Art and Landscape

Alserkal Avenue

Join Art D’Egypte founder, Nadine Abdel Ghaffar, and artist eL Seed in conversation with Fiza Akram on art initiatives and social change.

The Yard Alserkal Avenue

Art D’Egypte founder Nadine Abdel Ghaffar in conversation with Fiza Akram about how art initiatives can affect social change and re-invigorate a contemporary art sector and heritage landscape.Nadine is an Egyptian curator, art consultant and cultural ambassador, a multitalented professional. Her hard-work, interest and dedication to art and design help her enhance the cultural and social development landscape in Egypt. In 2005 she decided to professionalize her passion by studying curating at the Central Saint Martin school of arts in London and started organizing exhibitions in Egypt and Dubai to promote Egyptian art and artists. Her well-kept connections with collectors and artists are a solid base for her work. She is committed to documenting Egypt’s modern art heritage. As a result of her experience and commitment to the promotion of Egyptian art she established the art consultancy Art D’Égypte in 2016, which aims to promote Egyptian art nationally, regionally and internationally. To date, Nadine has curated fourth highly successful exhibitions: Eternal Light at the Egyptian Museum (2017); Nothing Vanishes, Everything Transforms at the Manial Palace (2018); Reimagined Narratives at four sites on al-Mu&#x27;izz Street in Historic Cairo, a UNESCO World Heritage site (2019) and Forever is now (2021). Thanks to her efforts, Art D’Égypte was subsequently invited to participate in Abu Dhabi Art and ArtGenève. Accessibility and democratization of art have always been at the heart of Nadine’s vision. By activating public spaces and historic sites with interactive exhibits open to the public, the events attract large numbers of visitors of all ages and from all walks of life, transforming art from an intimidating spectacle to an inclusive community occasion. In recognition of her dedication, Nadine was recently invited by UN Women to give a talk at Palais des Nations, Genève about Egyptian women and their impact on art and society. She was awarded the title Chevalier de l’ordre des arts des lettres in 2021 by the French government in recognition for her efforts to enrich the art world and was named one of Egypt’s Top 50 Women, an award given annually to honor female figures with a positive influence on society and she had also received the women entrepreneur of the year award in EEA award (Egypt’s Entrepreneur Awards).eL Seed uses Arabic calligraphy and a distinctive style to spread messages of peace, unity and to underline the commonalities of human existence. His artwork can be found all over the world and consistently aim at unifying communities and redressing stereotypes. Born in 1981 in Paris to Tunisian parents, he was disconnected from his Arabic roots, speaking only the Tunisian dialect of the language at home. In his teenage years in a kind of quest for his identity, he began to delve into his own heritage and learned to read and write standard Arabic.It was during this journey that he began to develop his artistic style of calligraphy, which would later bring him worldwide acclaim. He found that Arabic calligraphy was a way of building a link between his equally important French and Tunisian backgrounds and as he matured, eL Seed began to use that same calligraphy as a tool to build bridges all over the world. Whenever he works within a community, he spends a long time researching to find an appropriate quote to summarise the voice of the community he is working within and to underline his key principals of love, respect and tolerance. His work has been shown in exhibitions and in public places all over the world including most notably on the façade of L&#x27;Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, in the favelas of Rio di Janeiro, on the DMZ in between North and South Korea, in the slums of Cape Town and in the heart of Cairo&#x27;s garbage collectors neighbourhood. In 2017, he won the UNESCO Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture. He was named a Global Thinker in 2016 by Foreign Policy for his project &#x27;Perception&#x27; in Cairo. In 2013, he collaborated with Louis Vuitton on their famous &#x27;Foulard d&#x27;Artiste&#x27;. Moderator, Fiza Akram, joined Alserkal Initiatives in 2014 to conceptualise, develop, and lead a global network of partnerships for the organisation. She has built partnerships with local, regional, and international organisations across the arts and culture spectrum, and managed Alserkal’s flagship events. Fiza was a part of the management team that delivered the Alserkal Avenue expansion and Concrete, while developing a global network of partners ranging from museums and art fairs, to non-governmental organisations and corporates. She has worked directly on realising flagships exhibitions at Concrete, and commissions at Alserkal Avenue and is leading the Advisory’s Global Co-Commission project. Fiza works closely on Alserkal Advisory projects and has played a pivotal role in projects for Dubai Expo 2020, ICD Brookfield, and Noor Riyadh amongst others.About Majlis TalksMajlis Talks, curated by Mahnaz Fancy, bring together artists, curators, researchers and art-world professionals for an evening of thoughtful and inspiring conversations. The majlis has always provided the necessary form to plant the seeds of connections; a common ground for discussion and sharing. From the majlis we begin a convergence of differences, mingling vantage points, allowing new questions to rise.Starting at 4pm on 28 February 2023 and running across six 25-minute sessions, this year’s Majlis Talks will see conversations with Fatma Al Ali, Lubnah Ansari, Loa Haagen Pictet, Nadine Abdel Ghaffar, Sara Raza, Rana Begum, Dr Cliff Lauson and more.I﻿mage courtesy of Art D&#x27;Egypte. SpY Orb: Under The Same Sun as part of Forever is Now .02.

Art and Landscape

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