ORIENTALISM

Mohamed Abouelnaga

ORIENTALISM

5 March to 31 March 2014

Mohamed Abouelnaga dismantles the collective and historical ‘Orientalism’, the western view of the Orient, to represent it in the female form, which was so often used in the traditional painting of the Orientalists. 

When viewing the Orientalist paintings of the nineteenth century, Abouelnaga felt he was in a surreal world blending realistic elements and an imaginary fantastic world. Semi nude women standing in markets where no one takes any notice, the paintings of Da Vinci or David could easily have been transported romantically to an Arab setting.

With this background and the passing of time, Abouelnaga reflects on the Eastern cultural awareness being developed through these western perceptions to the present. He re-launches the ambiguous aesthetic of Orientalism to reflect the reality of the new orient, created by the shifting centres of economic power in the world.

The New Orientalism does not imply cultural control or imposed Western perceptions but embraces the evolution of media, communication and globalization. There is no pure aesthetic, it cannot be contained or partitioned, but is a legacy of both oriental and western cultures together and as such is the beginning of a  new contemporary artistic experience.

This dismantling of the theme is representative of the New Orientalsim that Abouelnaga has explored in previous exhibitions ‘The Warrior’ and ‘The Lion’ which have dealt with the breakdown of Egypt’s colonial past, its people, history and culture specifically to where Egypt is now.

Orientalism exhibits in Amman, Jordan at Jacaranda Images from 5 to 31 March 2014, launching within the framework of The 4th International Image Festival. The Image Festival is organized by the Institut Français of Jordan in partnership with Darat Al Tasweer and in collaboration with the international festival of photography Les Rencontres d’Arle.

Mohamed Abouelnaga

Mohamed Abouelnaga is a multidisciplinary visual artist, art professor, curator and developer.  Born in the Egyptian city of Tanta, Abouelnaga graduated with honors in 1983 from the Faculty of Fine Arts and finished his PhD in Philosophy of Art from Alexandria University in 1997. He was the first Middle Eastern artist to receive a grant from the Japan Foundation to study the arts of papermaking.

In the following decade, he made several solo shows in Egypt and around the world that varied between painting, video and installation. To name a few, Borusan Kultur Ve Sanat Association, Istanbul, Turkey (1997), Townhouse Gallery, Cairo (2000) and Art Academy, Rome (2000). He was also part of numerous group exhibitions during the same period until nowadays. They include the 23^rd  Lithuania Triennial for Book Art (2003),  Guest of Honor in Festival de Popoli del Mediterraneo, Sicily (2005), Festival Mondial des Arts Nègres, Dakar (2006), What Happens Now?, Art Palace (2007) and most recently in Exile, Art Centre Silkeborg Bad, Denmark (May, 2009). Abouelnaga also represented Egypt in the Venice Biennial 2002 and received the First Prize of the Alexandria Biennial in 2001.  His recent exhibition also includes: “Exile” at Art Centre SilkeBorgBad (Denmark) 2009, “Building Bridges”, Art Center, Mexico (2011, “Egyptian Art”, Gallery Art Space, Dubai, “African Art Mojo Gallery, Dubai (2013),  “Hay Carriers” at Markheya Gallery, Doha (2013), “Soad Hosny”, at Duke Gallery London, 2013. He recently recived the first price for his Video Art Cairo 11 from Danube Video Art Festival in Austria.

As a curator, he created in 2002 the biggest and most successful Artist Book Biennial in the Alexandria Bibliotheca. Entitled “Imagining the Book”, this event had international artists from different cultures, backgrounds and nationalities who implied their own visions in this special art practice. In 2009, he was assigned by the Egyptian Ministry of Culture to become the curator of the 25^th Alexandria Biennial for Mediterranean Countries that will open December 17, 2009. Two years later, in 2011, he was the curator of Sharjah Children Art Biennial.

In addition to his art and academic practices, Abouelnaga is using his multidisciplinary skills in the social development field. In 2002, he founded Elnafeza for Contemporary Art & Development where he trained more than 25 handicapped youngsters in using rice straws, Nile water lilies and bananas stalks for papermaking.