CAIRO, Oct 22 (NNN-MENA) – Egypt launched yesterday, the first international art exhibition at the Great Pyramids of Giza and their surrounding plateau, with participation of artists from Egypt and other countries.
The event “Forever Is Now” is organised by Art D’Egypte company, an Egyptian platform for art and heritage, under the auspices of Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as, the patronage of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
“Today, we see a mix between Egyptian civilisation and contemporary art around the world. This is surely very important because it represents exchanges among cultures and dialogues between contemporary artists and our civilisation,” said Nadine Abdel-Ghaffar, founder of Art D’Egypte.
The international gallery features sculptures and artworks of the artists in open space around the pyramids.
Abdel-Ghaffar noted that, it is a new experience to hold such an open-air art exhibition in Egypt, and her team ensured preserving the archaeological site, while installing the sculptures of the artists, which took more than a year of preparation.
“The exhibition is a message of hope for humanity, particularly amid the COVID-19 pandemic, while many countries impose lockdowns,” she said.
Among the displayed works is a sculpture made of stainless steel rods entitled “Together” by Italian artist, Lorenzo Quinn, which features two hands rising and touching each other by the tips of their fingers to symbolise communication.
The Great Pyramids of Giza can just be seen in a distance behind Quinn’s work. “I am very lucky to have the three pyramids behind my sculpture. The position of the hands touching each other like this also looks like a pyramid shape, which is why I made the hands this way,” the sculptor explained in front of his work.
He noted that he used stainless steel wire mesh with 36,000 welding points and the work took him nine months.
“In ‘Forever Is Now’ exhibition, I believe ‘Forever’ refers to the Great Pyramids with their magnificence and antiquity, and ‘Now’ signifies temporary art,” Ahmed Obied, assistant minister of tourism and antiquities, said, at the pyramids plateau.– NNN-MENA
