I had the opportunity to sit down with Rana Allam, Managing Editor of the Daily News Egypt towards the end of January this year, just days before the two-year anniversary of the start of the Egyptian uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak. Not surprisingly, the publication’s modest offices, located in the downtown Cairo neighborhood of El Dokki, […]
The big kick-off is nearly upon us. Just 11 months after that extraordinary Zambian triumph in Libreville, starting Saturday we have another month of football ahead as Africa’s top teams (and South Africa, there as hosts) fight it out to be Champions of Africa. We’ll be covering the tournament more intensively this time around, in […]
It’s that time of year once more – Ramadan Kareem all! Last Ramadan I reminisced about my favourite sights and sounds in Egypt during our annual period of fasting and self-reflection. This year, food is on my mind. Particularly my favourite, much beloved dishes from Egypt, historically at the center of trade routes between Africa and […]
Last December, when the Institut d’Egypte was burned down, I thought immediately of Edward Said. Napoleon’s expedition to Europe is described at the beginning of Orientalism, where it is a classic example of how academic and scientific discoveries anticipate and enable imperial conquest. The Institut was established shortly after Napoleon’s invasion, and remained a powerful reminder […]
Earlier today on Twitter I summarized 80 year-old Egyptian feminist activist and writer Nawal el Saadawi’s comments in an interview published in the weekend edition of The Financial Times. The parts I did not tweet is about her flirting with the writer and her opening quote: “I was very good-looking when I was younger. This created […]
Nadine Hammam’s work turned out to be “too risky” for Art Dubai. Her new exhibition, Tank Girl, opens tonight at the Gallery Misr (Cairo, Egypt).
Days after “The Economist” decided no-one in the “Middle East” reads books, Ahdaf Soueif dedicated a short piece to Cairo in Newsweek. Just like Youssef Chahine’s Cairo, beautifully expressed on film, Soueif identifies the ugliness that exists alongside the lovely in al Qahira.
Consider this painting by Mai Heshmat. Its her proposal for the new Egyptian stamp – now that Mubarak’s head has been deposed – and demonstrates a refreshing humor. The ambivalence of this woman’s faceless face is suggestive of the way bodies have become canvases for political debate.
Remember way back when in 2011, when I shouted out Egypt’s crazed football fans for kicking ass during and after the fall of Mubarak? Well, in honor of the upcoming protests marking one year since the initial #Jan25 uprising, it looks like the Egyptian Football Association has decided to pick sides–the wrong side–again.
We can deduce certain trends about Egyptian painting and the nature of its buyers.
