Egyptian artist Sara Tantawy transforms the artwork of dance in first UAE present

Egyptian artist Sara Tantawy’s first exhibition within the UAE embodies a language that she found when she was coping with trauma, which led her to experiment with dance and motion remedy a couple of years again.

This expertise resulted in Survivors, a collection of 12 realism work of ladies in dance poses that’s now hanging at Fann A Porter gallery in Dubai till February 10. It’s the artist’s second physique of labor in her exploration of the traditional roots of communal stomach dancing and motion as a automobile to precise grief, resilience and euphoria.

“I started researching this topic after I attended a dance and motion remedy course to cope with my very own trauma and previous experiences,” says the artist, 29, who graduated in fantastic arts from Helwan College in Egypt in 2017. “I discovered that dance has been used for hundreds of years as remedy and expression and I wished to particularly have a look at its roots in Egyptian tradition.

“Dance has all the time been ritualistic and communal, and has been used for each event all through historical past — to honour, to have a good time and to mourn.”

Tantawy learnt in regards to the tradition of stomach dancing, which originated from travelling dancers in historical Egypt. She wished to know the importance of shapes, colors, clothes, nature and moods on a dancer’s actions and makes an attempt to seize the non secular high quality of dance in her work.

“The work present dance as a medium to discover your emotions. You possibly can present your ache, your happiness, your anger and your contentment with out saying something in any respect,” she says.

For instance, within the Dancer At Silver Centre collection of three oil work, the artist selected round canvases to depict eternity. Draped in a white gown and golden waistbelt that Tantawy handmade, the topic, the artist’s pal, poses with open hair and arms swaying within the work.

“I selected the canvas relying on the motion of the physique. The circle means no finish or starting. It represents the Moon, Solar and Earth and he or she occupies all of area. This round motion of the physique additionally represents the planetary movement across the solar.”

In Heirloom, a large sq. canvas, her topics are draped in the identical costume, expressing ardour and want. The artist blends hieroglyphs and Egyptian tombstone symbols within the background and provides a sculptural character to the ladies’s pores and skin utilizing the impasto portray approach.

One other two stretched canvases depict dancers draped in a royal blue full-length gown, the motifs and brush approach repeated in these work.

“Colors maintain loads of that means in dance. I researched about its symbolism in Egyptian tradition and up to date actions. White, for instance, represents glory and peace, whereas blue is from the Nile River, which was an vital water physique in historical Egypt.”

Salvation, in the meantime, has two ladies posing on a ship, blades of tall grass rising within the background and water flowing beneath. The ladies within the portray are trying in direction of the sky in anticipation of fortune.

“The boat symbolises survival and the women are hoping for a miracle. The grass acts like a protect to guard them whereas the waves under transfer them alongside,” explains Tantawy.

Tantawy, who lives in Cairo, has beforehand introduced at numerous group and large-scale exhibitions, together with the Beijing Worldwide Artwork Biennale in 2019, the Luxor Worldwide Portray Symposium in 2020, the Dafen Worldwide Oil Portray Biennale, the place she obtained an award in 2021, and the Asian Artwork Biennale Bangladesh final yr.

It was on the Egypt Worldwide Artwork Truthful, after Tantawy had hosted her first solo exhibition, Silent Weeping, that she caught the eye of Ghada Kunash, founding father of Fann A Porter.

Kunash says they’re all the time searching for younger Egyptian artists reminiscent of Tantawy, who’re pushed by private experiences and convey intention into their items, and so she reached out to her on Instagram to fee her first UAE exhibition.

“We beloved what Sara was producing and contacted her to create this exhibition for our area. Her work isn’t just educational however you’ll be able to see that loads of analysis has gone into her work. The contrasts, the positions of her topics on the canvas, the historic references with the motifs, every part has a objective and a narrative,” says Kunash.

“We are able to inform that Sara has a eager eye and can go a good distance in her profession.”

Tantawy’s subsequent physique of labor will steer away from dance however will proceed to focus on Egyptian tradition.

“I’ve began trying into Nubia, which is without doubt one of the oldest civilisations of the world and originated in Egypt. I need to know extra in regards to the Nubian tradition and apply that in my work.”

Survivors is on present at Fann A Porter in The Workshop Dubai till February 10. Extra info is at www.fannaporter.com

Up to date: January 23, 2023, 3:03 AM