| This year’s Cairo Biennale gives its artists a chance to express their ideas, no strings attached By Hana Zuhair |
| The Biennale is back. Showcasing the works of 75 artists from 45 countries, the twelfth Cairo Biennale opened December 12 on the Cairo Opera House grounds in a celebration of diversity and ambiguity.The concept of the 2010 Biennale is literally a question mark “?” — Ehab El-Labban, the biennale’s commissaire general, specifically chose this vague theme to leave space for artists to further explore ideas through their work. “I personally don’t prefer setting a theme, I don’t like to impose on the artist what to do. I believe it limits creativity,” says El-Labban. “This is why this year’s theme is a question mark, in which I asked the artists a set of broad questions and they seek to answer it through their art.” Among the questions El-Labban posed to the artists: “Where do you see art going? Will it rediscover ideas and go back in time as fashion? Will it evolve as the world we live in now?” The art genres on display run the spectrum from traditional painting and sculptures to photography and video installations. Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara is the Biennale’s guest of honor this year. He is best known for his drawings of cartoon-like children and animals in disturbingly adult poses with cigarettes, knives and other weapons. Held every two years under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture, the Cairo Biennale was inaugurated in 1984 to showcase contemporary art from around the world. Egyptian visual artist Amal Kenawy won the LE 100,000 grand prize for her installation piece “The Silence of the Lamb.” Kenawy has made herself an integral part of the installation: In the middle of a mirrored room decorated in Christmas motifs, she cooks chicken pasta and serves it to the passing viewers. According to El Labban, Kenawy moved part of her own kitchen to the exhibition for this piece. Biennale awards also went to artists Nathalie Djuberg of Sweden, Mounir Fatimi of Morocco, Annabel Daou of the United States and Kudzanai Chiurai of Zimbabwe. A jury of seven international art experts, headed by the Spanish Rosa Martinez, curator of the Vienna, Moscow, Santa Fe and Istanbul Biennales, selected the biennale prizes. The jury also included the Egyptian painter Nazli Madkour. El-Labban explained that if an artist wasn’t awarded it doesn’t mean that his work wasn’t successful. “There isn’t a specific criteria to choosing the winners,” El-Labban says. “These awards could differ from a person to the other. The Jury committee is responsible for choosing the winners.” He also added that people should give more attention to the significance of art in every aspect of our lives. And that doing so will help us beautify Egypt. |
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