Pharaonic Influence at Egypt Art Show

Paintings by top Egyptian artists have shared wall space with hieroglyphs and Pharaonic relics at Cairo’s Egyptian Museum this week in an exhibition highlighting ancient influences on contemporary art. Artists, intellectuals and ambassadors from around the world attended the Saturday opening of ‘A Night With Art at the Egyptian Museum’, organized by the private Art D’Egypte organization. The modern paintings include abstract portraits and other works by prominent contemporary Egyptian artists including Adel El Siwi, Mohamed Abla, Ghada Amer, Farouk Hosny and Hoda Lotfi, Artdaily.com wrote. “This initiative shows that artistic creativity spans millennia reaching today,” said Abla, who showed five paintings at the exhibition, reflecting ancient Egyptian influences. “Contemporary art is an extension of art by the Pharaonic ancestors,” he said. The show also includes interactive seminars on ancient Egyptian art and its influences on contemporary artists. Several prominent archaeologists and Egyptologists are to speak, including former minister of state for  antiquities affairs, Zahi Hawass. Current Antiquities Minister Khaled al-Anani said it was important to preserve Egyptian heritage “because the antiquities belong to the entire world.” The ageing Egyptian museum, which is undergoing renovation, was a key tourist attraction before the January 2011 uprising which toppled Hosni Mubarak. Visitors would wait in long lines outside the museum entrance, while the halls inside brimmed with foreign tourists and Egyptian visitors, including students on school trips. But Mubarak’s ouster unleashed years of political turmoil and sent tourist numbers plummeting. During the uprising, which was centered in Tahrir Square just outside the museum, looters broke into the building, stealing and damaging several ancient treasures.