Nat Muller spent nine months in Cairo as the first curator in residence of the Townhouse Gallery. Her experiences in the Middle East began with her undergraduate studies in Tel Aviv, followed by teaching and curatorial positions in Lebanon and Dubai.
Hours before she was to return home to Holland where she will continue the curatorial endeavor she began here (a project called “Bint El-Donia (Daughter of the World), she spoke to Daily News Egypt about the aim of her project.
Muller based the foundation of her project on months of “fieldwork, citing this interactive research approach as essential in a place like Cairo, “where the city is so demanding and at times so unforgiving.
“I remember when I came first for a week and was in a hotel, and was fabulous, but living here, she said, was a different story. But you need that. You need to feel that unforgivingness of the city – the harassment. Because I think then you begin to understand how difficult it is to produce work, things that in Europe we take for granted.
“I try to get an understanding of the different socio-political conditions people have to produce their work in; what kind of educational facilities are available to which groups of people and how that influences people’s practice.
Muller distinguished between the Townhouse Gallery’s art clique and the other Egyptian artists. “The artists that are affiliated with the Townhouse, Muller said, “are mostly upper middle class to upper class. Most of them have studied at the American University in Cairo, have perfect English language skills, and produce art that within an international discourse would sit very well. So, it’s a particular type of practice.
On the other hand, she continued, “I’ve met people who would either define themselves as independent, or working in between the government scene and non-affiliation, where you see much more class stratification, where English skills are much less, where people are much less well traveled. They might have been outside of Egypt once or twice; they might be teaching at Zamalek or Helwan, but their references would not necessarily be the ones that we take for granted within an international discourse.
In fashioning the “Bint El-Donia project, Muller has attempted to capture the “introspective character of Egyptian art. Unlike her assessment of Lebanese art for example, Egyptian art, she claims, “does not look to the outside. The concentration on the locale isn’t a primary element of Egyptian art and, when tackled, is often catered for particular intentions. “When Egyptian artists are invited to exhibit in the West, she purports, “they are indeed invited on the basis of national representation.
Mullers’ “Bint El-Donia invites 10 Egyptian artists to an up and coming neighborhood in Amsterdam, to “see the landscape through their eyes. As defined by the project proposal, this area called Amsterdam Noord is, “traditionally the poorest, yet most spacious part of Amsterdam.
As Muller describes it, the region is “free of its own identity.
“It is everything Egypt is not, she said.
For this reason, the project designers believe they are able to offer the selected Egyptian artists an opportunity to engage in “site specific and imaginary practice, free from imposed thematics and constraints.
Though the names of the artists involved have not yet been disclosed, when asked about their backgrounds and criteria for selection, Muller replied, “This is a high profile event, so there are no artists who’ve only had one show, because that is not enough to judge.
Looking back on her interactions with Egyptian artists, Muller was particularly critical of what she called the “lack of the tradition of the curatorial in Egypt.
“I’m not talking about those students who come from the CIC [Contemporary Image Collective], Townhouse, environments – it’s extremely difficult to have a critical discussion, because there’s just not that context.
“You know, I do this all over the world, but here people have become either offended, or very insecure. But I think it’s good for people to have those talks even if for weeks after they’re like ‘Oh my god, she was so tough’.
Because of Cairo’s limited art scene, Muller believes “it’s easy to think that as an artist you would not need that exchange. Yet even for very established [European and American] artists, people appreciate getting someone to look at their work. You do not view the work as hermetic or completely finished, or in a closed way. But it’s somehow very difficult here to just have a very open context to allow free speaking on the part of the artist and the curator.
“In the political context here, I think there’s a lot of repression. I’ve seen it within artists; I think there’s a difficulty for people to articulate their work, because there’s no criticality as such in order to talk about work.
The root of this problem, Muller believes, is related to the hierarchal relationship between art professors and their students. This, she believes, extends into relational patterns between Egyptian artists who are reluctant to form coalitions or share resources.
When asked about the highlights of her time in Cairo, Muller was at a loss.
She expressed her admiration for artist Lara Baladie’s prize-winning contribution to the Cairo Biennale, and certain artists, like those from video collective Medrar, who have managed to create remarkable work “against all odds.
