Ala Qad Halna

By Ahmed Darwish, "The artist as a Sufi" - Al-Ahram Weekly - Cairo, Egypt
28 May - 3 June 2009 / Issue No. 949

Artist, academic and designer Abdel-Moneim Moawad offered the public a treat at his recent exhibition, fittingly named Sufi Square, which ran from 4 to 12 May at the main exhibition hall of the Faculty of Applied Arts, Helwan University, where Moawad teaches.

Interpreting Sufi spirituality with a blend of Egyptian folklore, Moawad offered a glimpse of a spirituality wrapped in the folds of mediaeval design.

His pieces brought to life themes of Islamic calligraphy and decorative patterns, packaged for industrial use as well as artistic expression. The collection brings fresh perspectives to Islamic art and takes it to new heights of creativeness.

The pieces he shows can be applied to curtains, carpets, clothes, stained glass and mosaic. They can also be used as full-scale murals in public places.

Some of the exhibits are computer-enlarged sketches that have textile potential. Others evoke needlepoint and handmade carpets and scarves. One of his designs has already been used to produce a 9x15- metre [29.5x49.2- feet] carpet for a factory space.

A carpet of Moawad's design once won a prize at the Hannover fair. Thousands of pieces were produced and sold of this design. Oriental Weavers are among the companies that have used the artists' designs in their carpets.

Moawad also designs hanging carpets, and one of his pieces has been bought by the Museum of Modern Art in Egypt. Entire collections of his work have been sold in London, New Jersey and Paris. One piece includes a humorous touch from the mid-20th century. In a throwback to the times of the kerosene-lit stoves, now virtually extinct, it reads in impeccable calligraphy, "Come, girl, and unblock the stove, for it is leaking gas."

"Being authentically Egyptian can help one break into the international scene," the artist confides.

Part folksy, part spiritual, Moawad often conjures up the simplicity that used to be the essence of local life. One of the pieces now exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art is of a chair, a bed and a straw mat. He calls it, Ala Qad Halna (Within Our Means). It is a drawing done in black felt-tip pen, but with its amazing multi-tonality, it may as well have been drawn in charcoal.

This attention to detail is what sets Moawad side from his generation. Another thing that gives him an edge is that he knew what he wanted right from the start. As a teenager, he studied at the Abbasiya High School for Decorative Arts. He actually drew that museum piece while still an undergraduate student.

Intensely creative, Moawad mixes art with spirituality. His use of colour brings elegance to his presentations of the common Islamic themes of the triangle, square and star formations. And yet his work converses with daily life through the frequent references to folklore. The black background he often employs adds mystery and depth even to the simplest of his linear formations.

That he can draw so much upon Islamic art is no doubt related to where and how he grew up. He has spent most of his life in the old parts of Cairo, the areas of Ghuriya, Gammaliya, Khayamiya, and Bab Al-She'riya. As a child, he had the chance to admire the complex ornamentations of mediaeval Islamic art as he walked past the Mosque of Sultan Hassan, the Rifaai Mosque, the Blue Mosque, the Muayyad Mosque, the Sultan Al-Ghuri Mosque and Madrasa, and the sabil and kottab of Umm Abbas on Saliba Street. His photographic memory retained those details, and a life of focus on Islamic themes, part of which he spent as a restorer, added maturity to his outlook.

Moawad's father was an Azharite scholar. Among his friends were the great Quran chanters of the time, men such as Mansour Al-Damanhuri, Ali Mahmoud Taha and Abdel-Fattah Al-Shaashaai. He still remembers listening to their recitals as a child and aspiring for the rhythm and mastery of their art.

Warm and affable, Moawad is intensely emotional. He tells me that once, after coming home to his neighbourhood from a long stay abroad, he was unable to fight back the tears.

Looking at Moawad's work, I am reminded of the great artists of the past. I am reminded of Mahmoud Mokhtar (1891-1934), the great sculptor; Mahmoud Said (1897-1956), best known for his inimitable portrays of Alexandrian women; Mohamed Nagui (1881-1956), a pioneer of painting; and Ragheb Ayyad (1892-1983), the man who brought expressionism into Egyptian art.

The critic Kamal Al-Guweili says of Moawad, "His work is like orchestral music: many instruments, many colours and a natural command that keep the whole thing together."

The late critic Hassan Abdel-Rassul once said, "He is the artist of the earthen jar and the rababa [two- string violin]." I totally agree.