“Invisible Presence: Looking at the body in contemporary Egypt” is a group show that proposes to look at how the body, which tends to be imperceptible in the local public conscience and discourse in Egypt, comes to life in contemporary art and expresses the human condition in contemporary times.
The body is of course a very wide topic that has been explored in many international exhibitions, however in the local Egyptian context it is rarely discussed in an open forum and is, in fact, (sub)consciously ignored.
“Invisible Presence” is an exploration of the situation of the body in contemporary Egypt, as well as an exploration of how visions and perceptions of the body have evolved in the public conscience from distant past to recent history.
The exhibition will explore interpretations of the body in many terms, for example: its perception in the context of the rapid globalization and the current local political atmosphere, as a source of self-knowledge in of itself, as a physical landscape for pleasure and pain, as a question of worth, as a site for imagination. Such cultural inquiry has never before been locally explored to this depth. Particularly noteworthy is that it asks artists to direct their vision onto their physical selves.
“Invisible Presence” is exhibited in a popular area: Samaa Khana. The choice of this complex, a very symbolic and historical place in the heart of Old Cairo, is motivated by the wish to dissolve the walls of the gallery community and expose the work to new areas, allowing greater engagement with local audience.
“Invisible Presence: Looking at the body in contemporary Egypt”
Curated by Stefania Angarano
December 16, 2009 - January 23, 2010
Opening Wednesday at 7:00 pm
Samaa Khaana, 31 El Siyufiyah St., in Old Cairo. (25107806)
December 16, 2009 - January 23, 2010
Opening Wednesday at 7:00 pm
