The Echo
Video Art by Moataz Nasr
In 1968 Abdel Rahman El Sharkawi wrote a novel entitled “El
Ard”, “The Earth”. It discussed the Egyptian
struggle against the British Occupation at a time when the World
was suffering from the economic depression, specifically, the
year 1933. In 1969, Youssef Shahine took the novel and turned
it into a movie, keeping the same title, “El Ard”.
The main character of the movie is Abou Swelam and his role
is played by Egyptian outstanding actor Mahmoud El Meligui.
One of the most important sequences of the movie takes place
in a village house in which the male villagers are gathered.
In that sequence Abou Swelem expresses his frustration with
the Egyptian people’s attitude and how passive they have become.
This 4mn 29sec monologue is the center piece of the movie and
until today, the impact it left in the memory of all Arabs and
Egyptians is alive; it moved the people for it very accurately
reflected the state of society at that time.
In the year 2003, this work was conceived with a video of Egyptian
story teller, Chirine el Ansary, who stands in the middle of
a coffee shop in down town Cairo and spontaneously recites the
monologue as it was in the movie, delivering it with the passion
and immediacy it held then.
In The Echo, the two sequences are projected facing one another,
echoing each other, highlighting how nothing has changed, what
could be said in 1933 and 1968, remains valid in 2003; the political
and social situation has remained stagnant over the past 70
years. One is left with the resonance of what Abou Swelem says
and what the storyteller in the Caireen coffee shop repeats,
“we are living in words nothing but words”.
Previous Shows
Disorientation
House of World Cultures
Berlin, Germany
2003
Townhouse Gallery
Cairo, Egypt
2004
Bosan Biennale,
South Korea
2004
Loose your identity
Kunstverein Kreis
Ludwigsburg, Germany
2005
Sharjah Bienale
UAE
2005
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