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His new exhibition ‘If by Qarm Qart’ was inspired by the Egyptian revolution and the plot of George Orwell’s book Animal Farm. In the book, the animals start to revolt against the owner of the farm. The pigs take over the farm, and become a symbol of anarchy and human greed. In the end, instead of the situation improving after the revolution, the
situation worsens.
Every picture has a label reading ‘What if….’, and is accompanied by a soundtrack. The original plan was to have personal audio equipment for each visitor from which they can listen to each piece’s song. This disappointingly
hasn’t worked out, and instead the song title is just written by each piece. The soundtrack suggestions for the exhibited pictures range from Wust El Balad and Alanis Morisette to Maria Callas.
For instance, the title of the picture where Mubarak is portrayed as the devil is ‘What if…we don’t demonize?’ The
soundtrack for the picture is ‘Bladi’ by Souaad Massi. Other titles are ‘What if…there is freedom of speech and expression’, ‘what if…we learn from history’ and ‘What if… we care?’. Perhaps the most striking title is ‘What if…I was not in Egypt?’, a question that many young Egyptians probably ask themselves.
The pig theme is incorporated in almost every picture. Sometimes the animal is hidden in the corner and almost difficult to spot, at other times the pigs take over the entire picture. The highlight of the exhibition is undoubtedly the three pieces showing a policeman and a pig battling for a chair. Above them are the words ‘The People Need the Regime’, written in Arabic. At 5500LE, this piece is the most expensive one of the collection. Other pieces start at 2500LE.
‘If by Qarm Qart’ takes the art of revolution to a new level. Incomparable to any other work, whether revolution-related or not, this exhibition is truly one of a kind. The fruit of combining Animal Farm with Egypt’s political situation makes this an interesting and thought-provoking exhibition. Head to Mashrabia Gallery and step into the wonderful world of Qarm Qart.