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| by Farghali |
To
empathize with a city, best way is to get to know a diversified range of local
people. I got to see a different glimpse of Cairo again, the artistic side of
the city in my visit this week. Last time I did this, it was few months after
revolution and streets of Cairo was not a safe place to walk around. So we
confined ourselves with a co-worker who played my guide to the busy and small
streets of Zamalek; and sat and had several conversations with art gallery
owners. They were apprehensive two years ago; joyful of the movement yet again
very concerned on potential self censorship, impact on artists freedom, and of
course loss of business. One lady speculated on Turkey versus new Egypt and
eventual fate of women; another gallery owner talked about his top clientele
being in jail. Yet again we looked through fantastic paintings and sculptures
awaiting to be purchased in small rooms piled.
This is where I met Farghali’s
and several other contemporary Egyptian artists’ paintings. What provoked me to
take the art journey at the first place was the fascinating Khaled Sourour
exhibit at the Nile City Fairmont, ‘al ahwal’—(I wonder if it would mean state
of the world as we would call it in Turkish?) which struck me as fiercely
local yet with a cartoonish vividness screaming.
