Art Tour: "Forever Is Now" Past's Glory Encounters Today's Innovation

Rana Atef

On Thursday, Art D'Égypte organized a press conference to reveal the details of the first-ever Pyramids-based fine arts exhibition. It is organized under the theme of "Forever Is Now."

"Forever Is Now" features ten international artists who challenged themselves and came up with 10 bridging ideas that reflect the present's innovation, and address the past's greatness. In addition, it is the first time in the history of the Pyramids to host a contemporary art exhibition.

The founder of Art D'Égypte Nadine Abdel Ghaffar said that the exhibition presents an interaction between the Ancient Egyptian civilization and contemporary fine arts.

Describing the event as "A historical day," she asserted that this is the first exhibition to be organized in the site of the Pyramids in 4500 years.

She added that several institutions participated in organizing the event such as the Ministry of Tourism, and Antiquities, the US Embassy, UNESCO, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and others.

The ten featured artists are Lorenzo Quinn, Moataz Nasr, Jao Trevisan, Stephen Cox Ra, JR, Gisela Colon, Sherin Gergus, Sultan Bin Fahd, Alexander Ponomarev, Shuster, and Moseley, alongside the first Robot artist Ai-Da.

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Starting the tour with Lorenzo Quinn's "Together," the artwork depicts the concept of embracing, communication, and connection, the artist told See News reporter.

He added that he also represents the case of all humanity and their need to be gathered and connected again in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Regarding the technique of executing such a piece, Quinn expressed that it was challenging, and he thanked all members of his team as it is all made from wires.

So, it was shipped to Egypt as separated parts before it was completely recollected and restructured here, the artist narrated to See News.

The second stop was with João Trevisan's "Body That Rises." It reflected not only the stand of a man but also, it took the shape of an old obelisk.

Reasons for selecting the structure of obelisk to be represented by him, Trevisan told See News that obelisk was one of the most important figures established by the Ancient Egyptians, and they used to build obelisks everywhere.

Regarding the material of the artwork, he revealed that he found huge similarities between the history of the Brazilian railway, and the Egyptian one, so he collected those wooden pieces that were used in the railways' routes to reflect such a value.

Next, the journey stopped with one of the two Egyptian participation, Sherin Gergus whose artwork symbolized various concepts related to identity, folk storytelling techniques, and women's psyche.

In addition, her artwork, "Here Have I Returned," was not only based on a literary reference which is one of Egyptian poetess Doria Shafik but also there were small cymbals that were shaken by the wind to create an alerting sound and echo.

This technique aimed to recall the glory of ladies' efforts in the past and to remember the wide contributions they did to the current women's stand.

After that, it came the second Egyptian participation at the event which is "Barzakh" by Moataz Nasr. The work was inspired by the mythical journey of the sun boats. It is also another symbol of the concept of connection, and the harmony between the past, and the future.

The following step was Shuster and Moseley's "(Plan of the Path of Light) In the House of Hidden Places." This glasswork depicted the realms of technology and the new world lifestyle. There was deep work of symbolism which is also a part of Postmodern and Contemporary art, the artists told See News.

The geometric stand of the glass structures reflected the same angels of the Pyramids which paralleled with the theme of the exhibition.

The next stop with about more complicated artwork, "Ouroboros," by the Russian artist Alexander Ponomarev. It was the only spinning artwork in the exhibition, and it brought all the mythical concepts of Ancient Egyptians such as the serpent, the sand clock, and the structures of two inverted pyramids which brought all those concepts together from the past to the present. As if all watchers are stuck in the same moment.

After that, it came the work of Saudi artist Sultan Bin Fahd who recalled the moment of unearthing the name of Ramesses II's name in Saudi Arabia. "R III" encountered the ancient communication between the African country and Arabia through trade ways. Those stones took the form of pyramids stones and ancient complex structures.