“Ahram Online speaks to the curators of exUrban Screens, which – as part of its exploration of international digital art and its effort to make the global local – featured revolutionary Egyptian works”

Sara Elkamel interviews the curators of exUrban Screens and discusses the concept behind the digital art festival and the works of Egyptian artists Ahmed Basiony and Heba Amin:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/47809.aspx

exUrban Screens 2012: (Is There) Light In Outer Space?
23 June – 7 July, 2012
Curatoriate: Vince Dziekan & Matthew Perkins
http://www.exurbanscreens.com/

Artists:
ACAB Collective (AUS), Brian Alfred (USA), Heba Amin (EGY), Ahmed Basiony (EGY), Boxcopy (AUS), Paul Catanese (USA), Sophie Clements (UK), Nicolas Feldmeyer (SWI), Ian de Gruchy (AUS), Sigalit Landau (ISR), Karl Lemieux (CAN), David Rosetzky (AUS), Darren Sylvester (AUS), John Warwicker (UK), Kit Wise (AUS)

http://www.millenniumpeople.co.uk/2009/10/data-city-jules-verne.html

I think more along the lines of “lethargic and defeated”. After having been away for so long and coming back, I find extremely alarming the sense of resignation amongst people in this city. People seem to have given up.

   http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/18/world/middleeast/18egypt.html

Read Norma Smith Olson’s article “Powerful Portraits: Heba Amin gives faces to extraordinary Muslim women“.

“Halide Edib Adivar, Umm Kulthum, Arwa bint Ahmed al-Sulayhiyya, and Shirin Ebadi are names that may be unfamiliar to many in the United States. They are four women-a scholar, a musician, a queen and a Nobel Peace Prize winner-portrayed in the recently released book, “Extraordinary Women from the Muslim World.” 

It was a learning experience for this month’s cover artist Heba Amin, who painted 11 portraits for the book. “That’s what made this project exciting for me. It exposed me to these amazing women, many that I didn’t know about,” Amin said. In her research for the paintings, she found few pictures of the women. She had the challenge of conceptualizing their images-the perfect project for a women artist who focuses on the intellectual power of art.” [more]

Read my article “Fragmented City: Visualizing the City-Psyche Relationship of Cairo” included in this Spring’s online edition. The article is a condensed version of my thesis research.

Fragmented City photo

Abstract: Fragmented City seeks to address the urban landscape of Cairo and its emotional impact on its inhabitants. The visual characteristics of the city display the deterioration of urban life where masses of abandoned and haphazard structures attest to the government’s laissez-faire attitude in dealing with urban planning. As inhabitable structures take up space and resources, inhabitants of the city begin to clash, rather than coexist with their built environment.

I have explored visual re-interpretations of fragments of the city by translating and relocating visual information through various media. These visual manifestations attempt to portray an emotional experience and perspective of the current political and social climate of the region. I am working from the hypothesis that Cairo’s urban landscape negatively impacts the psyche and plays a significant role in influencing behavior. My visual explorations move from photography, to drawing, to web based environments, installation and projection work. By immersing the viewer in a particular environment, each visual displacement constitutes a re-assessment of scale and visual engagement intended to elicit sensations comparable to those experienced in physical space.

The 2009 Spring edition of the Journal of the New Media Caucus focuses on the theme “Foreignness and Translation in New Media“. Edited by Pat Badani, “The collected essays in this edition provide a thought-provoking expansion on the themes of “foreignness” and “translation”, subjects habitually explored through the lens of identity. The edition expands the discourse to examine different kinds of identifications, translations and geographies – opening up personal, cultural, physical and conceptual definitions. The essays explore the ways evolving technologies are being used by cultural practitioners to re-interpret and incorporate these notions.”

Read Jeff Strickler’s Article “Putting a Face on Role Models” in the Star Tribune.

Minneapolis artist Heba Amin didn’t have to be asked twice if she wanted to illustrate a book on female Muslim heroes. Not only was it a chance to get a paycheck from her art after a decade spent earning three college degrees, but it was a project she wholeheartedly embraced.

“I’m very aware of cultural stereotypes,” she said. “The image of Muslim women in the United States is of veiled, oppressed people who have no voice. But in fact, Muslim women have a long history of remarkable achievements.” [more]

“Artist Heba Amin Explores Her Egyptian Heritage in America”
http://www.america.gov/st/diversity-english/2008/October/20081003125506maduobbA4.618472e-02.html?CP.rss=true

The article also debuted in America.gov’s publication, “Being Muslim in America“. Read the article “Young Muslims Make Their Mark: Artist Heba Amin“.

A glum outlook on the future of a city.

http://www.economist.com/world/mideast-africa/displayStory.cfm?story_id=12202321

“This is not like London or New York, or even Tehran, another car-clogged Middle Eastern capital. It is literally like living day in and day out with a lawn mower running next to your head, according to scientists with the National Research Center. They spent five years studying noise levels across the city and concluded in a report issued this year that the average noise from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. is 85 decibels, a bit louder than a freight train 15 feet away, said Mustafa el Sayyid, an engineer who helped carry out the study.”

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/14/africa/14cairo.php

Yet another example of failed architectural investments in Egypt:

Two photographers reveal images of Sinai resorts that never quite made it. And now, just like many other projects all over Egypt, they are abandoned concrete structures.

http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2008/04/hotels-in-afterlife.html