Looking to the future
Visitors inspect a fragmented statue at the main hall of the new National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Egypt’s capital Cairo on May 26, 2021. Photo: AFP
At the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Cairo, capital of Egypt, a large sculpture of a human in a state of movement catches the eyes of visitors, but a closer look will find the sculpture is actually made of scrap metal, such as broken screw drivers, damaged cutting discs and remains of bicycles and motorcycles.
Next to it is another sculpture of a flock of birds clustering together, which are exquisitely carved out of broken spoons and forks, with their points and tines shaping the wings.
Both are among the numerous artworks being displayed at the first edition of the World Art Forum (WAF) co-hosted by Sheranda World Art organization in partnership with the United Nations and others, with the aim to serve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The art forum, which closes on Wednesday, gathers more than 150 artists from more than 30 countries, who present their paintings and sculptures to highlight humanitarian issues and global causes.
Egyptian sculptor Ammar Shiha said the philosophy behind his scrap iron works is to show that the scrap thrown in the streets and harming the environment can turn into a beautiful piece of art if positively perceived.
“We can make a nice statue out of the same scrap metal to decorate a street rather than misusing it as rubbish in the same place,” Shiha told the Xinhua News Agency.
At another gallery at the WAF, Margo Calderero-Le Lain, a painter from France and founder of a charitable art society named Art and Cross Cultural Exchange Society (ACCES), introduces four of her latest paintings as a warning against climate change and consequent natural disasters.
The warning can be seen in her choice of the vivid and strong colors for the chaotic portrayals in her paintings as well as their names: Extremes, Tsunami, Lava and Tornado.
“I donate 100 percent of the revenues of my art to ACCES, as I believe art is a universal language and we could use it to help others, such as sending children to school,” Calderero said, noting she was born and raised in the Philippines.
“Due to climate change and global warming, we had in the Philippines more typhoons and volcanic activities. It’s really alarming. So we use art to help those people affected by climate changes,” the artist told Xinhua.
Among the works on view are an oil painting on wood by Egyptian artist Farid Fadel, entitled The Mother is a School, which depicts an Egyptian old woman in a traditional blue garment, and a black and white painting of coffee and acrylic on canvas by Italian painter Fabio Imperiale, showing a face of a young woman lying down with closed eyes.
A visitor from Kenya was taking photos of a painting depicting a woman in white garment surrounded by yellowish and blueish flowers and birds in the red background. It is one of the works of Egyptian painter Fayrouz Samir.
“The painting is colorful and the face of the depicted woman shows she is deep in thought, so I was trying to figure out the message the artist is trying to communicate,” said Lorretta Binu, a Kenyan primary school teacher.
Shereen Badr, CEO of Sheranda World Art and chief organizer of the WAF, said she has a project called “Euro-Arab Artoday,” through which her organization has held several art fairs in Italy and Europe.
“I wanted to transfer the experience to Egypt, hoping to see a global art fair in Egypt with the participation of galleries from all over the world,” she told Xinhua.
A visitor explores the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization on May 26, 2021. Photo: AFP
