Medrar Projects Exhibition – Thorny Edges Exhibition – Thorny Edges

Exhibition – Thorny Edges

Exhibition – Thorny Edges

Exhibition

Medrar

22 January 2024 - 11 February 2024

About Self, Memory, and Body
By Aya Gamil & Mariem Abu Taleb

Memory is not a recording device; it’s an active reconstruction process influenced by our beliefs and experiences” Daniel Schakter

‘Thorny Edges’ is an exhibition by Aya Gamil and Mariem Abu Taleb, held in Medrar, where each artist shares her own unique experience. The exhibition attempts to embody both collective and independent interpretations in their work to raise questions about the concepts of self, memory, and body.

Through a complex, vague, and dystopian universe, Aya Gamil questions the notion of the body. Drawn from her own memories and the power dynamics between personal and public events, as well as plants, objects, and probably dreams and fantasies implicated with dreadful spaces related to wars and conflicts, and a gloomy and cruel visualization of the present and future. While Mariem Abu Taleb creates an abstract monochromatic personal journal in geometric structures using her own reproduction of Arabic letters and calligraphy, she challenges the traditional art of Arabic calligraphy, which is often associated with sacred artistic and cultural significance, to a transformed realm that interacts with cognitive concepts such as narrative and digression.

The exhibition opens on Monday, January 22, 2024, at 7 pm and runs until Monday, February 11 in Medrar.

About the artists

Aya Gamil

Aya is an Egyptian visual artist, born in 1996, based in Cairo. She graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts. Gamil focuses on exploring the meaning of the human body as a visual element and considers it a constant source of inspiration in her artistic work, her belief that the body is a visual language and a source of continuous inspiration reflects in her approach, using them as a means of self-expression and contemplation. 

Aya participated in many competitions and group exhibitions, such as the Farouk Hosni Competition in 2019 and 2020, and the Youth Salon in 2020, while holding many private exhibitions.

Mariem Abu Taleb

Mariem Abutaleb is a lettering artist and graphic designer who is based in Cairo, Egypt. She holds a

bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design from AUC, the American University in Cairo. Mariem believes in

the power of writing as a visual language in delivering messages. Therefore, her work crystallizes the

Arabic lettering as a strong expressive tool. Mariem’s main motivation is the experimentation of the

Arabic script alongside creating harmonious compositions out of it. Additionally, her work visually documents diaries, feelings, and thoughts using black ink. She applies her designs on different mediums, one of which is fabric.