In the framework of our ongoing collaboration with Flyer and VAF for the Fantomas Lab, we invite you to apply to our upcoming Mapping Workshop which will take place in parallel to the Fantomas exhibition. The workshop will be led by the artist duo FLxER, which is made up of Gianluca Del Gobbo and Elisa Antonacci.
It will consist of a theory and practice workshop on the technology and software used for Video Mapping performance. Video content adaptation to irregular and non-flat surfaces and architecture with different softwares, using one or more projectors managed from the same computer. A guide to static and animated content creation according to each participant’s competence.
Video Mapping is a video projection technique that virtually transforms any surface on a screen. It’s a closed territory in which art, architecture and technology converge at new expressive forms
that temporarily changes our spaces and objects’ classical perception.
Video Mapping is a technique that transforms video projection into a single performance, exploiting surfaces’ features and space that host its particularities. Projection’s various techniques will be put into practice (on urban surfaces, on objects, into theatres,
during events, etc.) using MadMapper, the main software for Windows and Mac, with insights on Millumin and Resolume; particular focus will be dedicated to guiding content creation. You will learn to manage video elements for theatrical performance, stage design, video installation and VJ-ing, connecting space to music and video.
Requirements:
Participants have to bring their own laptops with installed Resolume Arena (https://resolume.com/download/), no previous knowledge is required.
Experience with any photos and vector graphic editor (such as Photoshop, Gimp, Illustrator), 3D and animation software is a plus.
RESEARCH LAB 1: ECOLOGIES Lab duration: 1 sunset session and 1 full day + 4 weekly meetings Lab days: First week of February 2023 Location: Online (hybrid)
RESEARCH LAB 2: MIGRATION Lab duration: 1 sunset session and 1 full day + 4 weekly meetings Lab days: Second week of February 2023 Location: Online (hybrid)
Medrar for Contemporary Art and Critical Media Lab Basel (CML) are thrilled to announce the first phase of the programme EXTENDED ECOLOGIES, The RESEARCH LABS.
Extended Ecologies is a one-year, joint programme between Medrar* in Cairo and the Critical Media Lab (CML) in Basel that aims to create and reflect the ways that extended reality (XR) technologies can transform our relationship with physical environments, and so ourselves and other beings. XR is not only to be used as a tool of mediation, augmentation or ornamentation but is also a tool for reflection and re-creation, a method of transformative research as well as a means of production. The capacities of immersive and surround media to artistically and creatively translate space, place, and evoke empathy and so potentially care, for places of concern and communities of practice, are foregrounded. In its formats, the programme is able to bridge gaps between research and production, ‘virtual’ and ‘real’ spaces and problems, as well as facilitate the ongoing dialogue between Egyptian and Swiss and central European artists.
Extended Ecologies aims to reflect and explore new possibilities of thinking and being in environments, in relation to their ecologies. The ways we relate to ourselves and to the world call for focus on the transformative qualities of XR, and how the experiences it enables can alter our relationships to worlds, world-building and the environment we transform and inhabit. We are interested in issues related to the environment, climate change and ecology that can be explored in relation to the technologies of extended reality while sometimes using XR tools.
By promoting research on ecological topics, alongside experimentation with XR digital technologies and artistic practices, the Extended Realities project invites us to question the role of practitioners, artists, researchers and people facing changes to their real habitats and landscapes. These altered realities will of course alter our extensions.
The Extended Ecologies consists of 3 phases: -2 Research Labs (February-March 2023) -1 Production Workshop followed by an exhibition (April-August 2023) -XR performances series (December 2023)
THERESEARCH LABS: Extended Ecologies’ first stage consists of Research Labs hosted by groups and mentors at the Critical Media Lab Basel, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland. Research Labs are held online and offline, involving in-situ communities both in Egypt (Medrar) and in Switzerland (CML), and includes 8 core researchers and/or art practitioners (4 Swiss-based and 4 Egyptian-based). The labs culminate in a compendium of research results, released publically, and as interactive publication.
The culminative interactive publication comprises research resources as well as materials developed by researchers and art practitioners The interactive publication will take on different forms and be experienced through navigation or as a virtual publication. Navigation through web-art interactive online platforms, or motion-capture interactions (ex. Kinect) & VR headsets where participants can navigate through the publication resources in various ways, are all possible.
RESEARCH LAB 1: Ecologies How can XR spaces become useful in the healing and caring for real environments and ecologies? Are there ways in which the new worldings that XR brings into play can help us understand the relations of existing physical beings, and how they scaffold one another’s existence and life?
How these will take place: Each Research Lab is comprised of 1.5 days of activities divided into 2 sessions (one afternoon/sunset session + one full day) followed by 3/4 follow-up meetings in the following weeks.
RESEARCH LAB 2: MIGRATIONS How could XR technologies be used to interrogate the notion of ‘borders’, ‘migration’, fringes, edges, or outskirts of territories. As a theme in classical VR and XR projects, this idea of a ‘land outside’ is to be explored in terms of its relation to actual migration crises, movements and borders in Europe and North Africa, and beyond. How these will take place: Each Research Lab is comprised of 1.5 days of activities divided in 2 sessions (one afternoon/sunset session + one full day) followed by 3/4 follow-up meetings in following weeks.
About guests: The programme is supported by a growing community of artists and critical thinkers who are approaching similar questions, including the prospective involvement of:
– The call is open to artists and researchers from Egypt and Switzerland from different disciplines willing to explore their practice in relation to XR technologies and environmental matters.
-Applicants have the choice of applying for one research lab or for both, by selecting the preferred option in the application form. We encourage applicants to participate in both labs, and preference will be given to people who can commit to the whole Extended Ecologies programme (Research Labs + Production Lab).
-Preference will be given to participants who have some experience working with any programming languages, 3D modelling software, 3D creation tools, VR, AR, audiowalks, or any other tools that fall under a broad definition of XR.
-The Research Labs will be held in English. Therefore, a good level of spoken and written English is required
-Participants must have their own laptops and the ability to run the required programmes
-The applicants are required to submit a brief concept they are interested in researching and developing throughout the Research Lab.
– Applicants can support their application with multimedia content relevant to the application proposal
– The selection criteria of participants prioritise the relevance of the participants’ proposed concepts to the content of the selected Research Lab.
– The participants have the option to work in groups or individually
– Upon completion of their research papers within the set deadlines, the participants will be provided with a participation fee.
– To apply, the applicants are required to fill in the application form with all the required material and information. Applications missing any required information will not be considered
The DEADLINE for submissions is: November 30 2022
To apply, fill in this form: https://forms.gle/7CJ2KRBUJB8PTjQh8 All applicants will be notified via email, no later than December 31, 2022 For inquiries, please contact info@medrar.org and copy mariana.tilly@fhnw.ch Extended Ecologies is organised by Medrar for Contemporary Art and Critical Media Lab (CML) with the support of Pro Helvetia Cairo.
*This project falls under Medrar’s recently launched MedRX -XR Portal umbrella project, a long-term programme that champions the creation of counter-narratives that reimagine our world and alter our understanding of global and local matters. It strives to bridge the gap between alternative artistic research and production by facilitating and developing labs, workshops, exchanges, lectures, exhibitions, and events. It is open to all artists, cultural practitioners, and creators from different disciplines interested in enriching their artistic practices by experimenting with cutting-edge technologies and reflecting on what possibilities emerge from this intersection. To know more: https://medrar.org/projects/medrx/
Medrar for Contemporary Art acts as a springboard for an ever growing independent community of visual artists, filmmakers and multidisciplinary artists. Through its projects, it boosts experimentation at the intersection of visual arts, filmmaking and technology. By facilitating and cultivating non-traditional methods for experimentation, reflection, production and curation, it intends to disseminate artistic practices that go beyond academic methods and connect artists in the country and with their international peers with the aim to multiply formats of collaboration.
The CRITICAL MEDIA LAB (CML) is a community, a space and a platform for research and practice at the intersections of design, media, art and technology, situated in Basel (CH). We combine perspectives and methods of history, anthropology, sociology, media studies, cultural studies and political science. https://criticalmedialab.ch/
MedRX portal is launching a series of workshops introducing the techniques used in the extended reality technologies: VR, AR, and Creative Coding. These three mini-workshops will be implemented in the program separately.
The program will give you a practical insight into the usage of these mediums, the software & hardware used in each, as well as how to apply this knowledge to your own projects after the workshops.
The main aim of the program is to build a well-equipped community of artists, designers, and creators from various fields to broaden their practices by the usage of technology as a tool.
With the contribution of guest artists & instructors from different backgrounds in each of the workshops.
Each workshop will run for 3 days covering all essential topics to enable participants to be confident continuing working on their projects & ideas.
For details on the schedule, deadlines for each workshop, and fees please read below, and wait for more details on each workshop in the upcoming updates.
About the VR workshop:
This workshop is designed for beginners and for those interested in exploring the world of VR and who don’t have any previous experience. You can apply to these three sessions to learn the basics of making and practicing Virtual reality and learn about the different technologies, software and headsets, with the collaboration of 412Labs instructors.
Day 1: Introduction to VR technology, an introduction to Unity3D interface, creating VR environments & materials.
Day 2: 412Labs instructor will introduce techniques of locomotion (movement & teleportation) in VR
Day 3: Session about the methods of interaction with objects.
By the end of the sessions, participants will be able to build & experience their projects on the headsets.
Workshop Requirements:
Bring your own laptop that is capable of running Unity software
Workshop Outcomes & Objectives:
Learning to use a very powerful program & game engine (Unity3D).
Being able to start your own VR Unity projects.
Joining a great community of art & technology enthusiasts.
Getting introduced to the MedRX portal.
Dates: 17, 18, 20 October (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday) From 5 – 9 PM
Deadline for applications: 15 October at 11:59 PM
Fees: 800 EGP
We will contact the selected participants to proceed with the reservation.
About Creative Coding workshop:
This 3 day workshop is dedicated to introducing creative coding and its implementation in graphic design and the interactivity that can be included.
Dates: 24,25, 27 October (Monday, Tuesday,Thursday) From 5 – 9
Location: Medrar (Offline)
Deadline for applications: 22 November at 11:59 PM
Fees: 800 EGP
We will contact the selected participants to proceed with the reservation.
About the AR workshop:
Augmented reality is deeply implemented in our lives, and has huge potential especially due to the accessibility of its hardware – a smartphone. Therefore the participants will be able to practically create images and interactions. Guest speaker Agnes Michalczyk (The Mozza) will share some of her work and talk about her methods of creating AR through the workshop.
Dates: 13,14, 16 November (Sunday, Monday, Wednesday) From 5 – 9
Location: Medrar (Offline)
Deadline for applications: 10 November at 11:59 PM
Fees: 800 EGP
We will contact the selected participants to proceed with the reservation.
Application form below.
*Some of the sessions will be held in English, so a decent knowledge of the language is required
**You can apply for all/any of the 3 workshops. (Applying for 2 of the workshops grants a discount of 20% on the total fee and applying for 3 of the workshops grants a discount of 30% )
Lab Duration: 4 days a week from 5 October to 2 December 2022 Lab Days: Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday Lab Times: 11 am to 4 pm Location: Medrar for Contemporary Art
Medrar for Contemporary Art, the Visual Arts Forum (Palestine) and Flyer (Italy) are happy to announce the open call for our upcoming lab: FANTOMAS.
This alliance was implemented in the framework of the All-Around Culture programme by L’art Rue & MitOst and co-funded by the European Union in Egypt and EUNIC – European Union National Institutes for Culture in Egypt.
Fantomas is an 8-week lab that will take place from October to November 2022 at Medrar for Contemporary art where 5 visual artists will create VR experiences that embody future imaginations of collective realities. In the first 3 weeks of the lab, artist and curator Maha Maamoun will support the participants in the conceptual development of their projects and later on, artist Jean-François Robin will accompany them in the production phase.
As we shift from the world of magic to the realm of science fiction in the 1950s, in Egypt, writers and filmmakers alike begin to imagine new ways and places to be. From Tawfik Al Hakim’s plays entitled ‘Lunar Report’ and ‘A Poet on the Moon’ to ‘Journey to the Moon’ directed by Hamada Abdel Wahab, an interest in imagining other worlds through narratives of moon exploration grew. The latter movement and the entire sector of arts and culture was deeply impacted by the socio-economic and political transformations the country suffered since the defeat of 1967.
Today, having access to more technological innovations and tools, a desire and need to reconnect with the present moment and imagine or potentially produce alternative worlds reemerges. Medrar for Contemporary Art (Egypt), the Visual Arts Forum (Palestine) and Flyer (Italy) invite artists to take part in the Fantomas lab and reflect on the current socio-economic contexts as well as build VR artworks that embody conceptions of a future that goes beyond the colonization of distant planets. It is an invitation to dig deeper into the relationship between the literary form and virtual reality as a way to expand our imaginations of what lived realities are and could be. How would the future look, sound, or feel if we remain in the same space?
Guidelines and Requirements:
The call is open to artists from different disciplines willing to experiment and integrate their artistic practice with Virtual Reality (VR) technologies, game engines and modeling softwares to create VR artworks.
A minimum experience/familiarity with 3D modeling is required.
A minimum experience/familiarity with Unity is a plus.
A dedicated technical team from 412Labs will work closely with the participants and provide technical support throughout the Lab. During the first week, the participants will be introduced to Unity and during the second week will take part in hands-on exercises on Unity.
ِA good level of spoken and written English is necessary.
Participants must have their own computers and the ability to run the required programs.
To apply, the applicants are required to fill in the application form with all the required material and information. Applications missing any required information will not be considered.
The selection criteria of participants is based on originality and feasibility of the proposals within the duration of the Lab and proven understanding of how the proposed projects can make use of available technologies to create artworks.
The Lab will encourage artists to work together in groups. Yet, the participants have the option to work individually.
Medrar provides a limited budget to support the production of the artworks, as well as a participation fee granted for the participants upon completion of their projects within the set deadlines
The participants have the possibility to work on their projects during Medrar’s opening times and also outside of Lab hours.
The DEADLINE for submissions is Saturday, 1 October 2022
*Medrar announces this program within the framework of MedRX, its newly launched umbrella project consisting of a series of activities (workshops, labs, exhibitions, screenings, meet-up sessions etc ) aiming at building a community of artists from different disciplines interested in developing their arts practices through the exploration and integration of available XR technologies. To know more: https://staging.medrar.org/projects/medrx/
“All-Around Culture aims to foster a vital cultural ecosystem in the Southern Mediterranean countries as an enabling environment for the social and economic inclusion of young people. The programme is co-funded by the European Union.’’
Archives of a temporary Migration; Egyptians in the Gulf
@anthropology_bel3araby and Medrar Studio are jointly organising and launching the call for our upcoming workshop: Archives of a temporary Migration; Egyptians in the Gulf.
This collaborative workshop aims to creatively express anthropological debates about the experience of Egyptian migration to the Gulf through video montage and experimentation.
Although millions of Egyptians migrated to the Gulf since the 1970s, the experience is underrepresented in pop culture and scholarly literature, despite how much it impacted family dynamics, worldviews, feeling of temporariness, social class, aspirations, and much more that we will explore together. In this workshop we will not only look at the bigger contexts of Gulf migration (political, social, and economic), but more deeply into the personal, our sense of belongings, sense of alienation, relationship to death and life, and our visual/sensory memories and how all of this could help us understand the bigger social structures. As we discuss the different themes, we will be playing with pop culture archives (films and musalsalat) and our own footage; pictures and home videos. During this workshop, we will experiment with moving images and edit both archives (the public and the personal), as an attempt to challenge and question the different representations and experiences.
We will also have Mohamed Shalaby, Hady Zaccak, and Mohamed Allam as guest speakers, who will help us work with personal and film/muslaslat archives.
The workshop is 8 sessions (1month) + access to Medrar Studio for post production (editing/colouring).
Workshop Fee: 1500 EGP paid in 1 or 2 instalments
To apply please fill up this application form before the 18th of July:
Mohamed Shalaby is a documentary filmmaker and journalist with enthusiasm in using conventions of dramatic structure to shape factual narratives and tell human driven stories. He is a graduate of the National Film and Televsion School with an MA in Directing Documentary with Most Promising Student award. Award winner and 5× award nominated Documentary Filmmaker. Currently working with the BBC Arabic Documentary unit.
Hady Zaccak is a Lebanese award-winning documentary maker and a professor at IESAV film school. He recently edited and curated “In this Place: Reels of Beirut” exhibition where he used films that featured Beirut’s port, downtown, hotel and cabareh as archive material – where he then edited them to tell a story. We will chat with him about the process of looking at films as an archive and his editing process of creating narratives and storylines from found film footage.
Mohamed Allam is a visual artist who lives and works in Cairo using different mediums such as video, performance and sound. He is interested in different forms of performativity, as he playfully creates narratives and intervenes with existing ones. His work also explores relationships between humans and objects, and the physical environment and context that brings them both together. He has participated as an artist in numerous events since 2003. Allam is also concerned with art management and has participated in organising several art events in Cairo. He is a co-founder of the Cairo-based artist initiative ” Medrar for Contemporary Art ” which aims at the promotion of contemporary artistic practices of young artists in Egypt. Allam will share with us some of his insights from working on his long term project ”Personal Recordings from Egypt”.
About the instructor – Farah Hallaba Farah obtained her MA in Social Anthropology and Visual Ethnography from University of Kent. She started @anthropology_bel3araby انثروبولوجي بالعربي in 2019, aiming to publicize anthropology in an accessible way and in Arabic. She has been doing short engaging online videos and collaborative workshops since then; mainly Visual Anthropology workshops and Collaborative Anthropology workshops about social class and migration. Currently Farah is a resident fellow at CILAS teaching Ethnographic Studies. She also shares a creative space in downtown Cairo, where she collaborates with artists to offer spaces for creative discussion-based knowledge production.
Medrar Studio had the pleasure of hosting Heya Fel Cinema (هي في السينما)’s Writing and Development workshop led by Yomna Khattab. Over the course of 5 days from the 28th of June to the 2nd of July, 25 women got introduced to the essentials of making and developing short films.
Focusing on character development and cinematic composition, the participants got to discuss the role of women in front and behind the camera. The workshop also invited women filmmakers Noha Adel, Doha Hamdy, Menna Ekram , Dina El Hawary , Nadia Ghanem, Salma Salem and Sondos Shabayek to screen their films and partake in a Q&A about their work.
If you are interested in collaborating with Medrar Studio or wish to book our post-production suite email us at: studio@medrar.org
Lab duration: 3 days a week from 21 March to 28 April 2022
Lab days: Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
Lab times: 11 am to 4 pm
Exhibition opening on Sunday, 8th of May
Location: Medrar
Medrar for Contemporary Art is thrilled to announce the first project of its newly launched MedRX umbrella project, which houses an array of activities opening realms beyond our current reality.*
Viorama is a Virtual reality (VR) Lab and Exhibition aimed for artists to explore through lectures and hands-on activities the potential of VR audiovisual tools in relation to their arts practises, reflect on concepts of VR and new formats of narration, and prototype and implement VR-based projects to be showcased in an immersive exhibition. The (VR) Viorama Lab is led by Dutch instructor Daniel Ernst with the contribution of guest speakers Morehshin Allahyar, Jesse Cummings and George Zakaria, alongside the technical support of 412labs.
Dioramas have a longstanding tradition in museums, where they depict all kinds of spectacular and often impossible scenes. If you visit the museum a week from now, that exact same moment of the diorama will be there for you to visit. The gazelle would still be eaten by the lion and the dinosaur is still sinking into a tarpit. They are moments stuck in time like a mosquito caught in ember.
The most important aspect of Virtual Reality is presence. Presence in this sense encompasses both the physical and mental occupation of a virtual space. The more presence a VR experience provides, the more a player can disconnect himself from the real world to accept the virtual actuality as a new reality. But this takes time. Time that dioramas have plenty of.
Unlike “real” dioramas, VR dioramas allow you to step past the restrictive glass and into the scene. You can experience the emotion that is depicted, without experiencing the pressure of a linear story that is barreling to its conclusion. You are there and you have all the time in this world to cross into this new reality. The only thing you have to do is be somewhere else.
In 6 weeks the participants of this Lab will get the chance to work on their dioramas based on a distinct and personal moment. During this Lab the participants will be handed tools and techniques to create a finished VR diorama from the early inception of an idea to a fully working interactive VR experience. The topics discussed are : thumbnailing, greyboxing, interaction design, audio and music and narrative design.
The Lab will include from 6 to 8 participants who will work on conceptualising, prototyping, developing, implementing and finalising artistic projects using VR technologies and related softwares and programs. A dedicated technical team from 412 Labs will work closely with the participants and give support throughout the Lab. The participants will be provided with fees for the production of their works. In order to support participants’ full commitment, the artists participants will receive participation fees upon completion of their projects within the planned deadline.
The selected works will be exhibited in Medrar starting from May 8, 2022.
GUIDELINES AND REQUIREMENTS:
The call is open to artists from different disciplines willing to experiment and integrate their artistic practice with Virtual Reality (VR) technologies, game engines and modelling softwares to create VR artworks.
A minimum experience/familiarity with 3D modelling is required
A minimum experience/familiarity with Unity is a plus
A dedicated technical team from 412labs will work closely with the participants and provide technical support throughout the Lab. During the first week, the participants will be introduced to Unity and during the second week will take part in hands-on exercises on Unity.
The Lab will be held in English. Thus a good level of spoken and written English is required
Participants must have their own computers and the ability to run the required programs
To apply, the applicants are required to fill in the application form with all the required material and information. Applications missing any required information will not be considered
The applicants are required to submit a simple concept for a project relevant to the Lab content and bridging between the arts and new technologies
Applicants can support their application with previous designs and works relevant to the application proposal
The selection criteria of participants is based on originality and feasibility of the proposals within the duration of the Lab and proven understanding of how the proposed projects can make use of available technologies to create artworks.
The Lab will encourage artists to work together in groups. Yet, the participants have the option to work individually
The production of the artworks throughout the Lab will be fully covered
The participants have to commit to work on the concept development, prototyping, and implementation of the project and take part in all the Lab activities.
Upon completion of their projects within the set deadlines, the participants will be provided with a participation fee.
Participants are required to wear their masks throughout the Lab and to maintain safe distance.
The participants have the possibility to work on their projects during Medrar’s opening times also outside of Lab hours
The DEADLINE for submissions is Tuesday, 15 March 2022
Medrar for Contemporary Art announces a 3 day workshop around creative coding and motion capture led by artist Aida El-Oweidy. The workshop will explore the PoseNet model of ML5 and its implementation in P5.js to create interactive web experiences. Within the workshop, participants will explore the artistic possibilities of using Posenet, and using only a webcam and the p5 online editor to create a relationship between movement and the screen.
Requirements:
– Background and/or interest in the arts
– General knowledge of coding languages and concepts (particularly basics of P5 or processing)
– Participants must have their own computers with working webcams
+ Background in music and digital sound is a plus
About the instructor:
Aida El-Oweidy is a visual artist and graphic designer. She is interested in building worlds and the magic that can be found in code. She participated in the Turquoise Desert research bureau in 2020 and her VR experience ‘Stories that sustain us’ was exhibited at Roznama at Medrar contemporary art space in 2021.
Medrar and The Creative School Cairo announce their first collaboration with the launch of a 3-day workshop on VR video, sound and storytelling led by award-winning creative technologist Stefan Grambart and Avid-certified audio engineer George Zakaria. Throughout the workshop, the participants will explore immersive storytelling, spatial sound and VR navigation,working individually and in groups to conceptualise, storyboard, produce, edit, and export the sound and video of an original project..
The participants are required to bring their own laptops and download softwares (TBA upon acceptance). The video and audio equipment is provided by Medrar.
About The Creative School Cairo
With a long and storied history as one of Canada’s leading professional schools in media and communication, Ryerson University is bringing The Creative School to Cairo. Through a distinctively transdisciplinary approach at the crossroads of technology and creativity, The Creative School Cairo is preparing students for the future of media.
The workshop is free of charge.
The deadline for applications is Wednesday, 25th January 2022
To apply fill in the form below
The applicants will be notified by Thursday, 27th January 2022.
Requirements
— Backgrounds and/or interest in the arts
— General knowledge of coding
— Can manage new software proposed to work on (optional)
— Participants must have their own computers and the ability to run the required programs
— Participants are required to wear their masks throughout the workshop and to maintain a safe distance.
Heads up for the 4th edition of “Naema’s office is bleeding”, facilitated by renowned multidisciplinary artist Hany Rashed. Medrar for Contemporary Art is thrilled to host a new round of this workshop that has accompanied young and aspiring creative artists to explore and expand their visual practices.
The workshop invites the participants to create collage compositions by exploring the potential of collage techniques and combining an array of materials including drawing, painting media, photography, paper, cardboard and magazine clippings. A variety of topics will be addressed during the workshop spanning natural elements and animal figures with a focus on human figures. The collage process will be based on quick decision-making and consist of a transformative practice of re-creation. In the course of collage making, images will be selected from a diversity of traditional and contemporary sources – photography, paintings and internet imagery -and rearranged to create new relationships, at times complementing each other at others conflicting. Encouraged to produce a multiplicity of works in a short time, the artists will take different approaches to deconstruct, modify and juxtapose components to identify possible ways for the imagery to evolve and develop their own language. Through a mental and hands-on playful process, the images extrapolated will become personalised: as the original context is disrupted, new configurations and meanings will unfold to bring new order in the form of new subjectivities rooted in fantasy and alternative realms.
The workshop activities will be articulated in different interventions of experts – artists and gallerists- in the field of contemporary visual arts (TBA). The lectures will touch on matters related to the emerging Egyptian contemporary scene, pricing of artworks methodologies, gallerists’ parameters for artworks selection, showcasing and curation criteria, and will give the participants the opportunity to share experiences and discuss with artists engaged in the local art scene and market.
The workshop will kick off on December 1st and run until December 9th. The works created will be exhibited in a 2-week showcase from December 12th and 26th. For the participants to gain experience with selling, all the works displayed will be on sale at symbolic prices. The workshop organisers will be in charge of selecting the works to be exhibited and their selling price.
The workshop is facilitated by Hany Rashed and co-facilitated by Mona Essam.
Requirements for participation:
Filling in the application form:
No specific age or experience is required, but it is preferable for the participant to have minimal expertise in drawing and painting.
Workshop days: daily from Wednesday 1st to Tuesday 9th (Friday closed) from 6 to 10 pm (if the case of many participants, there will also be classes from 1 to 5 pm)
The workshop participation fee is 600 EGP. Upon receiving acceptance by email, the workshop fee can be paid at Medrar. The deadline for paying the fee is the first day of the workshop, Wednesday, 1st December 2021
Workshop fees are non-refundable after the commencing of the workshop
The materials including cardboards, colours and glue, are provided by the organizers. The participants are required to bring 5 magazines each, scissors and different size small brushes (2, 4 and 6 inches)
Deadline for submitting applications: Monday 22nd November 2021. Selected participants will be notified by Thursday, 25 November 2021
Address: 7 Gamal El Din Abou El Mahasen St. Garden City, 1st Floor, Apt.4, Cairo, Egypt, 11519
Medrar, ZERO1 and the U.S. Embassy Cairo are pleased to announce the open call for participants in Creative Impact Lab Cairo.
Creative Impact Lab Cairo is a five-week online creative exchange that utilizes community-driven digital and new media art projects to address women’s empowerment. It is scheduled to run June-July 2021.
The lab consists of five activity phases:
Artist Talk: a presentation by the U.S. lead artist introducing the participants and the public to their creative practice.
Workshops: a workshop series led by the U.S. artist which leverages their specific area of expertise. In parallel, the topic of women’s empowerment is explored by applying frameworks from the arts, social entrepreneurship, and community engagement.
Project Development: Participants prototype artworks that apply workshop skills to address women’s empowerment.
Panel Review and Virtual Exhibition: the lab culminates in a public panel review wherein Egyptian and U.S. experts provide feedback on participant project prototypes. Projects are revealed to a wider public audience at a virtual exhibition opening.
Sustainability Meetings: the U.S. artist and participants discuss how their artworks might develop beyond the Lab.
We are looking for Egyptian residents (age 18+) with:
An interest in technology, new media, and/or digital art; experience in the arts is preferred, but not required
An interest in exploring women’s empowerment
A desire to learn from new perspectives and new tools
A willingness to work and create in a collaborative environment
Youth (age 18-35), women, and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply
Participation in the Lab is free of charge and those who participate fully will receive a stipend.
CALL FOR SUBMISSION THE MOTION OF THE IMAGES PRODUCTION WORKSHOP for video art and experimental film
Deadline for application submission: 15th of March 2021
Workshop dates: 15th of April to 15th of June
More than ever, we are faced with the question of the image. What are these images that we produce, that we invoke, that we watch, and that are watching us, monitoring us? We are at once the creators, the producers, the actors, the extras, the witnesses and the audience of this spectacle. What is, then, this movement of the images that never ceases to haunt the world that is more and more threatening as much then threatened?
How can we still see, hear, in spite of everything? The pulse, the waves, are there, they have not yet abandoned us.
The workshop will invite 5 participants residing in Cairo to develop their proposed concepts and Medrar will offer a budget to produce a video art/ experimental film for each participant.
Along with the technical aspect, the workshop will have a strong focus on the conceptual element of filmmaking. Participants will dive through the history of cinema, the regional realities of filmmaking, critically looking at produced artworks and discovering their own approach to translating an idea and developing it further into a film. The workshop will assist each participant to realize their ideas, starting from the conceptual process into planning, production, post-production and screenings and distribution of the films.
Part of the workshop’s seminars (different guests from different horizons will be invited) and some screenings are open for the public and will be announced here and on our social media networks.
Producer: Muhammad Taymour
Workshop Manager: Mena El Shazly
To apply, please fill in the form below and submit it before the 15th of March, 2021. Only selected applicants will be notified.
– Applicants must be willing to fully commit to the workshop four days per week between the 15th of April and the 15th of June. – Applicants are obliged to attend lectures, screenings and sign up for one-on-one meetings with the workshop conductors. – Participants must produce a work (video art/ experimental film) by the end of the workshop. – All participants should submit a survey/ report at the end of the workshop. – All rights relating to the project must be fully cleared to Medrar. Medrar must without any limitations possess or be able to acquire all rights to the project. – A showcase of the final outcome of the workshop will take place in the context of the 10th edition of Cairo Video Festival, in addition to a feature in the publication.
This workshop is organized by Medrar for Contemporary Art with the support of the Netherlands Embassy in Cairo.
Medrar is implemented with the support of the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture – AFAC, through a grant from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation – SDC.
