No concibo mi arte como el de una feminista en el sentido tradicional de la palabra, sino como el de una artista. De alguna forma, me importa la memoria y las emociones humanas subyacentes como el deseo y la violencia, entre otros sentimientos. Estoy intentando encontrar un lenguaje capaz de llegar al receptor, un lenguaje que no esté sujeto a una determinada cultura, oriental u occidental.
Amal Kenawy – Non Stop Conversation 2007
Rosana Pérez

Visual artist Amal Kenawy was born in Cairo (1974 – 2012). She studied film and fashion design at the Academy of Fine Arts at the Cinema Institute in Cairo (1997-1999) and received a BA in painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Helwan University in Egypt (1999) Performance at Bait Al Ansari, one of the oldest houses in Al Mureijah. A performance commissioned for Sharjah Biennial 8 (2007). Her solo works make use of a more intimate approach. She used her own body along with representations of fragile materials, animals and objects to express physical and mental pain, and to address themes such as birth, marriage, death, dreams and memory. His works are still exhibited in various museums and institutions around the world. Her work is located in a large public collection at the Mathaf (Qatar) and at the Sharjah Foundation in the United Arab Emirates. It is exhibited in major biennials, such as Dakar and Sharjah.

«No concibo mi arte como el de una feminista»
«I do not conceive of my art as that of a feminist.»
I do not conceive of my art as that of a feminist in the traditional sense of the word, but as that of an artist. Somehow, I care about memory and underlying human emotions such as desire and violence, among other feelings. I am trying to find a language capable of reaching the receiver, a language that is not subject to a certain culture, Eastern or Western.


Non-Stop Conversation
Non-Stop Conversation
Non-Stop Conversation cuestionó los efectos de la modernización en la arquitectura tradicional y la emoción humana. Esta instalación y actuación específica del sitio tuvo lugar en un edificio tradicional en ruinas en medio de los sonidos superpuestos de la maquinaria, que se acercaban más y más en el tiempo hasta que ocurrieron simultáneamente. En su actuación, Kenawy cubrió la estructura de pie restante con una colcha hecha a mano, que embelleció una estructura abandonada y descuidada durante mucho tiempo y la obligó a ser reconocida con su nuevo fondo rosa.
Non-Stop Conversation cuestionó los efectos de la modernización en la arquitectura tradicional y la emoción humana. Esta instalación y actuación específica del sitio tuvo lugar en un edificio tradicional en ruinas en medio de los sonidos superpuestos de la maquinaria, que se acercaban más y más en el tiempo hasta que ocurrieron simultáneamente. En su actuación, Kenawy cubrió la estructura de pie restante con una colcha hecha a mano, que embelleció una estructura abandonada y descuidada durante mucho tiempo y la obligó a ser reconocida con su nuevo fondo rosa.

Al sentir y exponer un mundo metafórico que se esconde debajo de lo físico, intento traer lo invisible a un espacio visual.
By sensing and exposing a metaphorical world that lurks beneath the physical, I attempt to bring the invisible into a visual space.
«Intento, siempre intento, crear un espacio donde pueda sondear mis identidades frente al mundo que me rodea. Usando una amplia gama de medios, a menudo intento explorar el mundo de la ilusión en un contexto de memoria, una memoria casi siempre basada en la realidad. Al sentir y exponer un mundo metafórico que se esconde debajo de lo físico, intento traer lo invisible a un espacio visual. En el contexto de mi trabajo, había llegado a sentir la existencia de una habitación metafórica que se esconde detrás de la fisicalidad del cuerpo, una habitación que refleja la habitación exterior mucho más grande, la que representa la sociedad, sus costumbres, tradiciones, convenciones y el factores que la condicionan.» Amal Kenawy
«I try, I always try, to create a space where I can probe my identities vis-à-vis the world around me. Using a wide range of media, I often try to explore the world of illusion in a context of memory, a memory almost always based on reality. By sensing and exposing a metaphorical world that lurks beneath the physical, I attempt to bring the invisible into a visual space. In the context of my work, I had come to feel the existence of a metaphorical room that hides behind the physicality of the body, a room that reflects the much larger outer room, the one that represents society, its customs, traditions, conventions and the factors that condition it.» Amal Kenawy


La exposición, con su programa de cine y talleres, se centró en el papel renovado del arte para abordar una amplia gama de problemas que afectan directamente, en una magnitud alarmante, la vida tal como la conocemos.
The exhibition, with its program of film, symposium and workshops, focused on the renewed role of art in addressing a wide range of problems that directly affect, in alarming magnitude, life as we know it.
La Bienal de Sharjah 8 abordó los crecientes desafíos sociales, políticos y ambientales que enfrenta nuestro mundo debido al desarrollo urbano excesivo, las ambiciones políticas y económicas y el mal uso, abuso y agotamiento irreflexivos de los recursos naturales. La exposición, con su programa de cine, simposio y talleres, se centró en el papel renovado del arte para abordar una amplia gama de problemas que afectan directamente, en una magnitud alarmante, la vida tal como la conocemos. No pretende ser un ejercicio de juicio, diciéndole a la gente cómo vivir sus vidas; más bien tiene como objetivo problematizar las preocupaciones ambientales actuales hacia una mayor comprensión de nuestras responsabilidades con respecto a la naturaleza. Curadores, artistas participantes, cineastas, intelectuales, académicos, escritores, estudiantes, políticos, funcionarios, instituciones, empresarios, trabajadores, cada persona que ayudó a realizar la Bienal de Sharjah 8 se comprometió con este urgente proceso de investigación. Es nuestra convicción que sólo involucrando a todos los sectores de la sociedad en el cuestionamiento de nuestra praxis social, política y ecológica podemos comenzar a restablecer una relación mutuamente sostenible y recíprocamente renovable con la tierra.» Bienal de Sharjah 8 – Naturaleza muerta: arte, ecología y la política del cambio.
«Sharjah Biennial 8 addressed the growing social, political and environmental challenges facing our world due to excessive urban development, political and economic ambitions, and the thoughtless misuse, abuse and depletion of natural resources. The exhibition, with its program of film, symposium and workshops, focused on the renewed role of art in addressing a wide range of problems that directly affect, in alarming magnitude, life as we know it. It is not intended to be an exercise in judgment, telling people how to live their lives; rather it aims to problematize current environmental concerns towards a greater understanding of our responsibilities towards nature. Curators, participating artists, filmmakers, intellectuals, academics, writers, students, politicians, civil servants, institutions, entrepreneurs, workers, every person who helped make Sharjah Biennial 8 happen was committed to this urgent process of inquiry. It is our conviction that only by engaging all sectors of society in questioning our social, political and ecological praxis can we begin to re-establish a mutually sustainable and reciprocally renewable relationship with the earth.» Sharjah Biennial 8 – Still Life: art, ecology and the politics of change.

CREDITS
A B O U T AMAL KENAWY
Visual artist Amal Kenawy was born in Cairo (1974). She studied film and fashion design at the Academy of Fine Arts at the Cinema Institute in Cairo (1997-1999) and received a BA in painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Helwan University in Egypt (1999). Kenawy was awarded the UNESCO Grand Prize at the International Cairo Biennale (1998), a grant from Pro-Helvetia Swiss Arts Council for an artist residency in Araau, Switzerland (2004), the Global Crossings Prize in Los Angeles 2005 : The Golden prize /xx111 Biennale de Alexandria des Paysde La Meditranena
2005: The global crossings prize , Leonardo International society for the arts
Sciences and technology (ISAST), Los Angeles, USA
2004: The state National Prize for Art, Science, Literature, (for using Video as
Visual medium – Egypt. 1998: The AICA commission (Marseilles Art Studios), FrancE
1996: The 1st prize in sculpture, 7th salon of youth, Cairo, Egypt.
(2005), the Best Animated Film Prize at the 12th Cairo International Film Festival (2006), and a prize at the Dak’Art Biennale of Contemporary African Art for a residency in Amsterdam (2006). . THE FRIST PRIZE OF SHARJHA BEINNALE. EMARITS 2007
Amal Kenawy has had numerous solo exhibitions, including “Transformation,” part of the grant she received from Pro-Helvetia for an artist residency (2004), “The Journey” held at the Town House Gallery for Contemporary Art in Cairo (2004), “Booby Trapped Heaven”2006 video ANIMATION PHOTGRAPH . at the Mashrabia Gallery in Cairo, ( You will be killed /2006 )video animation and “Space” at the Karim Francis Contemporary Art Gallery in Cairo (2006).
Kenawy has participated in various international biennales, some of which include the Dak’Art Biennale of Contemporary African Art (2004 and 2006) and the 1st Singapore Biennale (2006). This year, she PERSENTED AT Moscow Biennale 2007/ RUSSA. and the Sharjah Biennale /2007 in the United Arab Emirates.
Amal Kenawy has taken part in several group exhibitions, including “Africa Remix – Contemporary Art of a Continent” (2004-2007), and (without title) 2007 . At MUKHA Antwerp/Belgium . “Home Works: Forum on Cultural Practices” (2004 and 2005), and “Some Stories” (2005). She has also participated in a number of international theatre festivals, which include Festival des 7 Collines _ SAINT –ETIENNE – FRANCE 2006
2005: (Milan Oltre) (Festival did teatro danza musica e oltre – 19th edizione). , Italy.
2005: ( Festival de theatre des Ameriques)–Montreal .Canada.
2005: (Contemporena Festival) Prato- Italy.
La Rose des Vent in Lillie, France (2004) and the Kunsten Festival des Arts in Brussels, Belgium (2004) as well as a variety of international film festivals like FIPA in Paris (2007) and 1st Tirana international film festival for short &documentary film / Albania 2003.
VIA AMAL KENAWY
&
UNIVERSES ART
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Art EDITOR by ROSANA PÉREZ