Prize-worthy muddle

Artist George Bahgory has backtracked on his initial decision to refuse the State Excellence Award, reports Reem Nafie

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George Bahgory

When the Ministry of Culture announced last week that the artist George Bahgory would receive the State Excellence Award those who knew him were rejoiced. Then came the shock. Bahgory let it be known that given his "professional standing domestically and internationally" he felt he deserved a more substantial accolade.

Bahgory sent a letter to Rose El-Youssef magazine explaining why he had refused to accept the LE50,000 prize. In a one-page letter under the title "A scandal in the nation's Fine Arts prizes" he listed his accomplishments, pointing out that he has been contributing to Rose El-Youssef since 1954, that his portraits are exhibited in international museums around the world and that he was awarded a PhD by the Sorbonne. In the light of this, he said, accepting the excellence award would be demeaning given that there are two more prestigious prizes, the Mubarak Award, worth LE200,000, and the State Merit Award, worth LE100,000, that he could have been given.

Yet alongside Bahgory's letter of objection the magazine printed the form the artist had filled out in December of 2005 asking specifically that he be considered for the excellence award, and adding as a footnote that he had received "10 international prizes from France, Italy and Spain and none from Egypt".

Gaber Asfour, secretary-general of the Higher Council of Culture (HCC), said that he had met Bahgory at the council's premises, and that the nomination for the excellence award had been filed after Bahgory's portfolio was examined by the HCC. Asfour says that at the time he explained to Bahgory that he would only be eligible for the excellence prize since the higher awards require recommendation from an academic body or research institute. Bahgory agreed to apply for the award, and his nomination was successful.

In a phone interview from France, Bahgory told Al-Ahram Weekly that he had now decided to accept the award.

"Apparently I misunderstood the rules and my peers insist that I accept the award, so I guess I will," he said.

His initial refusal, he continued, was because he felt that his work was not sufficiently appreciated in his home country, something that his being recently granted the King Abdullah II of Jordan Award had underlined.

"I've spent my entire life working, including 30 years in Paris struggling to become the international artist I am now and I just wanted to be recognised in my hometown," he said.

Now that Bahgory understands the rules more clearly he knows that Asfour could not have nominated him for a higher award.

"I attempted to convince a university to sponsor me but I failed. It is my mistake that I did not understand clearly that this is a condition for a higher prize."

Bahgory has yet to inform Asfour that he has gone back on his earlier refusal.