Concept and curation by Yara Mekawei
 
March 11, 2012, 7pm Mounira, Midan Lazoghli (16 video works)
 
Public Screen is a street video art project by Mahatat for contemporary art within Mahatat’s launching season Shaware3na. Shaware3na is a partnership project presented by Mahatat for contemporary art in cooperation with the Danish Egyptian Dialogue Institute (DEDI).
 
Public Screen supports talented artists by presenting their creative works to a broad audience in a public space in Cairo. Making this type of art available and accessible to a diverse audience of spectators and pedestrians of all social classes and ages is the main aim of Public Screen. Based on the different video works we will engage in conversation with the audience, whether they have an artistic background or not. The artworks cover both social and artistic topics whereas the purpose of the screenings is not an educational one. Public Screen will take place in Midan Lazoghly in Mounira which is a busy neighborhood that is accessible to every citizen. This makes Public Screen an innovative video project in Egypt.
 
Mahatat for contemporary art had launched an Open Call for video works online. From the numerous works that were sent to us from all over the world, Yara Mekawei made a selection that is now being presented to you in the first Public Screen event.
 
Ines Jerray, “Etiquettes” (2010), 2:31 mins (Tunis)
 
Ibrahim Saad, “Without Cover” (2010), 14 mins (Egypt)
 
Ibrahim Jawabrah “Transit” (2010), 4:07 mins ( Palestine )
 
Shayma Kamel, “Transparent Black” (2011), 14 mins (Egypt/Nubia)
 
Nermine Hammam, “Metanoia” (2010), 7:23 mins (Egypt)
 
Soha El Sirgani, “No Apologies” (2011), 2:00 mins ( Egypt)
 
Ahmed Mohsen Mansour, “Waiting” (2011) 7:45 mins ( Egypt)
 
Alaa Edriis, “Kharareef” (2010) 5:24 mins (Emirates)
 
Assia Lakhlif, “Sleepless” (2003), 6:59 mins (Morocco)
 
Sama Alshaibi, “Sweep” (2010), 3 mins (Palestine/Iraq)
 
Mohamed Allam, “Meeting with a Friend” (2005) 9:28 mins ( Egypt)
 
Monther Jawabrah, ” News” (2011) 4:18 mins ( Palestine)
 
Edward Salem, “Beard Burn” (2011) 00:55 sec (Palestine
 
Khaled Ramadan and Larissa Sansour, “Mobile Zones” (2006), 12:20 mins (Lebanon and Palestine)
 
Karim Al Husseini, “Lesson” (2011), 2 mins (Lebanon and Egypt)
 
Khaled Hafez, “Vision” (2007), 5:45 mins ( Egypt)
 
Moustafa Ashraf, “3:30pm” (2011) 2:16 mins ( Egypt)

“BuSSy” is a unique initiative that started in 2006. Through “BuSSy” a group of young men and women present monologues and sketches that narrate stories which focus on women and young girls’ issues. It is a great opportunity for women to express themselves and their opinions about the bitter reality they all live and suffer from in such a masculine society.
 
“BuSSy” initiative aims at raising awareness, among women and girls, of the violations of women rights as well as drawing the attention of the community towards the problems and horrible injustice which make many women suffer and lead unhappy lives.
 
This time the experience was completely different; “Sondos Shabayek” and “Mona El Shiemy” were not performing on stage, but they were performing in Cairo Metro carriages, to audience who has never expected such performance and was completely surprised with such surprising and daring show. It was such a unique experience indeed! BuSSy Group usually perform on stage for audience who willingly come to attend the show, but this time, on the contrary, the two members of the Group and directors of BuSSy Monologues have gone to the various Metro passengers in order to share their stories and communicate their feelings to the Metro passengers within the framework of “Shawer3na” Project, which aims at promoting art in public places, including means of transportations as well as other public spaces.
 
“They tell me make up stories, hide your real self, lie; but I am fed up with all this, the lies, I stopped all the lies, I’m not gonna lie, I’m not gonna make things up, I will not beautify or ornament things” These are the words Mona started with in the Metro carriage; while Sondos continues “people don’t want us to tell what happens to us, though this is the reality, I don’t want to make things seem worse, but why should I make the ugly truth look beautiful? I will narrate two situations to you” she said this sentence and then started to narrate situations of verbal assault and the terrible looks she was subjected to. When she finished; she asked “does this happen to us or not?” Many women and girls spontaneously replied “it does” in a reaction which shows their positive response to Sondos’ stories.
 
Then Mona continued by saying “Man” and laughed. She then explained that the word “man” has become more like an “insult”, because in her opinion it indicates savagery, she went on to justify her opinion by giving examples of women who are beaten, insulted and humiliated by their husbands, she further stressed how painful it was to deprive those women from their rights. Mona then continued to tell the stories of some of her female friends who were not beaten; but their husbands usually took their monthly salaries and spent them on other women or at least cheated their wives with mistresses. Add to this; the indifferent reactions of the society towards the social injustice to which women are exposed. At this point, an ordinary woman commented “dear daughter: if we talk about it, our homes will crack down, it is out of our hands,” the lady said this sentence with deep sadness, to which some other women responded “indeed, what can we do?”
“Sondos” continued to narrate other situations that happened to her when part of her job was to call clients, though she used to speak to them with full respect and in a formal manner, she used to receive some rude and flirtatious responses such as “yes honey,” “OK, sexy,” and “Sweetie,” which is considered verbal assault since no one has the right to address her in such manner which violates her privacy and rights. While listening to Sondos, some women commented saying “yes, indeed this happens very often”, while others nodded positively that such verbal assaults and situations take place from time to time.
 
“Mona” and “Sondos” moved to another situation when the families nag the unmarried girls to get married by telling them that marriage is an honor to them, the families further express their deepest wishes to see their daughters married as if girls’ lives are nothing but a joint venture run by those living around them and must end happily, of course in the parents’ view the happy ending is the marriage; apparently, families believe that a girl should marry and be with a man in order to be happy and lead a good life. Mona expressed her opinion saying that when she thinks about the whole issue of marriage, she does not see a husband or a father to her children, but she dreams of a happy family life, including a mother and kids but without the presence of a masculine figure.
 
“They want me to be a girl and a man at the same time,” with these words, Sondos started talking about another problem which is how parents treat their teenage girls. According to the parents, the girl is required to walk and act like a man outside her house, but once back home, she has to recall her feminine nature again, such attitude cause girls a lot of confusion, to the extent that some girls become ashamed of their bodies and push them to cover themselves in an exaggerated manner because of their fears that they might be recognized in the streets, as if their bodies have become a source of shame.
 
At the end, Mona said in grief, addressing an anonymous “in the past, I decided to forget and forgive; so I ended up forgetting everything, I don’t remember anything you said or did, I only have these painful feelings. Men usually remember what happened, but women remember the feelings associated with such actions of the men. If I try to tell how much you have hurt me, I won’t be able to do because you hurt me a lot and because I am afraid to tell you because I fear that your reaction might be more painful and hurt me more, thus I swallow my feelings, remain silent and smile. I don’t remember what you said or did, I only remember the pain I feel.” When she said these words, women complexions reflected their pain and sadness, some of them have even cried. It seems that her words have touched the wounds and pains they have been suppressing for a long time.
 
The Metro passengers liked the show very much, some of them have asked “Sondos” and “Mona”, after the monologue had finished, about the initiative and if they were planning to take positive steps and launch a campaign against assault. That was by far a positive experience as people have remarkably responded, they did not only participate and comment, but they have also shown their enjoyment of the show and expressed their interest in the performances of “BuSSy Group”
 
Here you can find the audio from Bussy, recorded and edited by Carl Cappelle:
 
http://soundcloud.com/carlcappelle/bussy-by-mona-el-shimi-and

What do Cirque du Soleil and the Cairo metro have in common? Assuming this is too hard to guess, I will tell you straight away: clowns! Yes, real clowns. Have a look:
 

 
Currently, a duo of clowns from ‘Red Tomato’ regularly performs on the metro lines of Cairo and Giza to entertain people, as a part of Mahatat’s first ‘Shaware3na’ project ‘Art of Transit’. Red Tomato is a theatre group established in 2009 that focuses on clowns, children’s theatre, and pedagogical theatre performances. They agreed to perform for Mahatat because, as they state in their website, they like to transform spaces into theatres. A public space like the metro with a natural audience made up of the many people who ride it every day was just perfect for them!
 
The ‘Art if Transit’ performances started on the 18th of January and will continue until the 9th of March. This means that in the coming weeks if you are lucky, you might, while going to work, university, or back home, meet the clowns and enjoy their show in the metro.
 
The first trial performance worked out extremely well. Everyone recognized the two funny figures thanks to their typical red noses, the colorful clothes, the juggling, and the fact that they were extremely noisy. Children and adults alike enjoyed the often-hilarious show, with people’s laughter filling the train carriages. The sketch that received the warmest welcome was the one with Kooky, one of the clowns pretending to be a chicken juggling to the music of its owner (the other clown), jumping from one metro car to the other; extremely entertaining in a usually boring place like the metro. Before leaving the carriages, the clowns would literally leave smiles behind for the travellers, drawn on a small piece of white paper. And who knows? Maybe someone finding it in their pockets later that day smiled again thanks to the clowns!

Here is what Amr the pantomime told us about his experience and his first-ever metro performance:

M: When and how did you get into pantomime?

Amr: I started in 2005 as an actor; afterwards, I also worked as a contemporary dancer. I attended various workshops with both Egyptian and foreign dancers, such as Laurence Rondoni and Karima Mansour, and I even performed at the Cairo Opera House. About 4 years ago I tried my luck as a pantomime, for which I again participated in various workshops, e.g., with Karina Holla and Jochem Stavenuiter.

M: How do Egyptians feel about pantomime? Is it a well-known form of artistic expression?

Amr: People haven’t a clue about what a mime is, as in Egypt this art form is virtually unknown. There has been just one famous Egyptian mime, Ahmed Nabil, but he performed a long time ago. Most people think they are clowns but after a while they realize it is something different, a form of silent acting. I am trying to spread the figure of the mime but since we are really few rarely have the chance to it is quite hard to raise interest and get more visibility. Cairo Opera House hosted few pantomime shows; however, those artists were foreigners. In addition, El Sawy Cultural Center hosts a festival that also features a pantomime every year but there, university students perform and it’s not really mime: they just perform small sketches without the use of dialogue.

M: How is it to perform in public spaces?

Amr: Performing in public is very different from performing in theaters. When I performed at the Cairo Opera House the audience was composed mainly of people already familiar with the genre, or at least regular theatregoers. The same was the case when I performed in Porto Marina, on the Egyptian north coast: the audience was made up of intellectual, highly educated attendants who knew what to expect.

The contrast with my last performance—in the Castle for Children’s Culture—for children who are not used to seeing mimes was enormous. This performance was very special to me, mainly because of their spontaneous and surprised reactions. What also makes it different is that an outdoor performance doesn’t have props, lighting, etc. To convey that this is a performance can be quite a challenge in such a setting. And even when they are aware that it’s an act, people still react in very different ways: some people behave normally, others seem worried, and some are even scared.

M: What is your favorite audience when you perform?

Amr: I enjoy it most when I play for children but in fact it goes for every single person that’s never seen a mime perform before. Why? Because of their wonderment, their fascination!

M: What did you enjoy the most during your participation in Mahatat’s Shaware3na project?

Amr: Shaware3na gave me the chance to work with a group of people who have no connection with art whatsoever. Thanks to this project, they got to see and experience an artistic performance such as they’d never seen or experienced in their lives—and maybe never will. Obviously, from my side it is important to create a performance that they will be able to understand, even if I do not use words.

M: Is there anything in particular that you remember from your performance for Mahatat?

Amr: There are a lot of good memories as well as many different reactions. There was one soldier on the metro, for instance, who called the police saying that there was a crazy person in the car. I left the metro and got into another car, where I found another soldier who was actually very amused by the performance and took a picture with me after I went to shake his hand… I also remember a cute little girl who was very excited about seeing a mime. She was waving her hand to me and sending me kisses through the window of the door. Finally, there was an elderly man (probably from a very low social class so he doesn’t even watch TV) who enjoyed the show enormously, even if at first I was worried he might take it the wrong way and be annoyed by my show.

But you know what I thought was really great? I actually heard someone wishing there were performances like mine every day in the metro, which was a great reward for me. Everything that happened in the metro was great for me. It was an amazing first time and experience for me, and I was really glad most people responded in such a positive way!

To attend Amr’s performances, stay tuned to our channels and follow Shaware3na activities!

On January 20th Shawar3na, the first project by Mahatat, hit the streets of Cairo with its first section: Art of Transit. The very first performance on our program was a mime! Yes, one of those quirky people with heavy make-up and funny clothes acting without speaking! Or at least, this is what it might look to most of the audience. Actually, pantomime is a very fine and theatrical art form in which mime substitutes acting. This form of art dates back to Ancient Greece but still hasn’t lost the power to entertain children and adults.
 
The Man behind the Make-up
The artist’s name is Amr Abdelaziz, a 22-year-old Egyptian. He is not only a mime but also an actor and a dancer; in fact, he started his artistic career as a dancer. Later, he also took part in a number of pantomime workshops in Cairo, the only way to refine this art as no academy in Egypt offers proper training for mimes yet. But driven by his passion and perseverance, Amr reached an excellent level. He’s performed in Cairo Opera House and in the Theatre Festival in Damascus, and now Mahatat has the honor of having him perform in Art of Transit, the very first part of the Shaware3na project.
 
A Mime rides the Metro
 
The performance takes place in the cars of the Cairo and Giza underground lines. A place of transit, where people do not take much notice of what goes on around them. No one in Cairo would expect to find such a character on his or her way across the city.
In addition, the Egyptians who usually take the metro have probably never seen a mime in real life (and probably not even on TV). The result, then, is bound to be interesting! Reactions were different, indeed. Some people were confused and did not understand it was an artistic performance; someone thought the mime was just a random crazy guy in the metro. Someone even got annoyed, thinking he was making fun of people. However, most commuters were extremely curious about him and really took notice of what he was doing. Children loved it, shy as they were, and were excited about their balloons.
All in all, the faces of Amr’s spectators were priceless and there were some pretty memorable moments. Let us give you an example: When a vendor entered the car, the mime jumped at the chance to interact with him, showing interest in what he was selling and the way it was supposed to be used. The vendor, on his side, liked the game, and had fun playing with Amr.
 

Art of Transit

Art of Transit turns metro wagons into stages for all kinds of performers. Passengers are sent on a journey with storytellers, clowns, a pantomime, actors and musicians and can enjoy short artistic performances on their way from one station to another.

Performance Timeframe: January 20 to March 7, 2012
Participating artists: Amr Abdel Aziz (Pantomime), Aly Sobhy and Ahmed Mostafa (Red Tomato/Clowns), Hani Taher, Dina El Sayed, Maha Monieb, (Hara TV/directed by Nada Sabet, produced by Sally Sami), Mona El Shimi, Sondos Shabayek (Bussy), Sherif El Kadi (Music).
Project Manager: Astrid Thews

Cinema Sky

Cinema Sky invites entire neighborhoods to watch Egyptian short movies and video art in the streets. The aim is to both support the filmmakers by presenting their works to a larger and a new audience and to present artistic films in an unconventional setting.
Curator of Film Nights: Bahaa Talis
Curator of Video Art Nights: Yara Mekawei
Screening Locations and Dates
■March 11, 2012, 7 pm
Mounira Str, close to Midan Lazoghly, next to Bank Misr, Mounira,
■March, 18, 7 pm, Alfi Street
Downtown, SHORT FILM NIGHT
■March 25, 7 pm
Mesaha Square, Dokki, SHORT FILM NIGHT
■April, 1, 7 pm
Gamaet El Dowal, between Batal Ahmad Str. and Geziret El Arab Str., Mohandeseen

The film program will be available beforehand on Mahatat’s website and facebook page. Printed programs will be distributed in the screening area before and during the screening.

Stop and Dance

Stop and Dance is an inter-cultural contemporary dance project. Karima Mansour (Egypt), Paulina Almeida (Portugal) and Birgitt Bodingbauer (Germany) are introducing professional and non-professional Egyptian dancers into contemporary dance and performance in public space. The outcome of this workshop will be presented in different stations of the Cairo Metro within the first two weeks of April. The group will surprise metro passengers at popular stations with short and mobile dance interventions in a flash-mob style and with an interactive approach. Egyptian dance groups will perform breakdance, capoeira and parkour in the same time frame.

Workshop dates: March 17-31, 2012
Performance timeframe: April 1 – 15, 2012
Performers: Birgitt Bodingbauer (Germany), Karima Mansour (Egypt), Paulina Almeida (Portugal) and the participants of the contemporary dance workshop. Mohamed Tiger, Gamal Bassyoni (Gemy), Nour Mohamed (Neo) and Abdelmaged Tarek (Gaed) of T.K Capoeira, Mohamed Tiger, Mohamed Sobhey, Abdullah Hussein and Khaled Mohamed (Keko) of Egy flow, Mohamed Soliman (Catogy), Sherif Hussein (DJ), Ahmed Antar (Clash), Ahmed Hanafy (Koky).

Project Manager: Mayada Said

The Tree Project

The Tree Project is a participatory art project that takes place in Dokki. The Egyptian artist Yara Mekawei and the Danish artist Nanna Guldhammer, along with Egyptian art students, will offer a workshop to the youth of a particular neighborhood in Dokki. Residents and artists will work together on artistic designs for the trees of the neighborhood. The material will range from eco-friendly paint over cloth to light and sound. The project will close with a one-day tree festival where the entire neighborhood and other pedestrians can enjoy the designed trees.
The exact festival location will be announced prior to the event on the Mahatat website, fb page and blog.

Workshop Dates: May 25 – June 8, 2012
Festival Date: June 8, 2012
Project Manager: Yara Mekawei

The Conference
Shaware3na will conclude in a two-day conference and celebration with all of those who were involved in the project. All contributing artists will be invited to share their experiences in performing in public space. Also the artists contributing to Mahatat’s season 2012/2013 will be invited to join. Selected video and photo documentation of Shaware3na will be screened during the event and Egyptian and international artists will be invited to share their experiences in presentations and a joint discussion.
Conference Organizers: Astrid Thews and Mayada Said

Shaware3na is a partnership project between Mahatatfor contemporary art and the Danish Egyptian Dialogue Institute who is the mainsponsor. Further sponsors are the British Council and the German Embassy. Allfunds by the German Embassy are for the Stop and Dance workshop. The Cairo JazzClub Agency is the stage manager of Shaware3na. In cooperation with LichterFilmtage Frankfurt, Mahatat is presenting parts of Shaware3na in Frankfurt,Germany.

Open Call to artists and filmmakers:

Mahatat for contemporary art presents an open call
for video art!

Are you an ambitious (short) film maker or video artist? Then this is a project for you! We are looking for material to set up a special video art event with public screening curated by Yara Mekawei!

Our objective?

To display video art in in the street to a diverse audience and pedestrians. Why? To show this type of art to a wider public and encourage discussions about this type of art. Based on the different video works with we will engage in conversation with the audience, whether they have an artistic background or not.

Deadline:

Proposals are accepted from the 10th of January to the
10th of February 2012.

Specific requirements:

- The videos are to be from 1 to 10 minutes long.
- We would like to receive the latest FINISHED version of the videos.
- Send us your art videos in the following formats: avi OR wmv,

And please mention:
Artist Name / Age / Mobile phone number / Video title / Production
year / film duration “run”

To submit your work as a possible candidate for this event, please send your information and the required files to:

yaramekawei@gmail.com

Thanks in advance - we look forward to hearing from you soon!

Shaware3na is the title of Mahatat’s launching project and the Arabic term for ‘our streets’. The very simple and ordinary word ‘street’ is used by people hundredfold on a daily basis. But in combination with the personal pronoun ‘our’ and in the plural form a different and very symbolic meaning emerges. Foremost it indicates an affiliation: The streets belong to us. And then it wakes memories and inspires to dream. ‘Our Streets’ are the streets in which we meet, commute, gather, stop and look, bid farewell, and meet again. Sometimes we run errands, we head towards a certain place, and sometimes we simply stroll. ‘Our streets’ are part of our daily life, we have to cross them and they take us somewhere else.
For many decades the Egyptian streets did not entirely belong to the citizens. Reportedly due to security reasons people were not allowed to gather on the streets on a large scale. A couple of people sitting on a square or underneath a tree meant a threatening crowd. Cultural and artistic events on the streets were challenging. Here and there a concert in a semi-public space, but rarely on the streets, on a square, along the Nile. But the political and social changes after the revolution of 25 January have opened new ‘stages’ for performers and artists: streets, squares, and other public spaces that are under esthetic and artistic transformation. Art is becoming vivid and interactive and has the potential to become an essential part of the daily life of the citizens of Egypt.
Shaware3na will take place in the streets of Cairo and around popular street institutions such as local coffee shops, famous buildings and yards, and the Cairo Metro. Those places are meeting points; they invite to gather or to move together.
Artistic performances of various media will revolve around these diverse and popular street institutions. “Shaware3na” invites all of us to get drawn into artistic performances and to participate in unique artistic encounters out of the ordinary, though always in reference to their surroundings.
Shaware3na will transform ‘our streets’ into art spaces that invite all citizens to express themselves, to be part of a cultural event or to simply enjoy ‘their streets’.