Studio Hopping: Matro7sh We eedak Fadya 

Studio Hopping: Matro7sh We eedak Fadya 

Exhibition

Medrar For Contemporary Art

16 April 2014 - 27 April 2014

 The public moves in to studio space 

Strolling around in pristine gallery spaces with artworks neatly assembled on spotless walls, you stand and stare at artworks as if expecting them to speak. You tilt your head backward and then slightly forward, to the left, to the right, and because you surrender all hope of receiving an answer to the simple question that occupies your preoccupied mind (What the hell is this?) you nod and pretend that the piece has just “spoken to you”. And then you move on to the next piece.

Medrar’s latest project, Studio Hopping (Matro7sh We eedak fadya) brings you face to face with the artist behind the artwork, allowing you to spend time in their studio and ask them questions over a cup of tea. The project seeks to bring the public into the artist’s studio, giving them an insight into the lives of artists before and after the brief, awkward, common point of exchange between them at an exhibition opening.

16th April: An exhibition will open at Medrar, featuring works by 19 contemporary Egyptian visual artists.

Staring from 16th April: You will be able to register for studio visits with the showcased artists, through an online booking system or at Medrar’s venue in Garden City.

19th to 26th April: 18 studios spread out across Cairo will be accessible to the public for a week.

The studio visits will be limited to a party of five at a time. Registration is open to students, journalists, artists, biologists, mechanics, unicorns, bakers, stalkers, cartoonists, entrepreneurs, sailors, teachers, and the list goes on. The only requirement is that you do not go empty-handed. Each visitor will be expected to bring a gift for the artist. It does not have to be wrapped, it does not have to be a physical object, and it doesn’t have to be bought from a store.The studio visits will be unplanned and unscripted; this is an exercise in improvisation, in conversation, and in inspiration.

Text: Sara Farag Elkamel
Graphic design: Kareem Osman
Special thanks to Peter Fares, and Amr Elkafrwy, and Mohammad Helmy

Areas

  • Ard Ellewa (6)
  • DownTown (9)
  • El Monira (6)
  • Faisal (4)
  • Garden City (5)
  • Geziret El Qorsaya (1)
  • Heliopolis (1)
  • Maadi (3)
  • Obour City (4)

Project coordinator

  • Marwa Benhalim

Artists

  • Ahmed Badry
  • Ahmed Sabry
  • Ali Abd El Mohsen
  • Ammar Abo Bakr
  • Amr Elkafrawy
  • Dia Hamed
  • Ganzeer
  • Hala Elkoussy
  • Hamdy Reda
  • Hany Rashed
  • Hashem L Kelesh
  • Kareem Osman
  • Khaled Hafez
  • Marwa Elshazly
  • Mohamed Abla
  • Mohamed Taman
  • Sabah Naim
  • Shayma Kamel