Egyptian artist believes that women were able to present their cases professionally

Ahmed El Shafei: Arabs regard plastic arts as a kind of luxury

• Plastic creativity is the product of a purely human feeling affected by the culture, traditions, legacies and customs of his society.

  Archives

picture

The Egyptian academic and plastic artist, Dr. Ahmed El-Shafei, said that Arab societies still view plastic arts as a kind of luxury, and that this outlook still remains despite the great presence of the Arab plastic movement locally and internationally, as well as prosperity, renewal and uniqueness. The Arab plastic arts are distinguished by their own imprint in every region and every country, such as the countries of the Arab Gulf and the countries of North Africa, including Egypt, in light of an intellectual and technical development that promises a brilliant future for these arts.

El-Shafei, who is one of the founders of the Society of Plastic Artists and Photographers in Egypt, said that one of the obstacles facing the career of the Arab plastic artist is the lack of interest in the role of plastic arts in building the Arab personality and building a healthy society.

He added that the Arab artist continues - despite these circumstances - his journey in communicating with the international plastic movement, by participating in international art exhibitions and events, and achieving more rapprochement with that movement, by exchanging experiences and visions, and getting acquainted with multiple cultures and art schools, and emphasized that The Arab world has many international plastic figures, which were not highlighted.

With regard to his vision of the position of women in the Arab plastic scene, Al-Shafei said that Arab women have a strong and influential role in the plastic scene, with their ability to form vocabulary related to their heritage in their society, with their commitment to preserving the customs and traditions of their society, and to review their issues in an artistic and aesthetic manner, professionally, and with ability and competence, He stressed that art does not define sex, and that plastic creativity is the product of a purely human feeling, influenced by the culture, traditions, legacies and customs of its society, moving towards horizons beyond unlimited freedom.

On the topics of his artistic work, El-Shafei said that it revolves around his experience as an Egyptian artist, preoccupied with the issue of searching for roots, as he headed south on a trip to search for ancestors and dive into ancient Egyptian history in Upper Egypt.

He added that in his search for roots he dealt with in his beginnings the ancient Egyptian art aesthetically, then after that he tried to summarize the forms of that art and come up with aesthetic values ​​that bear its peculiarity, by using new and innovative graphic techniques that help him communicate his message clearly, and he sees that it is still continuing in A journey in search of roots, history, and everything that has not yet been discovered in terms of aesthetic values ​​in the arts of ancient Egypt.

He said that women are one of the important topics that he deals with in his artistic works, and that they have a very strong presence in his paintings, and that he addressed in one of his artistic stages the realistic female form in ancient Egyptian times, where he dealt with the aesthetic and plastic values ​​of the female, the form of queens and their servants, dancers and runners-up, And princesses in ancient Egyptian art, and in many of his works, he paid more attention to the external line of the female body, which is distinctive for women in expressing femininity, fertility and motherhood as well.

Al-Shafei, who held 11 private art exhibitions and participated in dozens of joint artistic workshops, forums and exhibitions inside and outside Egypt, said that his artistic experience is full of experimentation and serious attempts to search for new in the field of photographic techniques, design and composition, and "motifs" that approach more than expressing His own experience.

Follow our latest local and sports news, and the latest political and economic developments via Google news