At the crystal beaches of Egypt’s Mediterranean tourist resort city of New Alamein, a charitable art symposium brought together dozens of painters from different countries to hold discussions, in addition to raising funds for children with special needs.
Dubbed Artmarsana, the week-long event, which kicked off on Tuesday, is organized by Egypt’s Omar Saada City in cooperation with the Egyptian Ministry of Culture. It gathers 40 painters from 25 countries, including China.
“The symposium aims to raise awareness of the importance of art in defending the rights and causes of people with special needs, founder of Omar Saada City and head of the symposium, Yasser Ragab, told Xinhua.
When it comes to art, he said, no one pays attention to colors, genders, nationalities, religions, or social status differences, adding that “art is a message of inspiration that feeds every soul.”
In addition to live painting by the beach, artists also hold daily discussions and workshops to share their ideas amid a lively atmosphere at the seaside outdoor painting studio.
Furthermore, an exhibition will be held by the end of the symposium where the artists’ paintings will be sold and the revenues of their works will go to Omar Saada City, an Egyptian foundation that cares for children with special needs.
“One of the goals behind holding this event is providing funds for children with special needs through selling the works the 40 artists painted during the symposium… our dream is bigger than this event, we plan to turn this symposium into an annual festival for all kinds of arts from different cultures,” Ragab revealed.
In addition to the human message, the symposium also helps artists from different schools and backgrounds meet in one place where they can share ideas and work jointly, Ragab said.
The idea of joining the symposium was received warmly by the artists who expressed high willingness to participate.
Doaa Alaa, an Egyptian artist from Cairo, said the symposium is a platform where she can share her ideas about helping people with disabilities through painting.
“Helping people with special needs has been the case that I always wanted to demonstrate in many of my works since I was a college student,” Alaa told Xinhua as she cleaned her brushes after a long day of painting by the beach.
She expressed happiness that the idea of helping the “differently-abled” people through art has been tackled, adding that art should always be used to address human cases.
Alaa also said that the symposium is unique because it managed to bring together many painters from different countries and cultures to work together.
“It is the first time to be surrounded by such a big number of artists who have different painting styles… this is very inspiring,” she said.
