Hadutta Masriya
Hadutta Masriya, an Egyptian tale, is, as with most tales, a story about
people. Ordinary, everyday people caught up in the passage of life, narrated
by three accomplished artists.
Expressions and influences overlap and intertwine reflecting lives full of
significant and imperceptible changes. Images packed with questions,
thoughts and emotions. From pleasure to pain; love to depression. Questions
of traditions. Of what was and what remains. References to crises and
turning points that test the fabric of society and reveal all in its rifts,
folds and wrinkles.
Faces stare back at us sharing what they feel. Apparently locked in their
religious and social rituals that repeat themselves forever. Steeped in
tradition and technique that offer comfort and nostalgia.
Meanwhile dynamic hordes surge through squares and streets. Are they
seething with pent up frustration? Are they ready to shape their own
futures, unwitting foot soldiers preparing to change society forever?
Then ironic but no less dramatic, graphic images referencing Western
consumerism mix with powerful symbolic statements. Questioning an enduring
appetite for foreign values and their apparent influence on the Egyptian
psyche.
All three bodies of work play a role in this fascinating narrative. Some
marking historic moments. Some preserving what is. And some questioning what
might be.