- ‘El-Marsam’ has 49 works by 29 artists, spanning almost 90 years of creativity
- Curator Heba El-Kayal says Egypt offers more than antiquities
WASHINGTON: A major exhibition of modern and contemporary Egyptian art is bringing nearly nine decades of the country’s artistic history to audiences in Washington, challenging perceptions of Egypt as a culture defined primarily by its ancient past.
The show, “El-Marsam: Modern and Contemporary Art from Egypt,” presented by the Middle East Institute’s Art Gallery, features 49 works by 29 artists and runs through Dec. 11.
Curated by Egyptian-American art professional Heba El-Kayal, the exhibition brings together pioneering modernists including Inji Efflatoun, Abdel Hadi El-Gazzar, Mahmoud Said and Gazbia Sirry with established and emerging contemporary artists Youssef Nabil, Lara Baladi, Sherine Guirguis, and others.
The exhibition explores themes including identity, memory, heritage, exile and belonging across painting, sculpture, photography, collage, installation and video.
It also traces the development of Egyptian modernism in dialogue with European and American artistic movements while remaining rooted in Pharaonic, Coptic, Islamic and folkloric traditions.
El-Kayal said the exhibition aims to broaden international understanding of Egyptian art beyond antiquities.
“I want to upend people’s assumptions of what Egypt is, what the Middle East is, what Egyptian art is,” she said. “It is an incredibly rich history — it’s not just about antiquities.”
Egyptian businessman and art collector Naguib Sawiris, who lent four works to the exhibition, said showcasing the region’s artistic output internationally was particularly important at a time when much of the Middle East is viewed through the lens of conflict.
“All that people hear about our region is war and destruction — and then art and culture get lost in that atmosphere,” he said. “That is why it is so important to put our art out to the world.”
Sawiris added that Egyptian artists represented an underappreciated cultural “treasure,” arguing that many could stand alongside some of the most celebrated names in international art.
Many of the works come from private collections and are being shown internationally for the first time.
The exhibition, which opened to the public on Sept. 18 at the MEI Art Gallery, is accompanied by talks, film screenings and gallery tours exploring Egyptian art, heritage and culture.
