14 - 20 March 2002
Issue No.577
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 14 - 20 March 2002 Issue No.577 |
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Plain talk
Aswan has a special way of greeting guests. It is not only the warmth of the sun which has a different feel. Nor is it the pure white colour that distinguishes the buildings. It is something deeper than this. It is an echo that reverberates from the moment you step out of Aswan airport, an echo of the past that, in a different way, is perfectly invoked by the Aswan International Sculpture Symposium.
Racing towards Basma Hotel, the headquarters of the Symposium, was like hurrying home. It was in 2000 that I had my first experience of that great event which has become a fixture of the annual cultural calender.
When I arrived everything looked the same though, of course, the actors, were different. There were, naturally, the familiar friendly faces of Adam Henein, the Symposium's general commissar; Salah Shaquir, director of the Cultural Development Fund, and Iman Aqil, indefatigable PR for the Fund. And here I would like to commend the effeciency of the Fund, which is responsible for the organisation of the Symposium.
I could not wait to change into suitable attire and rush out to the open space adjacent to the hotel which has become an open air studio for the artists who have come from Switzerland, Spain, Japan, France, US, Argentina, Mexico, Romania and, naturally, Egypt.
For two full days I walked around the studio, watching as the artists explored the magnificent granite of Aswan. It was a revelation to see how different artists deal with that granite. It looked to me as if there was a secret language of understanding between man and stone. After initial harsh blows by the artist, the approach becomes lighter and kinder. It was as if the granite was whispering instructions which the artist heard.
For a moment I could fancy the artists in front of me dressed in ancient Egyptian kilts. They carried the same tools which the ancient architects and engineers used to produce masterpieces of art; I listened to the ring of the chisels falling on the cold surface of the stone, and it was like listening to music played by the ancient artists we see in murals.
Watching the artists you could not help thinking of the distant past; you could imagine the ancient Egyptians hewing the granite from the Aswan quarries, then transporting it on the Nile to old Memphis where the huge blocks were used to build the great pyramids. But, of course, the artists of today have no masters to tell them what to do. Their response to the stone was spontaneous. They had all worked with stone before, though not, as one of them told me, of the same calibre as the Aswan granite.
They were all famous artists in their own countries. They came to Egypt, produced some wonderful sculpture, then left. One of them told me, almost crying, that it was like leaving part of himself in Egypt. "Never mind", I said, "Maybe this will urge you to come back to our country."
I remember that when I was visited to the Symposium in 2000 I wrote proposing that, instead of keeping the works in the open air museum in Aswan, they should be established in squares in Cairo, Alexandria and other cities. I was happy to know that already some works have been earmarked for different places. Three works by a Czech, a Norwegian and an Egyptian will decorate the Alexandria Library, another three by two Egyptians and a Japanese will be seen in Al-Misaha square, and Al-Higaz square. Cairo has received a 23 metre high piece of work by the French artist Jean-Paul Philippe, which will be shown in the International Park in Nasr City.
Aswan itself, the cradle of the Symposium, is not forgotten. Five works by Egyptian, German and American artists will decorate different areas of the city.
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