOPLE are having fun at the seaside, laughing and swimming or sitting on the beach. Would you like to join them this summer? "Summertime" is a group exhibition being held in Lot 17 Art Gallery of works by contemporary Egyptian artists Amr Fekry, Hany Rashed and Fathi Afifi, and Sudanese artist Bahr Eddin Adam. The works all revolve around one main theme: summertime. Fekry's works are photographs, which vividly describe summertime in Egypt. One of them is of an Egyptian woman wearing all her clothes while swimming in the sea. There are others of boys laughing and playing naturally in the water. "In 2005, I exhibited my black-and-white photos; this time I'm displaying my colour photos. I believe that this society is experiencing some kind of change, which is why I've chosen colour this time," says Fekry, who was born in 1978. Adam is a Sudanese artist who was born in 1971 and has a BA degree in industrial design. His works are abstract, but also relate to the main theme of summertime, as the dominant blue colour in his paintings shows. The works of Rashed are unique. One of them is a large painting of the poster for the new film by Egyptian comedian Ahmed Helmi, but he's changed the names and some of the details. "The title of the exhibition is "Summertime." I walked the streets ofEgypt to capture summer moments. I went to the gardens, but there weren't many people; then I went to the zoo, but there were no animals! "I asked myself how people are spending their summer and the answer came when I saw this huge poster for Helmi's new movie. People in Egypt love going to the cinema in the summer, so I imitated this poster and changed the name of the film," says Rashed, born in 1975. Rashed has done two other paintings of foreigners sitting on the beach. "I liked to show the differences between summertime here in Egypt and in foreign countries. Also I like to show the different cultures," he adds. Meanwhile, Afifi's black-andwhite paintings are also related to summertime. Born in 1950, he is the oldest artist in the exhibition. Afifi is famous for his very Egyptian paintings. "Summertime is a lovely idea. I'm happy about this exhibition, as all the other participants are my students, especially Hany Rashed. I'm very proud of him," he says. "Summertime", being held in Lot 17 Art Gallery, 17 Mohamed Mazhar St., Zamalek (2735- 2449), is open daily from 11am to 9pm except on Sundays, running until July 8.
