Mohamed Abu El–Naga
*1960
lives and works in Alexandria (Egypt)
abouelnaga60@hotmail.com
www.on-paper.net

- Alexandria University, Master in Art& Ph.D. in Philosphy of Art, Alexandria (EG)

2000 Alexandria (EG), French Cultur Center
2000 Cairo (EG), Town House Gallery
2000 Rome (I), Art Academy Rome
2001 Represent Egypt in the “1st International Argentina Biennale”
2001 Cairo (EG), “Burning 451F” – Misr El-Mahrousa Publishing House
2001 Alexandria (EG), “1st Prize International Alexandria Biennale 21”
2002 Venice (I), International Venice Biennale
2002 Alexandria (EG), General Commissioner of the project “Imagining the Book”
2003 Amman (Jordan), National Museum Amman
2003 New-Heaven (USA), Papa Gallery
2003 Vilnius (LT), 3rd International Artist’s Book Triennial

Object 1:

Black Book
hand made paper
30 x 30 cm
2004

Object 2:

White Book
hand made paper
30 x 30 cm
2004

Statement

Imagining the Book – Exchanging Bridges

Frankfurt/Alexandria

It is impossible for the Arab art movement and the Egyptian contemporary art movement in particular, to be isolated from the political and cultural events that have influenced it to a large degree. From the beginning, the politics of the colonizer consisted of wiping out local culture, and imposing the colonizers’ culture and language on most of the Third World countries, ignoring the fact that these populations possessed their own heritage and were heirs to the great civilizations that preceded those in the West. Despite this, the colonial experience left Third World countries with a psychological resistance to colonialism.

The Arab visual arts and cultural movement lost its natural interaction with daily cultural reality in all its dimensions, while from the beginning of the Renaissance the visual arts movement in the West were built on a critical stance towards all religious and secular principles, and anything else that impeded scientific progress in understanding natural phenomena.

And with this the “The Self” and “The Other” took a big place in experimentation and hegemony. Economic support for this idea grew and multiplied by a number of methods, whether they be wars, colonialism, or hegemony. And on top of these ancient civilizations or what were left of them, the West’s knowledge expanded, and a field opened for the growth of movement and debate. This created a narrow view of the world, limited to technological progress and an abstract understanding of the world. This resulted in wealth and surplus that created unreal needs and desires.

As for us, we were nothing but the owners of ancient civilizations, that were filled with values and understandings and arts that fulfilled the needs of their times. No real effort was made to criticize or debate them. Rather, the ongoing relationship to these ancient civilizations was one of respect and sanctification without critique.

Our cultural and artistic movements have mostly been the result of our reaction to the “Other.” The result of this reaction is the fear of losing identity or the particularities of the Self. So we find those who call for preserving and continuing the old. For example, Dr. Afif Bahnasi, Professor of Art at Damascus University, delimits the shape of modern art according to three axes: folk or popular arts; calligraphy; and motifs. The question is whether or not the artist can take the elements of his contemporary artistic expression from the creations of another era.

And we find those who call for escaping history and all heritage, and directly taking the tools of the hegemonic West. And the question is, how is it possible for Arabs to inherit a history that is not theirs?

And there is the opinion of those who work between this dichotomy of taking only from the Self or the Other, and it is to take ancient motifs and place them in a new context, with contemporary technology. So it appears that we are mixing heritage and contemporaneity by blending the essence of the past with the spirit of the present.

I see that all of these approaches produce self-alienation, and do not possess the spirit to express a human being who is living within a particular period and reality, but rather a person who lives alienated either in the past or in the time of the Other -- because the question is always directed to the outside, outside of ourselves. And we don’t ask ourselves, “Who are we?” but rather, “What can we take from the West, and what will remain from our heritage?”

European artists’ revolution against the Greco-Roman tradition and the Renaissance was enhanced by their interaction with Middle Eastern arts, and the ancient Eastern arts, and Greek arts, and Islamic arts. The artist Ramses Younan notes Gaugin’s advice to one of his friends, “Always keep your eye on Persian and Cambodian arts, and also Egyptian art.”

The history of cultural interest in the Other is long, and the debate is always open despite the difficulties and many problems, particularly political ones. These include attempts to impose hegemony over the world – not only a military or economic hegemony, but a cultural hegemony and the imposition of one linguistic discourse. The obstructions to creating dialogue and equal relationship are many and everyone (the self and the other) carries their responsibilities.

In the middle of the disintegration of Arab cultural unity, and these wars that were undertaken and have not yet ended, and in the middle of this language of war and blood, there persists individual and collective efforts at cultural resistance and dialogue, like the exhibition organized by the artist Erich Paproth who participated with us in Imagining the Book 2002.

Imagining the Book was held at the Alexandria Library. This meeting was very important for extending the bridges and dialogue in a creative way, unlike most of the cultural and philosophical modes of meeting. Through a new artistic field in Egypt and the Arab World – to a large extent – and this is the book as an artistic work and books of artists. It was the artistic expertise that brought together a large number of artists from different nationalities and cultures. This exhibition in Frankfurt is an extension of this collaboration that began in Alexandria through a workshop and exhibition.

Imagining the Book was based on the idea of the book as a work of art. This form of contemporary art goes beyond the idea that the book contains knowledge, to the idea that it embodies the essence of knowledge.

In this sense, the understanding of the shape and the concept are braided together, and this is what emphasizes the book as a work of art.

Some of the artists undertook a presentation of their personal experiences and the enriched the dialogue and made it more humanistic. There were those emphasized the importance of the materiality of the materials in the art work, like the Mexican artist Ana Thiel, who cast glass and placed it with books of different sizes and subjects so that the book becomes an completely unique artistic work. It became transformed to a window from which to view the world. The American Carmela Castrejon uses mythical motifs that recall the first lines written by humans. This artistic expression was emphasized by it being placed in a rough cement mold that was like the walls of a contemporary cave. The mythical symbols in the cave are filled with tension, which refers to the tension of the political situation in Argentina with which she is familiar.

The artistic visions of the workshop were quite varied. There were eight Japanese artists participating, which led to a great visual and technical variety at the workshop that reflected the different localities within Japan itself.

Emma Bedford, art critic and curator of the South Africa’s modern art museum, presented an important slide lecture on the work of the famous artist William Kentridge. She also presented Kentridge’s film “Divided World” – its first showing in Egypt and in the Arab world. William Kentridge has a unique style in drawing with charcoal and an eraser. The film focused on an individual vision through the most important and horrific bloody political and cultural events of the 20th century.

And from a number of countries came artistic works which attempted to deepen the civilizational dialogue, focusing on value and diversity and difference.

The American artist Sean Kearnen used special black and white photographic techniques to capture the desire for knowledge. For example, we see work in which the hand that goes in the fire to burn books was photographed as if it were holding the painful truth. Sean Kearnen said.” everyone else seemed to feel the same way. The concentration of energy I Felt as I walked around was something I had never felt before. Most artistsWork alone and they like it that way.”

Also participating in the event were artists from Indonesia, Korea, Turkey, England, France, and Palestine. Taysir Barakat, from Ramallah, did work on the issue of the self and nation. His large piece involved the use of tens of books on which he had inscribed pictures of the faces of his mother, friends, and others close to him, as if he were throwing these faces to ancient history or as if it were a book of the dead.

Erich Paproth. , said, “WRITE IN ENGLISH”

The Turkish participant was Raziye Kubat, who said, “So many books in the exhibition... still trying to get back my pleasure for reading... joke... joke...

At one time during the exhibition I began to see people and positions as “books”..Even their names were given. Here are some examples for you : “ Lady Allaw”, “Bad-tempered Artists”, “waiting, waiting, waiting,”, “Hotel Delta”, “ could de sac of the customs”, “Kafkaian Library Mazes”, “The sorrowful ending of the Sisa conversation”, “Insallah”, “ The impossible love affairs”, “A place called Rashid”..and others which I could write about at least three pages...

Now I miss Alexandria while writing about it all... I am now one of its admirers...

The artists’ impressions of this event were numerous and of great variety. There were a number of Egyptian artists who gained attention -- like Muhammad Salim, whose work was executed in glass and light using mosaic techniques. This work embodies the spirit and brings the audience to metaphysical horizons, and takes us from the materiality to metaphysicality and a world of light. Medhat Nasr, another Egyptian artist, did an installation that was a combination of what belongs to the personal realm and what belongs to the legendary realm. He used the techniques of printmaking on the forms in the installation, and the composition expands beyond the boundaries of traditional printmaking. The mural of Ayman Al-Simary brings forth the rhythms of Sumerian writing and layers of old paint on the outside of family houses in Egypt. Ana Bijan’s works were on the topic of Alexandria, and were composed of watercolor drawings that had bold and free brushstrokes done with great vitality. This vitality is realized in the pigments that are spread over the surface of the paper, like the waves on the beach.

Of course, there were important artists who did work that was well beyond the traditional boundaries of art. Their art created a personal composition that reflected their cultural belonging. This made the dialogue strong and full of vitality. For example, the sculptor Adam Henein captured the moment on stone when he made a large opening in the middle of a piece of granite. This opening caught the attention of viewers and forced them to interact with the piece. This piece also refers to the ink well. Ali Al-Meligi presented a hanged piece of leather that was filled with symbols that referred to old writings on leather. Muhammad Abla and a Turkish artist worked on the topic of Cavafy in Alexandria. Abla was able to capture the memory of Cavafy’s face with romanticism through white and dull black. The artistic visions and creations that reflected artists’ different cultural backgrounds were quite varied. These were the subject of dialogue at all creative and intellectual levels.

Most of the Arab artists used texts in their visual manipulations, which highlighted the aesthetic values of Arabic calligraphy. At the same time, local materials played an important role in the Arab artists’ works. All of this sprung from a number of motivations, the most important of which was the interest in emphasizing the idea of identity, and of a particular culture. This emphasis on cultural identity was capable of crossing expressive boundaries between society and the Other. On the other hand, Western artists, and to a large extent the Americans, had different conceptions of ways to use materials. Some of these uses involved highly modern techniques and others primitive techniques. It was as if these conceptions represented a particular position towards technological change, because with each technological advancement, the influence of the hand disappears.

We hope to that this exhibition presents new visions and creative dialogues, which increase in richness through cultural variety and difference.

Muhammad Abu El-Naga
General Commissioner and Creator of Imagining the Book
2004