A bridge to the time of the pharaohs

Created: 11/29/2022, 4:00 p.m

By: Lara Listl

Homage to the Nurses: Alaa Awad with his painting The Hope.

The Arabic word for hospital staff is "hope".

© Mélanie Flossmann-Schütze

The Museum of Egyptian Art shows current oil paintings by Alaa Awad.

The highlight of the special exhibition will be a mural that the artist, who was born on the Nile, will create in the exhibition room during opening hours.

Whether camel markets, bobbing boats on the Nile, portraits of strangers on the street, Arab women or annual festivals in Luxor.

The love for his home country Egypt can be seen in each of his pictures.

Alaa Awad, who was born in Cairo in 1981 and now lives in Luxor, uses oil paint to capture everyday life in Luxor and the surrounding area on canvas.

For the first time, works by the former street artist can now be seen in Germany, more precisely in the State Museum of Egyptian Art in Munich.

A special exhibition in the Museum of Egyptian Art in Munich shows contemporary oil paintings by Alaa Awad for the first time

Entitled “An Egyptian Story.

Paintings by Alaa Awad”, the special exhibition shows works from the past three years, some of which Awad made especially for the show.

For example the picture "The Hope", which shows one of his recurring motifs of the "Marching Women": Arab women with dark long hair standing close together.

A motif that reflects the artist's appreciation for women.

The special thing about "The Hope" is that there is a message hidden behind the title and the green clothes in which the female figures are wrapped: It is a homage to the hospital staff.

Both in general and in particular at the time of the pandemic.

The green color alludes to the work clothes of hospital staff and the title to the Arabic word for hospital staff, meaning "hope".

From old to new: on the right an ancient Egyptian procession with Amun's barge, which on the left changes into a contemporary festival for a local saint.

© Alaa Awad

Artist Alaa Awad paints his home on the Nile

"He sees beauty in everyday life and wants to convey confidence with his works," explains Deputy Director Mélanie Flossmann-Schütze during a tour of the presentation room.

She herself visited the artist in his studio in Luxor this year and thus knows that the everyday scenes he paints correspond to current reality.

For his portraits, he works with female students from the University of Luxor, where he teaches as a professor.

He also addresses people on the street whose faces fascinate him and invites them to his studio to work together.

For example the older Achmed, whose furrows on his face tell of his long life.

As a highlight, Alaa Awad will create a new mural during opening hours

In addition to the here and now, Awad also draws inspiration from ancient Egypt.

He does not line up his “Marching Women” one after the other in perspective, but lined them up next to each other as in pharaonic tomb depictions.

He works with sketches, preliminary designs, does a lot of research, looks at old photos or depictions of ancient Egypt and then puts everything together.

"The exciting thing is the bridge that he builds from Pharaonic Egypt to today," says Flossmann-Schütze about a large-format picture that shows a procession with a barque of the ancient Egyptian god Amun carried by priests and flows into the now annually celebrated festival for passing over a local saint in Luxor.

The motif of the "Marching Women" can also be seen here, which he will design as an element of a new painting in 2023 during the opening hours in the exhibition space.

The museum will announce the dates in a timely manner.

The show is open daily until March 5, 2023, except Mondays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Tuesdays until 8 p.m.

Further information at: www.smaek.de.