Hatchet of Brutality

"How far back the stubborn gnarled roots of the quarrel reached, no one could say." (From Tell Me a Riddle by Tillie Olsen)

How long ..? No one could tell!!
Mama seemed suuuuure that HER position was the right one
That HERS was the undeniable TRUTH
Now how did it start in the Bible again?
How far back in time must we go to find the roots of the conflict? 

Were the Philistines and the Jews born fighting? 
And how far forward into the future must we go to find an end to it?
Are all the children born in that Land doomed to HATE?
And to have their lifeblood sucked into this conflict, 

sometimes paying the ultimate price, their life, 

for what started as an ancient fight between the ancestors?

"The Vendetta will end when ten thousand warriors ride their donkeys backwards to the wailing wall,

each carrying his burial shroud on his head in total humility" says mama 

Of that task, women are spared
Theirs is only to give Life in birth
To the living embodiment of Hate 

Only to have it snatched away sometime
by HATEFUL men  

and obliterated
By the enormous steel limbs of machinery

also invented by HATEFUL men

What matters "Today"?
"Tomorrow" there are still droves of those 

willing to pay the ultimate price
Whether blind or clear-eyed, 

they must go to their death again and again
Before one people overcomes another
and the Hatchet of Brutality is buried forever

How long must we wait, mama?
No one can tell, son
Why cant we go NOW?! and burry the hatchet? 

Now is good mamma, before more people die
Now is not yet the time
How do yo know?
I know because the stars are not aligned
Another comet must come from the east

for us to follow to the west

The, only then,

When the sign appears, only then must we act

Sculptress for March

March means International Women's Day and we throw the light on wonderful artwork by three talented Egyptian sculptresses. 

"We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another, unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made of layers, cells, constellations."*

Nihale Wahby, Karim Francis Gallery

The artist explores transformation and rebirth, the wisdom of the past is revisited from a contemporary approach. "In ancient Egypt Isis mourned her beloved husband Osiris who was treacherously murdered by his brother Seth. Her weeping tears flooded the sacred land of Gebt. From this water, every living thing was then created: rain, clouds, and plant life. As Isis' bursting tears transformed evil, turning death into life and darkness into light; so, the artist recalls the legend of Isis at this time of uncertainty, confusion and distress."

"It is a Floating Hope.. an attempt to reach the light, trying to find our priorities and re-discover our truth."

Wahby Graduated from Cairo University, Economics and Political Science (1993) with a Diploma in Cultural Development (2015). In addition to her painting and installation artworks, she has expert curatorial and directorial experience for other leading Egyptian artists. She counts her mentor, the well-known Egyptian artist and writer Hassan Soliman, among those who played a major role in her artistic development during her early years of practice (www.nihalwahby.com).

Engy El-Bouliny, ArtTalks

“People are sociable by nature.. human beings cannot live in isolation, but we are so different from one another in terms of characters and in how we bond, share, express and show. Therefore, human relationships are the mirror of the soul, they reveal our hidden sides... This interaction of souls is what I wanted to embody in different angles of my sculptures so that we can relate and translate them."

Graduated from Faculty of Fine arts Alexandria University, Sculpture department (2016), Bouliny participated in several group exhibitions and artistic competitions, among them: 24th Youth Salon (2013); Vision and Identity workshop at Mahmoud Said Museum, Annual Combined Workshop --  Granite Carving (2015); ArtNest Group exhibition at ArtTalks Gallery (2020).

Mariam Faried, ArtTalks

In real life just like through the convex mirror, we look and focus but we fail to see the things being located furthest within one person.. we search and probe the innermost of people to discover and touch realities and substance.

Graduated from Faculty of Arts, Helwan University (2006). Mariam Faried uses paper to create colorful, highly intricate works of art that are reminiscent of embroidery. Paper with its many textures, aspects, and colors allows for many possibilities.. while playing with other material like silver strings, gold-leaf and acrylic. Her mastered technique is driven to produce such elaborate confections from this humblest of material.

She is inspired by the contemporary paper cutting, Japanese Katagami stencils, Mexican Papel Picado and the medieval practice of excising illuminations from manuscripts.

NB *Quote by Anais Nin, in ArtTalks' exhibition notes

Silence

Close your eyes, open your ears.

Close your eyes, open your ears and listen.

Listen attentively, listen patiently. 

What do you hear? 

Now imagine . . . try to imagine the impossibility of imagining Now. 

Imagine, try to imagine not being — not being here, not being now.

Not being here, not being now, not being elsewhere, not being anywhere.

Imagine being before being. 

Imagine being after being.

Imagine being Not.

Imagine not imagining.

Imagine not being.

What do you hear?

Keep listening, listening attentively, listening patiently.

Whom do you hear?

Whom do you not hear?

What do you hear?

What do you not hear?

Nothing perhaps?

Perhaps nothing?

What is the sound of Nothing?

Silence, perhaps?

Perhaps silence?

What does hearing silence sound like?

What does hearing silence mean?

Does hearing silence mute silence?

What does not hearing or not being able to hear silence mean? Keep listening, keep thinking, keep asking until you hear, if not silence itself, echoes of silence by seeing nothing.

Mark C. Taylor is professor of religion at Columbia University. Photos Laura Scudder, Dry Zen garden at Portland Japanese Garden (commons.wikimedia.com)

Royal statues repatriated to join the Grand Egyptian Museum

The Egyptian Cabinet of Ministers announced Thursday that two huge royal stone statues arrived back in Egypt. The statues were among the artifacts displayed in the touring exhibition "Sunken Cities: The Enchanting World of Egypt" (USA) and included 293 artifacts recovered from the sunken city of Heracleion in Abu Qir, east of Alexandria.

The two statues will now be displayed in the presentation scenario of the Grand Egyptian Museum.Dr. Mustafa Waziri, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, explained that these two statues began their foreign tour with the exhibition in 2015, visiting the French capital Paris, the British capital London, the city of Zurich, Switzerland, and four cities in the United States of America. The exhibition is currently showing at the Virginia Museum of Art.

Professor Moamen Othman, head of the museums sector, said the two statues of a king and queen from the Ptolemaic period are made of pink granite, standng each about 5 meters tall. The king is depicted standing, wearing the double crown, his left foot forward, his hands clenched beside him; the queen, which is missing its right arm, is also seen standing with her left foot forward. She wears a fine-threaded, transparent robe and the crown of Hathor, .

大エジプト博物館に参加するために送還された王立像

エジプトの閣僚会議は木曜日に2つの巨大な王立石像がエジプトに戻ってきたと発表しました。彫像は、巡回展「沈没した都市：魅惑的なエジプトの世界」（米国）に展示された遺物の1つであり、アレキサンドリアの東、アブキアの沈没した都市ヘラクレオンから回収された293遺物が含まれていました。

2つの彫像が大エジプト博物館のプレゼンテーションシナリオに表示されます。ムスタファワジリ、古代の最高評議会の事務局長は、これら2つの像が2015年に展示会から海外ツアーを開始し、フランスの首都パリ、イギリスの首都ロンドン、チューリッヒの都市、スイスの4つの都市を訪問したと説明しました。アメリカ合衆国。展覧会は現在バージニア美術館で上映されています。

博物館部門の責任者であるモアメンオスマン教授は、プトレマイオス時代の王と女王の2つの像はピンクの花崗岩でできており、それぞれの像の長さは約5メートルであると述べました。

最初の彫像は、王が二重の冠を立てて身に着け、左足を前に向け、両手を握りしめて王様を描いています。 2番目の像は、女王が左足を前にして、透明なローブとハトホルの冠をかぶって立っています。