The western mainland of the historic city of Luxor, in Upper Egypt, was known in the ancient Egyptian civilization as the city of the dead, where hundreds of tombs were built for the kings, queens, nobles and nobles of ancient Egypt, along with a group of funerary temples.
But that city of the dead, has become today a kiss for plastic artists in Egypt and the world, and a center for plastic arts gathering, sculpting and photographing, after it became a destination for the practice of contemporary plastic arts, and spread among its parts exhibitions, workshops and artistic institutions, in a picture close to the image that the region was before thousands of The years, when it was teeming with hundreds of artists who drew and carved mural paintings and statues decorating the tombs and temples of the ancient Egyptians in the necropolis of Thebes.
The Egyptian plastic artist and academic, Dr. Ibrahim Mansour, said that plastic arts enthusiasts, including Egyptians, Arabs and foreigners, found in the western mainland of Luxor - rich in hundreds of tombs and dozens of ancient Egyptian temples - a place that combines originality and contemporary, the charming nature of a river, palms, plantations and country houses with A special character, such as those buildings that were constructed along the lines of the late Egyptian international architect Hassan Fathi, with their unique domes, which had set up nearly 50 years ago a whole village in the region, next to the historical plastic vocabulary abundant in the western mainland of Luxor, and the temples and tombs that contained On the huge murals and statues created by the fingers of ancient Egypt's artists thousands of years ago.
Mansour - who works as a lecturer at the Faculty of Arts in Luxor - pointed out that the proliferation of exhibitions and artistic workshops, in the ancient necropolis of Thebes in the western mainland of Luxor, contributed to introducing society to plastic arts, and also contributed to the marketing of artworks of artists, and was a motive for the launch of e-marketing works for all paintings The sculptures created by the fingertips of artists from the region and its residents, both Egyptians and foreigners, have increased the rates of interest in studying art at the Faculty of Fine Arts in the city.
He added that «preparations are taking place to restore the momentum of the artistic movement that was popular in the region once the effects of the Corona pandemic are over, and that a state of artistic movement will continue in the region throughout the year by building a permanent partnership between the Faculty of Fine Arts in Luxor, and groups of institutions, exhibitions and artistic workshops that spread Throughout the region from the West Bank of the eternal Nile, to the Qurna Mountain, which is one of the most expensive and richest mountains in the world because it contains more than 850 cemeteries, and about 10 temples, had been built by the kings and nobles of ancient Egypt in the arms of the historic mountain before thousands of years ».
For his part, the dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts in Luxor, Dr. Youssef Mahmoud, considered that the western mainland of Luxor, where the ancient cemetery of Thebes was today, is rich in workshops and art galleries, and has become a permanent residence for many Egyptian and foreign artists.
He added that the historical Mount Qurna, which overlooks the region, extends from its north to its south, and the largest tombs of the kings, queens and nobles of ancient Egypt were carved, in the south there is the oldest city inhabited by artists in the world, which is the city of Deir el-Medina, which was built for artists and workers who carved, painted and built the most beautiful temples The cemeteries in Al-Qurna, the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens, Al-Ashraf, the arm of Abu al-Najjar, the Assasif and other areas that contain between them a dozen temples and hundreds of ancient Egyptian tombs.
It is noteworthy that the arts of drawing, sculpting, and prominent and incised engraving flourished in ancient Egypt in general, and in the western mainland of Luxor, where the ancient cemetery of Thebes was erected, in particular, and the abundance of tombs and temples of the ancient Egyptians attest to the reach of the Egyptian arts of thousands of years ago. .
Wall paintings on the walls of cemeteries, temples, and statues spread among the ancient monuments constructed by the ancient Egyptian in Giza, Luxor, Aswan, Qena, Sohag and other historical governorates of Egypt were among the most important signs of ancient Egyptian art.
An amazing experience
The Academy at Alexandria University, plastic artist Dr. Ghada Galal, said that she enjoyed participating in an amazing artistic experience, near the famous two Memnon statues constructed by King Amenhotep the Third at the eastern entrance to the ancient necropolis of Tiba, noting that she was among the participants in a workshop held by the Luxor Gallery of Art, to carve on « Talc Stone », and came from Alexandria to enjoy the practice of sculptures in the ancient ruins of ancient Egypt on the western mainland of Luxor.
The western mainland of Luxor is rich in hundreds of ancient tombs and temples.