Ahmed Kamel
Ahmed Kamel (born 1981 in Cairo) is an Egyptian multi-disciplinary artist.
Biography
Kamel studied Photography and Moving images at the Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig, Germany (master’s degree in 2014) and painting at Helwan University in Cairo (bachelor's degree in 2003).
Ahmed Kamel has founded the non-profit organisation Zuker e.V. for the cultural exchange between Europe and the Arab world and has been serving as its chairman since 2016.[1]
He lives and works in Berlin and Cairo.
Artistic practice
Ahmed Kamel deals with the self-image and its visual representation on an individual and group level, as well as the encounter between different communities[2]. Between observation and recontextualization, the artist uses various media such as photography, video, drawing, and installation.[3]
He has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions in the Middle East and Europe[4], including exhibitions at Contemporary Image Collective in Cairo, Townhouse Gallery in Cairo, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk, Brandts Museum for Photo Art in Odense, East Wing in Dubai, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg and Folkwang Museum in Essen.[5][6] He was artist-in-residence at The Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs in Berlin,[7] Mediamatic in Amsterdam[8], Pro Helvetia in Bern, Kunststiftung NRW in Duesseldorf, and Amongst Neighbours in Istanbul.
Artworks
Ahmed Kamel examines how a society is constructed and how it idealizes its identity through means of visual representations. Since he has been living between two cultures, his work additionally looks at the encounter between diverse communities.
Notable artworks
WITH US IT’S DIFFERENT 2020 - ongoing The belief that we are different is, in itself, a commonality between different groups. Each of them has its own symbols that its members can identify with. The familiar shapes, materials and textures have the power to resurrect deeply rooted memories and to create moments of nostalgia. The ongoing multi-disciplinary series deals with cultural differentiation and assimilation.[9]
DID NOT HAPPEN 2016-2017 The work, that has been realized during his artist-in-residence at The Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs focuses on how power can be used to influence the individual and public perception, and thus change the collective memory and subsequently also the official course of history. Despite the modern means to document every detail, it is still possible to manipulate the overall picture. Even eye-witnesses can start to doubt what they have seen with their very own eyes. The work consists of drawings and installations.[10][11][12]
ABOUT PARADISE 2014 The different perceptions of what may come after death have been influencing people´s way of life ever since and across cultures. The 22 min film juxtaposes testimonies from protagonists from Egypt and Germany, who narrate their personal as well as their culturally coined imaginations of paradise or the after-life with scenes from the artist´s pilgrimages to Mecca and Santiago de Compostela in a video-collage style.[13]
SPIRAL 2010 A spiral usually emerges from a small point, dramatically moving and growing like a fire or a snow-ball. It might get intertwined and spread like cancer, or it might appear systematic. In any case it is a complex composite, and the conflict between its lines is not easy to solve, whether it is an inner or an external, multi-layered conflict. This fluent dynamic of the conflict constantly seeks its own escalation, leading to its core or to an undefined position within its endless possibilities. This topic is expressed in a two-channel video combined with a drawing-installation.[14]
Exhibitions
Solo exhibitions
- 2018 Did Not Happen, zone E Galerie, Essen
- 2017 Did Not Happen, Rooftop studio, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Berlin[15]
- 2016 Sight/Spiral, Erstererster, Berlin[14]
- 2015 About Paradise/Repetitive Units, Zone B Galerie, Berlin
- 2011 Extension, Cinéma les Variétés, Marseille
- 2010 Local Star, Mashrabia Galerie, Cairo[16][17]
- 2010 By law, Marks Blond, Bern
- 2010 Spiral, Stadtgalerie Progr, Bern
- 2009 Shop-Abutting, ArtElLewa, Cairo[18]
- 2008 Home-the Self, Institut Francais d’Egypte, Cairo[19]
Group exhibitions
- 2020 Faraway so close, Haus am Lützowplatz, Berlin
- 2019 Paris-Berlin, Fotohaus, Arles
- 2019 Power Struggle, Katharina Maria Raab Galerie, Factory TT, Tehran
- 2018 1-54 Art Fair, Katharina Maria Raab Galerie, New York[20]
- 2016 Fragments of HiStories, Neuer Sächsischer Kunstverein, Dresden
- 2014 Cairo Open City, East Wing, Dubai
- 2014 Arab Contemporary, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk
- 2013 Errors Allowed, Mediterranea 16, Biennial, Ancona
- 2013 Cairo Open City, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg
- 2013 Cairo Open City, Museum Folkwang, Essen
- 2011 Shaabi, Serpentine Gallery, London
- 2011 Propaganda by Monuments, Contemporary Image Collective, Cairo
- 2010 Noord, Mediamatic, Amsterdam
- 2009 Photocairo 4, Brandts Museet for Fotokunst, Odense
- 2007 Cartography, Contemporary Image Collective, Cairo
Publications
- 2021 Faraway so close, by Galleries Association of Berlin, Germany[9]
- 2019 Hanan al-Cinema Affections for the Moving Image, Laura U. Marks, MIT Press, Canada[21]
- 2019 Power Struggle, Katharina Maria Raab Gallery und Factory TT, Iran
- 2017 AArtists in Residence, by The Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs and Galleries Association of Berlin, Germany
- 2016 Fragments of HiStories, by Tina Bara for Neuer Sächsischer Kunstverein, Germany
- 2016 Art from Berlin, by Galleries Association of Berlin, Ungarn
- 2014 Alternative Nomadi, by Mediterranea Biennial, Italy
- 2014 Arab Contemporary, by Michael Juul Holm Mette and Marie Kallehauge for Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark
- 2014 Cairo Open City, by Florian Ebner and Constanze Wicke for Museum Folkwang, Germany[22]
- 2014 Invisible Presence: Looking at the Body in Contemporary Egyptian Art, by Stefania Angarano for Mashrabia Gallery, Egypt
- 2011 Propaganda by Monuments, by Mia Jankowicz and Clare Butcher for Contemporary Image Collective, Egypt
- 2009 Photography and Egypt, by Maria Golia, for Reaktion Books – Exposures, Egypt
- 2008 The long shortcut, by Aleya Hamza and Edit Molnár for Contemporary Image Collective, Egypt
- 2007 Sowar Min El Salon, by Aleya Hamza for Contemporary Image Collective, Egypt
Grants and awards
- 2016–2017 Artist-in-residence, The Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs and Galleries Association of Berlin, Berlin[11][23]
- 2010 Artist-in-residence, Mediamatic, Amsterdam[24]
- 2010 Artist-in-residence, Prohelvetia, Progr, Bern
- 2009 Kunststiftung NRW, Duesseldorf
- 2009 Artist-in-residence, Amongst Neighbours, Istanbul
- 2009 20th Cairo Youth Salon Prize, Palace of Arts, Kulturministerium, Cairo
- 2004 Artist-in-residence, Luxor’s Art Studios, Ministry of Culture, Luxor
References
- ↑ "Zuker - Euro-Arab Culture Association". Retrieved 2021-02-19.
- ↑ "Photography: Ahmed Kamel - Magazine Contemporary Culture". Retrieved 2021-03-02.
- ↑ "Ahmed Kamel, Universes in Universe - Art Destinations, Biennials and Specials Magazin". Retrieved 2021-03-02.
- ↑ "Ahmed Kamel". Retrieved 2021-03-02.
- ↑ Lisa Mayerhöfer: "Bilder aus Kairo: Eine Revolution erzählt sich selbst". Goethe-Institut. 2013-03-26. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
- ↑ "ARD / WDR (The official German television channel), WestArt 2013-03". Retrieved 2021-03-02.
- ↑ ""الخارجية الألمانية تمنح الفنان التشكيلي أحمد كامل مرسما في مقرها ببرلي". , Akhbar Alyom - Daily Newspaper. 2016-11-09. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
- ↑ "Interview with Ahmed-Kamel, Mediamatic - Art Association 2010-11". Retrieved 2021-03-02.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "In weiter Ferne so nah - AArtist in Residence-Programm 2016/2020". Retrieved 2021-02-15.
- ↑ "Aussichten und Einsichten". TAZ - Daily Newspaper. 2016-12-29. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 "More to come – AArtists in Residence to stay on roof (Vernissage)". deutschland.de - Govermental Website. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
- ↑ "Ahmed Kamel, Artsy - Portal for Art Collections". Retrieved 2021-03-02.
- ↑ "Ahmed Kamel, Photography - International portal for photography and video art". Retrieved 2021-03-02.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Sight/Spiral. Ahmed Kamel". Jitter Magazin - Journal of Art and Visual Culture. 2016-11-27. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
- ↑ "فنانون في مقر وزارة الخارجية الألمانية" – الخارجية الألمانية تدعم الفنان التشكيلي المصري أحمد كامل". The Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs - Officail Website. 2016-11-08. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
- ↑ "Framing celebrity: Ahmed Kamel's photographs". Egypt Independent - Daily Newspaper. 20 September 2010. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
- ↑ "صور فوتوغرافية لأحمد كامل "النجم المحلي" معرض فني لنجوم افتراضيين في مصر". Alhayat - Daily Newspaper. 16 October 2010. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
- ↑ "Ordinary lives turned into art". Egypt Independent - Daily Newspaper. 2010-01-18. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
- ↑ "لمصوِّر الفوتوغرافي أحمد كامل: البيت يصوِّر واقع الطبقة الوسطى في مصر". Aljarida - Daily Newspaper. 2009-01-30. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
- ↑ "Remnants of Diaries". 1-54 - Contemporary African Art Fair. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
- ↑ "Hanan al-Cinema, Affections for the Moving Image". Retrieved 2021-02-15.
- ↑ "Cairo. Open City. New Testimonies from an Ongoing Revolution 2. 3. – 5. 5. 2013". Retrieved 2021-02-15.
- ↑ "Artist in residence AHMED KAMEL (Okt 2016 – Jan 2017)". 2016-11-29. Archived from the original on 2023-06-04. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
- ↑ "Ahmed Kamel, Halfway there: project proposal Noord. July, 2010". 2010-07-28. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
External links
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