Issue No. 607
Culture
Previous issue
Site map
|
|
10 - 16 October 2002 Issue No. 607 Culture |
Current issue Previous issue Site map | |
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
Plain Talk
It is not so often that 12 artists from seven different countries join in one exhibition. Biennales are, of course, held all over the world, but this exhibition is unique in the unifying theme it announces: the river.
"Take me to the river" is described as a multinational, multidisciplinary art exhibition, displaying painting, drawing, video, mixed media, printing, textile art, audio art and installations. No wonder the exhibition needed the space at both galleries of the Opera House and Hanager.
The driving force behind the exhibition is Mansoura Hassan, a Pakistani artist living in Cairo. And for my good luck she was my guide, indeed mentor, during my visit to the exhibition.
The exhibition, my charming guide told me, "wants to advance a view that in order to comprehend the nature of all things essential, first it is crucial to appreciate that all things are best understood in relation to everything else."
Each of the participating artists addresses the rich symbol of the river in the works on display. In addressing the theme collectively these artists view the exhibition as a celebration and affirmation of art's potential to bring people from different cultures closer together in understanding and friendship by expressing the diversities and, ultimately, the commonalty of all people.
The idea of the exhibition was the brain child of a group of artists who live in Washington DC, who invited artists from other countries to join them in a common exhibition. Participants came from South Korea, Jamaica, Brazil, Germany, Peru and Pakistan.
"Recent events," Mansoura Hassan commented while we went round the galleries, "show that in the future it is critically important for people of all nationalities to unite and work together for a common purpose. This exhibition can serve as a manifestation of this universal need for a spirit of cooperation and oneness."
"Were the tragic events of 11 September behind the idea of the exhibition?", I asked her. "There is no doubt that after the events people in the United States realised how the tragedy dislocated and thereby unsettled assumptions regarding their impregnability and at the same time forced them to face the question of how advantageous it was to remain isolated from the rest of the world."
The artists were the first to respond and to realise that in times of crisis, as well as peace, culture moves along taking grace from the events that shape it. They were the first to accept the task of visualising the role of culture in the process of renewal. Art will produce statements that will continue to echo within people's psyche the concepts of truth and justice.
Why the river, then? "The river is symbolically associated with the creative and destructive powers of nature and of time," she explained. This is indeed strongly reflected in the works on display. In spite of the apparent differences in style and the use of colour, the river and its application as rubric, underlines this collection of works which foreground and promote similarities rather than deny cultural differences.
Mansoura went on to explain that beyond the metaphysical meanings suggested by the word "river" is the great one along whose banks this exhibition is taking place on, the Nile. Furthermore, the 12 artists have all lived, worked and developed friendships together in Washington DC, which is located on the banks of the Potomac river.
Mansoura's contribution to the exhibition is in the form of printing, video and painting. Her installation of photographs shows us seven movements, as it were: lamentation, desolation, begging, hope, a spiritual journey, showing the Egyptian desert signifying peace, then hope II showing a monument on Memorial Bridge, Washington, then hope III which shows the lion of Kasr El-Nil bridge. The last movement is the bridge across the Nile which symbolises the crossing over.
The exhibition itself is a spiritual journey of six women and six men, joined together in a quest for understanding and peace.
|
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
| ARCHIVES Letter from the Editor Editorial Board Subscription Advertise! |
WEEKLY ONLINE: weekly.ahram.org.eg Updated every Saturday at 11.00 GMT, 2pm local time weeklyweb@ahram.org.eg |
 Al-Ahram Organisation |
