Towards Higher Realms

By Mohamed Mursi, *The spiritual beings of Taher Abdel-Azim* - Al-Ahram Weekly - Cairo, Egypt
7 - 13 October 2010/Issue No. 1018

Inheritor of the modern movement in Egyptian art, painter Taher Abdel-Azim combines experimentation with traditional subject matter

A while ago, artist Taher Abdel-Azim drew headlines with an exhibition about the Sira Nabawia, or life of the Prophet Mohammad.

A remarkable journey into the Islamic past, the exhibition featured, among other things, a panoramic painting depicting the various periods of the Sira, from the Yemeni campaign on Mecca in around 570 CE to the revelation of the Qur'an 40 years or so later.

The Sira exhibition was also inaugurated by the Mufti of the Republic as a sign that Islam is not opposed to the fine arts.

Taher Abdel-Azim, who is proud of his rural roots, sees Sufism as an integral part of Egypt's national psyche. In his new exhibition at the Durub Gallery in Cairo, he offers a refreshing insight into Sufi traditions, especially whirling dervishes performing the tannoura, their much-loved dance.

A rhythmic dance performed in circular movements by a group of dancers, the tannoura is central to Sufi rituals, and it symbolises the nature of a universe that is forever in motion and yet is also immutable.

The dance originally came to Egypt from Anatolia in the 13th century, where it had been perfected by the disciples of the philosopher-poet Galaleddin al-Rumi, also known as the Mulawiya. Over the years, it has acquired a show-business or touristic touch, with more colourful costumes and faster music sometimes being used in a bid to make the dance more attractive to visitors.

In addition to his pictures of the Sufi dance, Abdel-Azim has also focused on folklore and Egyptian street scenes. Earlier exhibitions, among them Alwan min Baladna (Colours of our Country), Laqatat min Osim (Snapshots of Osim) and Rihla ala al-Ganoub (Journey to the South), share a common focus on local traditions.

The modern art movement started in Egypt in the 19th century at the hands of visiting and resident foreign artists. A generation of Egyptian pioneers, including Ragheb Ayyad (1892-1982) and Mahmoud Said (1897-1964), then made a point of turning modern art into a local phenomenon, one illustrating and commenting on Egyptian life and landscapes. This is a tradition that artists such as Abdel-Azim have kept alive until this day.

A graduate of the Faculty of Fine Arts in Cairo, Abdel-Azim originally wrote his Masters thesis on visual effects in Steven Spielberg's films, later completing a PhD on costume design in historical films, especially those about Cleopatra and ancient Egypt.

There is a hint of these interests in his paintings, particularly in their use of vivid colour, carefully composed scenes and the way in which the artist frames each picture with great precision. His work may remind visitors of that of another Egyptian painter and filmmaker, Shadi Abdel-Salam, who was also very interested in costume design.

Although Abdel-Azim is a professor of art and a teacher, there are no academic traces in his work. Instead, he experiments freely, using a palette knife to apply paint in impressionistic strokes that add a touch of mystery to his canvases.

He is also not the first Egyptian artist to portray whirling dervishes in his work. There is a famous 1929 picture by Mahmoud Said [1897-1964] of the Mulawi dervishes*, for example, showing six dervishes performing at the Samaakhana, the dervishes' home and performance space in Islamic Cairo.

In Abdel-Azim's interpretation of the scene, the dervishes can be seen turning their faces to heaven as they dance, as if aspiring towards higher realms.

Egypt has several contemporary Sufi singing and dancing troops that specialise in the tannoura and offer traditional religious singing accompanied by instruments such as the violin, oud, tambourine, flute, and qanoon.

*[This painting will be sold in Dubai by Christie's on October 26th, see it at this link]