You may have walked by an art exhibit Friday night without realizing it. The streets were calm in Cairo as most were at the Ahly match or glued to their television sets watching it at home. It was the perfect time for the Young Arab Theater Fund (YATF) to set up the third installment of their guerilla-style, month-long art project “Tales Around the Pavement.
Mahmoud Hamdy was the artist of the moment with his work “Transmission: A TV-Based Urban Situation. His literal living room scene on a downtown sidewalk, complete with a functioning set airing the football match in real time, was inspired by the way Cairenes gather around televisions in public places.
Plywood built a low stage to hold up an oriental rug, nine chairs, a couch, a coffee table, a couple of vases, a television set and what looked to be a typical family of Ahly fans. Even with the ornate furniture, some passersby failed to notice anything out of the ordinary. The major draw was not the fact that there was an artistic expression at work, but rather a working TV on during an important match.
“I don’t know most of them, Hamdy said of the people who sat comfortably watching, those who had become his art impromptu.
How fitting that residents in the area would notice them setting up during the day and come back that evening to get comfortable, subsequently becoming part of the piece. It was an organic example of the city dwellers’ tactics, reflecting the general message of Hamdy’s concept.
He was happy with the result. Speaking about the strangers who were tuned-in, smoking cigarettes and chatting with each other from the scene, the designer said, “It’s not too many so it doesn’t look like a café. It looked like a family in their home, and that was the intention.
Then, as if planned, just after Aleya Hamza – co-curator of the project – explained to Daily News Egypt the organization’s intentional decision to not seek permits, a big blue truck full of officers was on the scene.
Passing by without recognizing anything unusual, the patrol’s tall vehicle caught the cord draping high above the street and cut out power to the TV set. Still unaware of the unauthorized production or the irony their presence added, one of the officers kindly climbed to the roof of the truck and unhooked the wire before driving off. A few minutes later the power was restored – as if nothing had happened.
Although it was not the first run-in with authorities this year, so far the fifth edition of the project has been a success. Marwan Fayed, another artist who will be presenting his own work today, was there to check out Hamdy’s vision.
Fayed spoke of Eklego Design’s contribution to the project when public benches were situated on Corniche El-Nil earlier in the week. He found it interesting that a day after the seats were installed, they were not being used. Although people tend to gather on bridges and waterways in Cairo – something the artist was pointing out as another public tactic – Fayed noticed, “Everyone was sitting around [the benches].
Lack of seating arrangements in public spaces is something the public seems to have grown accustomed to.
The ironic run-ins with authorities, the public’s reactions and interactions are the reasons why the YATF plans to offer a publication this February covering the project.
“It will rethink all the different aspects, Hamza says.
For more information on Tales Around the Pavement, visit www.meetingpoints.org. Check the agenda for information about current installments of the project. Check the agenda for information about current installments of the project.
