27 Sep. - 3 Oct. 2001
Issue No.553
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 27 Sep. - 3 Oct. 2001 Issue No.553 |
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Cut that ribbon
And then maybe assemble it into a collage. Nigel Ryan on the promise of a new gallery season
It has been a long summer. Is it too kind to describe it as sultry? Certainly, humidity appeared to hit new highs. Or is it simply that the memory fails from one year to the next?
The Russian Cultural Centre may not have got its exhibition programme quite right
Whatever, summer is almost over. And one sure sign that it is winding down is that the city's galleries are opening their doors, and to new work. Gone, or in the process of going, are the group shows, those half-hearted attempts to keep the galleries open during the heat of July and August. All too often they take on the aspects of a remaindered sale, with whatever gallery is holding them showcasing the remnants of earlier one man shows. It is, almost inevitably, a depressing format. And of course, it makes absolutely no sense, neither curatorially, nor as a strategy to bring in the crowds.
There is, though, no accounting for taste. So be advised, there is only a day to catch the end of the Mashrabiya summer showing, which rounds up all the usual suspects, from Georges Bahgory to Marco Magrini, by way of every other artist the gallery represents. By 3 October they will all be replaced by Hassan Soliman. Only this time it will be a different kind of Soliman exhibition. The endless repetitions of his recent shows -- variations on a theme is perhaps the kindest thing one can say, since he has chosen for several years now to exhibit basically the same painting, reworked with slight tonal modulation -- has been abandoned and instead Soliman is showing collages and abstracts, 1964-67. Despite the slight preciousness in such precise dating, I for one am looking forward to the departure from the format of the past few years. Having never doubted the artist's technical dexterity, a glimpse at past experiments appears likely to be rewarding. Likely to be a decent opener, then, for the Mashrabiya.
There is, unfortunately, a regular sense of déjà vu in Cairene gallery going. Some artists simply seem to be everywhere. George Bahgory, whose cartoons grace the pages of this very paper, is one such. Over the summer he has cropped up at Khan Al-Maghraby, at Picasso and at the Mashrabiya, in group shows all. At Picasso, he was in distinguished company, including Seif and Adham Wanli, Hussein Bicar and Hamid Nada among others, though the show was perhaps a little less inspiring than the illustrious roll call of participants might suggest. And once again, Bahgory was represented by paintings that had earlier appeared in a solo show at the same gallery.
At Khan Al-Maghraby he was in equally distinguished company, showing alongside Tahia Halim, one of the most lustrous names to have emerged on the Egyptian art scene in the last half century, and Kawkab El-Assal, an unfairly neglected artist. There is a potentially glorious exhibition, featuring the work of women artists working in Egypt in the 20th century, waiting to be staged. It is a challenge that should be met by the state galleries, a perfect chance to both retrieve some curatorial goodwill and to remedy what has been, for a great many artists, too long a period of neglect.
On 1 October Safar Khan opens its new season with a showing of recent works by Anna Boghiguian, one artist who, justifiably, has established a well-earned reputation. Alexandria, Boghiguian's mixed media show, promises, on past form, to be one of the highlights of the season, a continuation of the artist's fascination with a city that has already inspired her to illustrate the work of Constantine Cavafy. It continues for most of the month of October.
For some time now Karim Francis has been attempting to expand the venues in which art can be shown. One such initiative were regular shows in the Zamalek bar and bistro La Bodega. This season these occasional shows have blossomed into a more fully fledged venture, the opening of a new exhibition space above the restaurant. It premieres with paintings, watercolours and engravings by Sanaa Moussa. While a full itinerary of future programming is unavailable, it may well prove to be a space to watch.
There are, of course, massive oscillations in the quality of work that is shown in any given season. So much so that for the hapless reviewer it is usually preferable to ignore a distressingly large proportion of shows than to commit opinions to print. Take time out to visit the Russian Cultural Centre in Dokki, between 1-15 October, if you are in any doubt about this statement. True, I have only seen reproductions of the work that will be on show, in the handsomely produced publicity pamphlet. That, sadly, is quite enough. What, one is forced to ask, is this all about? Art it is not.
Foreign cultural centres do, on the whole, attempt at least some form of quality control, and one holds out rather more hope for the Goethe Institutes showing of The Alps -- Dream and Nightmares, recent works by Beat Presser. And among the private galleries as yet unmentioned, both Cairo Berlin and the Townhouse have been able, in past seasons, to stick in a thumb and pull out the occasional plum. They, too, very definitely, remain spaces to watch. The former remains, to my mind, one of the few galleries in town to consistently keep an eye -- and a firm one at that -- on the quality of the art it promotes.
Public spaces are, if anything, even more hit and miss than private ones. Which is something of a shame given the amounts of money that the Ministry of Culture has pumped into upgrading the actual structures. Both the Opera House complex and the recently refurbished Gezira Art Center boast handsome exhibition spaces. The challenge, as always, will be to fill them with works that merit occupying such prestige venues. And that, if past experience is anything to go by, is going to be an uphill task.
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