A Window On Contempary Art In Cairo

Almost since the start of the uprisings in the Middle East, I’ve been wondering about the state of contemporary artists there. They were clearly involved with the revolution in Egypt. As the Los Angeles Times reported in mid-February in a short article, there’s a fledgling group called League of the Revolution’s Artists whose members had “churned out drawings and caricatures, poems and plays inspired by Hosni Mubarak’s 30 years of autocratic rule” aiding the cause.

Earlier, in late January, the New Museum had sent out a press release detailing its next “Museum as Hub” project, which involved simultaneous programming with partner institutions, including one in Cairo. An exhibition called “An accord is first and foremost only a proposition” was guest curated by Sarah Rifky, of the Townhouse Gallery in downtown Cairo, not far from the Egyptian Museum.

With the help of the New Museum, I connected with Rifky, from whom I’ve learned some things. But not nearly enough. The situation in Cairo remains sensitive. Still, I’ve decided that a little is better than nothing. 

First, Rifky pointed me to reports that a prominent Egyptian sound-and-media artist named Ahmed El Basiony was among the casualties of the revolt. He died in the Cairo fracas on Jan. 28, the fourth day of the uprising. He was 32. A website called Dangerous Minds has a picture of him plus a sampling of his work.

There’s also an account of his death on a site called 1000 Memories; it reported that he taught art at Helwan University and “he organized educational workshops for digital, live and sound art, enabling numerous young musicians to enter the field.” Basiony’s last Facebook entry said, “I have a lot of hope if we stay like this. Riot police beat me a lot. Nevertheless I will go down again tomorrow. If they want war, we want peace. I am just trying to regain some of my nation’s dignity.”

In early February, Rifky gave an interview to Masress (which appears to be an online newspaper — its “About” page is only in Arabic), which reported on her and others. … She was traveling outside Egypt when the revolution began, but said

she began acting as a focal point for the dissemination of information online through Twitter and Facebook as well as through international phone calls during the internet outage in Egypt. Information about safety points, curfews, utilities and helplines became a valuable and inaccessible asset, she explained. “I began spreading the word in Cairo and other governorates through friends about SpeakToTweet”–an international phone line service that allows people to call in and leave voice news feeds and listen to those made by others. Once she was back in Cairo, she began providing real-time services, giving directions to people and verifying helpline numbers that were spammed with incorrect ones. “It feels like being conscribed over the past two weeks. I’ve been masquerading as a citizen reporter, journalist, humanitarian, human rights activist. I’d also be happy when I can start working on the analytical side of things.”

Rifky and I made contact after that, but she could add no more information. But I’ve looked her up and found that she’s tweeting about her activities.

 

On Mar. 11, she wrote “Open meeting in Rawabet in 20 mins to discuss how to help actor Aly Sobhy who was detained recently.” The day before, she said he had been arrested and faced a military trial. You can follow her here, though there’s much more about Middle Eastern goings-on than just the arts.

 

I also visited the website called African Colours, where I learned that this week a contemporary gallery called Darb 1718 is collecting photos, banners, placards used at Liberation Square during the uprising for a contemporary art exhibit on the revolution.

 

Very early in this movement, on January 31, ArtInfo published this account by Ben Davis, citing activities of a few contemporary artists for the revolution.  

 

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Associated Press via the Los Angeles Times (top); of ArtForum (bottom)