26 July - 1 August 2001
Issue No.544
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 26 July - 1 August 2001 Issue No.544 |
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Obituary
Mahmoud Rahmi (1939-2001)
I was supposed to meet Mahmoud Rahmi yesterday, to discuss his latest project, a series of films for children on modern Egyptian artists. But when I called to confirm on Monday, I was informed of the news. I smiled, then I wept. Rahmi, who passed away earlier that day, was an artist, author, director and puppeteer. Throughout his life he was committed to the heritage of Arab nationalism to which he subscribed, forever searching for new forms of expression.
photo: Aref Saadeddin
Rahmi was born in Alexandria, where we first met in the 1950s. Graduating in 1960, he was a student of the great sculptor El-Siggini. At the Faculty of Fine Arts there, he introduced me to many of his colleagues and teachers. In many of his paintings of that period, he drew a bird soaring against a white background, which gave an impression of silence and purity; he often painted children flying paper kites, and when I last saw him, too weeks ago, he was painting again: stones, birds and boughs reappeared, mostly in black and white.
By the late 1960s Rahmi was immersed in the world of puppets. He explained to me how he needed to work with others, and how sculpture and painting prevented him from doing so. Puppets allowed him to reach out to children, whom he perceived as whole people.
Rahmi introduced several characters for television puppet shows, most famously Hamada and Amm Shafiq and, in 1982, Boogi and Tamtam. Hamada was a complex character, combining good and evil. And despite a study by sociologists that revealed Hamada was the most popular television character among children the television authorities soon stopped the programme, claiming Hamada was a "naughty boy" and an unsuitable role model for children.
Mahmoud Rahmi continued to resist, to make puppets and films for children. He lived a rich life. May God rest his soul.
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