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atelhaddad · 2 years

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Strolling through korba, a vibrant red grabbed my attention, it read Cairo Design Week. The emotions I feel when I see a movement turned into organized routing of talent and vocation are always very mixed. On the one hand I see the long lasting effect of a community of likeminded individuals being brought together, and on the other hand I see the gruesome hand of capitalism fingering and exploiting every inch of such talents for the sake of material.

My excitement suddenly plummeted after remembering the price of the ticket for an earlier event, which was 2k+ EGP (A tad short of 100$) but as a creative who feels strongly against monetizing art, I never made much from my photography and I have never "sold" any of my photographs.

I resist feeling negatively towards something that I cannot have because of money. I keep reminding myself that art and design are as vital to a people's wellbeing as biology and medicine.

Fast forward to a couple of days later, I met a friend who mentioned seeing the billboards and signs, and anticipated that its a fashion related event. I found out later through a reel that its everything design! Furniture, painting, sculpting, fashion, you name it!

I am thirsty for learning and inspiration, yet I find it reallyhard to stick to learning a skill or practicing it for an extended period. Sketching and designing have always felt like an embedded interest in my soul. Never had the true courage to show my real colors though. Not even to myself.

Today I visited every node of the CDW except for 2, both of which are fashion realted. It is something that I am yet to taste but not now. I was really interested in furniture design. Designing for people, for an experience, for an eternal moment of feeling safe, comforted and genuinely content.

One of the rather prominent places on the map is Cairo Design Center that's been standing since the early 90's as far as I know. I entered through the glass window, admiring the articulate typography and innate setup of the place that makes you feel timeless and in the presence of a very nurturing spirit. I glimpsed the furniture, but the posters were what really caught my attentions.

Is'haaq (Isaac) Azmy, RIP, was, from what I could tell, one of the most loving individuals towards his country. Between founding an arts lighthouse and internationally acclaimed furniture pieces, Azmy toured the world as an ambassador for the true Egyptian heritage through his work. My soul was ecstatic! I was interrupted by the entrance of a man who looked passionate but a bit short-tempered. He welcomed my in french and asked whether I came for CDW or a passer-by. I told him my intentions and we got the talk going for nearly an hour, by the time I was about to leave the shop, he turned my sight to the TV by the door, that was staged on an original piece of a beautifully cured and finished acasia wood cookie.

I took a look at the film that was playing while listening to Magued (who I later came to find out is the owner's son, who feels has been handed the baton to keep on watering the seeds of his late father's work)

M- Have given the gallery downstairs a look?

H- I wasn't aware that ....

M- Go have a look.

H- Don't mind if I do

Paintings, installations and plans. So much to grasp. And the best part is: I was all on my own. Just letting those colors tell me what they are and what they want me to feel. The frames guided me to a precious quote, one that I know I will hold on to dearly:

جلست على شاطئ بحر الابداع منذ اكثر من ٣٠ عاما أرقب الطرح الجميل. و اتصيد حروفا من أبجدية التشكيل، لأصيغها حلما يتجسد و يتحول الى مشروعات تتحقق رغما عني، قبل أن أفكر فيها، انها ارادة خالق بحر الابداع.

اليكم .. أهدي هذا الطرح، لعلي أسهم مع آخرون في البحث عن مفهوم جديد لشكل أدوات الحياة الانسانية.

Translation is at the end.

I knew at that point that my spirit needed to settle in this place for some time. I went back up to ask Magued about their plans for the design week ..

"We're setting up a space infront of the showroom, there will be a sketching and painting circle, bring your sketchbook and colours between 7 and 10pm and come join"

He really didn't need to say more. I shuffled my day's plan around and ran a few errands, I collected the tools from my place and was there at around 8pm.

I had my sketchbook under one arm and my messenger bag on the other shoulder. I could smell beauty and authenticity in the air. I am not sure what kind of sorcery helped CDW's organizers to have this vibe so prominent in Korba, but I love it.

I am walking in Baghdad street that was named after an Arab capital, enjoying the sight of buildings that were designed by the brits and built by Egyptians. Next to a french bakery and a swiss restaurant. Across the street was a Canadian coffee place accommodating citizens from 3-4 countries at least. Such diversity, such humanity, such is the picture I always drew of Cairo in my head. A place for everyone to be truly alive.

I am approaching the showroom ... but wait, I gawked, There's nobody there! ..

Scheiße.

Did I hear something wrong?

Was I mistaken?

Am I that late? He said 7-10. I kept on walking till I entered the showroom and saw Magued from behind, he sensed my footsteps and turned around with such a bright smile and squinting eyes while saying "آدي اول فنان جه عشان يرسم اهو" .. I wanted to correct him, simply because I realized that there's a mother and her daughter waiting to be joined in the painting circle BUT they were hiding inside because they were too shy to sit outside alone on the sidewalk.

So wait, are you waiting for ME to encourage you? I feel really uncomfortable sharing my experiments with someone, let alone doing it on the street! I need someone to encourage me , lady!

Luckily there was no turning back, I went outside, sat down and took out my graphite set, the two ladies sat to my left and we exchanged tools and were supposed to start.

I froze, was too self councious, tried to distract myself and act busy while playing with my phone. Magued came and went with the passerbys, people stopped to look at the sketches and left among finding them empty. Yustina and her mom were quarrelling about what she should start with. I felt bad for Yustina because her mom was really pushy and was trying so hard to make sure Yustina is doing what she is telling her to do.

Let her express herself woman. Why are you like that?

I dropped the self-propelled judge in me to think about what I should draw on that canvas. Then I realized that I could try and get inspired by the surroundings. EURIKA! I'M DRAWING A باكية!

YALLA, I let my pencil touch the canvas and started moving. Trying to perfect every curve and kink, every pillar and accent. And people started stopping to watch.

My hand was shaky, I felt really stupid and I couldn't help but let anyone who initiated a conversation know that I had no idea what I was doing.

The more comfortable I got, the more I saw the true message of art prevail. People just stopping by to cheer, wonder or even just share a smile felt really nice. You know, we conversed as people and shared some laughs without the need for a background story or a string.

My spirit mingled with many other spirits that came and went without sharing a single word. But Mahrous stopped with 2 of his friends to ask whether he could take an extra sheet and join. 5 minutes later he had the full façade of the building sketched and ready to be etched. Literally 5 minutes later. I don't know his background. But you could tell that they are all an art major and in Cairo for vacation from some European country. The group had 2 Egyptians and a lebanese.

Mahrous had such a vibrant halo that attracted some homeless kids around him. My self-propelled judge instantly concluded that Mahrous will break down at some point and push the kids away from the amount of questions they were asking. To my surprise, he just answered all the questions while looking at what he was drawing as if he was playing word ping pong with the boys. Ibrahim was the most curious, and I couldn't help but give him a sheet and a pencil to start drawing.

I- What should I draw?

H- Anything you want

I- How?

H- Have you tried drawing before?

I- No, like what should I do? Just move it around on the paper?

M- Actually yes, don't look at anything, don't copy anything, just scribble

I- I want to draw a circle

M- Go ahead

Ibrahim starts sketching, draws a face, then a square, then a line. And everytime he takes the pencil off the paper to look at what came out of it, he cheers himself with a happy "YES!" accompanied with this arm gestures footballers do when scoring a goal.

Mahrous left, and Ibrahim brought his paper and took Mahrous' seat. Then Mustafa stopped by to add a couple of drawings to Ibrahim's paper that depicted a clown and AlAhly Club's flag. He informed everyone that he's a graffiti artist and gave them the thumbs up and went on his way.

Yustina and her mom had a painting behind me the whole time and I only saw it before leaving. It was a collage of Baron Empain, his palace in heliopolis and the car he drove. And I only saw it after a passer-by asked Yustina about it and she told him "my brother painted this, he's coming in a bit if you'd like to meet him"

I turned around to look at the painting and admire it, then left my sketchbook, graphite set and eraser while thinking to myself

لعلي أسهم مع آخرون في البحث عن مفهوم جديد لشكل أدوات الحياة الانسانية.

#egypt #cairodesignweek #cdw #korba #cairo #design #art #culture #thoughts

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