The third edition of the Al Mashhad exhibition, featuring 26 visual artists, opened at Al Mashhad Gallery in Zamalek, attended by a large number of artists, interested parties, and followers.
This exhibition serves as a window into the current developments in the Egyptian visual arts movement, becoming a focus for audiences following the creativity of Egyptian artists of all generations and backgrounds.
Artist Ehab El Labban, the exhibition curator, said, "Since its founding, the gallery has sought to be a conscious documentary observatory of the Egyptian visual arts movement, emphasizing, through the successive editions of Al Mashhad, its vision from which it began, which is committed to monitoring the features of this movement across generations, with its various trends and diverse orientations."
Ehab El Labban explained that Al Mashhad supports serious and authentic artistic experiments that constitute the essence of contemporary Egyptian art, celebrating its creators, influential creators with a distinctive imprint.
Ihab El Labban added, "This vision is embodied with each new edition, striving to build a visual memory that documents the current artistic moment, becoming an authentic and reliable reference for researchers and those interested in the course and development of Egyptian art. We hope this concept will achieve its desired aspirations and contribute to strengthening the contemporary art scene to achieve our collective ambitions."
For his part, artist Adel Tharwat said he is participating in the exhibition with two paintings. His artworks are based on ancient tales, folk legends, and hymns laden with noble heritage and deep cultural legacy.
Adel Tharwat explained that he is always preoccupied with the question: How can ancient murals and inscriptions on temple walls be transformed into a contemporary visual language that speaks to the emotions of people today? Therefore, his paintings represent a blend of heritage and modernity.
Artist Mona Medhat said she is participating with two works in the Mashhad exhibition. The majority of her works focus on childhood and women, as they are two fundamental themes in her artistic experience, united by innocence, tenderness, and latent strength.
Mona Medhat pointed out that childhood, for me, is not just a stage in life, but a symbol of innocence and primal purity, and a constant source of inspiration. I find in the features, laughter, and simple dreams of children a pure world through which we can rebuild our vision of the world.
In the same context, sculptor Dr. Hassan Kamel said that his three sculptural works are an extension of his deep influence by ancient Egyptian civilization, with its universal symbols, philosophical connotations, and spiritual dimension deeply rooted in the consciousness of Egyptians throughout the ages.
Hassan Kamel noted that he presented three statues inspired by ancient Egyptian features, but their faces are sculpted in the form of the sun and the moon, in an attempt to integrate the universal symbol with human features, evoke the sacred dimension of nature in the ancient Egyptian imagination, and demonstrate the continuous cycle between night and day, life and death, stillness and movement.
Artist Mahmoud Hamed said that the three works he participated in the exhibition, titled "Hidden Face," come within the context of his ongoing search for human dual identity and those psychological layers that are not apparent on the surface but reside deep within us.
Hamed added, "For me, the face is not just a collection of visible features or a social identity; it is a mirror of what we conceal more than what we reveal. In my works, I attempt to embody this struggle between the apparent and the hidden."
As for artist Noha Nagi, she said that her participation with a painting titled "Shadows" is a visual attempt to document the psychological and existential transformations that a person undergoes during the journey of travel and movement.
Nagi explained that she chose the train as a symbolic space for movement between different stages, in addition to the painting's depiction of silent emotions and fleeting impressions, and the effects of time.
Visually illustrating the artist Jihan Soliman's painting, titled "Countryside," is a sincere visual tribute to the details of daily life in Egyptian villages and to the quiet beauty of the landscape.
Jihan Suleiman continued, "For me, the countryside is not just a place, but a state of reassurance, contentment, and tranquility. In this painting, I wanted to highlight the small details that create the joy of life, such as trees."
