OPEN CALL: THE MOTION OF THE IMAGES- PRODUCTION WORKSHOP

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.

For further inquiries contact cvf@medrar.org

 Terms & Conditions for the production workshop 

– 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.

PRODUCTION WORKSHOP – THE MOTION OF THE IMAGES

For video art and experimental film 

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 invited 6 Cairo based artists to develop their proposed concepts and  produce an experimental film with the support of Medrar.


Guest speakers:  Maha Maamoun, Youssra El Hawary

Executive Producer: Bassem El Qassabi

Workshop Manager: Mena El Shazly

  

                                                                                                                                                                                     

Open Call – SHISH BISH

 Shish Bish 
 Open Call for artists and game designers 

Shish bish is a program launched in collaboration between Medrar and Makouk to initiate an artistic and conceptual journey of game creation.  

Through a 9 day workshop, participants are invited to explore the space where art and gaming intersect. 

Via facilitated sessions and through interventions by guest speakers, the workshop participants will work collectively and merge their different interests and expertise in an artful way to design and implement artistic games that will be produced and displayed in an exhibition open to the public. The workshop will take place at Medrar for Contemporary Art and Goethe-Institut Kairo – at the studio Takhshina and the adjacent open space – and run for 9 days between January 29th and February 10th. Each session will last from 4 to 6 hours. On weekdays from 6 pm to 10 pm and weekends from 12 pm to 6 pm.

The workshop will include group activities meant to strengthen the participants’ understanding of gamification within the artistic context and give them the tools necessary to create a compelling artistic game. Through group activities, lectures, and hands-on activities, artists and game designers will share knowledge and ideas and gain inspirational insights from experienced practitioners and the availability of technical material, in order to acquire and complement the required skills and work collaboratively on the creation of an artistically designed game. In small mixed groups, the participants will cooperate to conceive and prototype a project, which they will then test and articulate for the final exhibition that will take place in February/March at Medrar for Contemporary Art.

In order to maintain a safe and healthy workplace, the team will provide participants with adequate supplies, including hand wipes, soap, and alcohol-based hand sanitizers, make sure that social distancing policies are respected by participants, and remind them of basic preventive measures and safety precautions.

 GUIDELINES AND ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA 

  • The call is open to artists and game designers (digital and/or analog) willing to experiment with their usual practice within the artistic/ gamification context. 
  • As for the artists, the call is open to different artistic practices; applicants with different backgrounds (dance, visual arts, design, performing arts, etc. ) are free to apply with a project that integrates their favorite practice(s) into game design
  • the workshop will be held in Arabic 
  • The selection criteria will be based on originality, creativity, authenticity, and feasibility of the proposals. 
  • The workshop will encourage artists and designers to work together in groups 
  • The participants should be willing to collaborate in small teams in the concept  development, prototyping, and implementation of the project 
  • The applicants are required to submit a simple concept for a relevant project in the arts or game design field 
  • Applicants can support their application with previous designs and works relevant to the application proposal 
  • The production of the artworks throughout the workshop will be fully covered 
  • to apply, the applicants are required to fill the application form including all the required material and information 
  • Only applicants whose proposals are selected to participate in the workshop will be notified via email, no later than  16 December

 The DEADLINE for submissions is 6 December 2020. 

Poster design by Mohamed Sayed
Typography by Fadi Makram Wilson
The workshop was facilitated by Ali Azmi and held between 29 January and 10 February at Medrar for Contemporary Art and Goethe-Institut Kairo.
Guest speakers: Mariam Abou Ghazi and Ahmed Elshaer
Photographers: Mohamed Helmy and Abdallah Khairy
Coordination: Victoria Cornacchia
Technical assistance: Theodore Amgad
Production manager: Mazen Hussein

HOLOGRAM WORKSHOP – THE ILLUSION

The hologram is a technique that creates an illusion of a 3D image in space, employing an optical beam splitter to combine two images towards the audience’s point of view. The first introduction of this technique is known as the Pepper’s ghost in 1862. In this workshop we will be learning and producing our own holographic videos, while employing a combination of old and new DIY technologies. 

Schedule: 

Day 1 – Introduction to Holograms, history, uses in art and different techniques
Day 2 – Idea Brainstorming, development and preparation for video shoot
Day 3 – Video Shooting
Day 4 – Video editing
Day 5 – Presentation of work

– Fill out the application form (the application at the bottom of the page).

– No age or experience is required, but it is preferable for the participant to have minimal expertise in video or animation.

– The workshop will run for five days in March.

– Pay workshop fees at Medrar, after receiving acceptance email maximum Tuesday 17 March 2020 (500 EGP).

– Workshop fees are non refundable after the beginning of the workshop.

Deadline to submit application: Tuesday 15 March 2020

Address: 7 Gamal El Din Abou El Mahasen St. Garden City, 1st Floor, Apt.4, Cairo, Egypt, 11519

Workshop – How much do we need to live?

In the period between February and April, the Qaaf.Laam. collective, will be calling for a series of workshops whose goal is to develop practical tools or “work tools” that will be available to male and female cultural workers in Egypt in order to help create and develop a fairer working environment and conditions. We will think about how to develop collective knowledge that will help us achieve greater justice in our field of work, and how to transform this collective knowledge into practical tools that benefit a wider sector of workers in the cultural field, regardless of the professions, specializations, and types of institutions in which they work.

“How much do we need to live (as workers in the cultural field)?” “The first workshop is hosted by Medrar for Contemporary Art.

Working in the cultural field carries many meanings, including the importance of art and its impact on society, the importance of creativity and its value to individuals, spreading and developing culture and public awareness. Therefore, we feel satisfied and fulfilled that our work/work and livelihood have value, meaning, and impact on the world.

But in light of extremely harsh and complex economic conditions locally and globally, it remains “normal” that cultural work is flexible, temporary, unstable, without guarantees, without a minimum level of social or health security, and without clear methods and standards for determining wages.

Through the first workshop in the series of “Work Kit” workshops, we will pose and discuss the question: What is the fair wage for workers in the cultural field in Egypt currently? And how do we negotiate to reach it?

The call is general to all workers and workers in the cultural field. For those interested in attending.

Workshop schedule: Tuesday, February 18, 2020
7:00 – 7:30 Getting to know each other and an introduction to Qaaf.Laam. Collective.
7:30-7:45: Exercise “What are your basic monthly expenses?” (month’s budget)
7:45-8:15: Discussion of the fair minimum wage
8:15-8:30: Tactics for negotiating fair pay and discussing models of pay structures
8:30-9:00: Presentation of the #No-Not-Adi campaign and the next steps

Address: 7 Gamal Al-Din Abu Al-Mahasen St, Garden City, Cairo.

Creative thinking and image archives workshop

Experimental workshop “Creative thinking and image archives.”

From 19 to 20 June 2019

One of the activities of the experimental workshop was “Creative Thinking and Image Archive,” which was conducted under the supervision of the artist Shady El-Noshokaty, professor in the Visual Arts Program at the American University in Cairo, and organized by Dr. Iman Al-Banna, and Dr. Anne Marie Professors of Environmental and Applied Design, in collaboration with the National Library of South Australia, which was held at Medrar for Contemporary Art from June 19-20, 2019.

The workshop focused on developing practices of creative thinking about historical archival images and ways to deal with them as a catalyst for new ideas, by creating a multimedia interactive environment (drawings, video visual projections, three-dimensional compositions, audio and performance presentations…) overlapping or intersecting among participants with diverse experiences. .

Al Masaleh Bette’stalih | Roznama 7 – Studio Program

Al Masaleh Bette’stalih

Roznama 7 – Studio Program

“Al Masaleh Bette’stalih” proposes a framework through which we can exchange ideas, experiences, and knowledge alongside producing artistic projects and research/artistic theses about our livelihood strategies within various fields of contemporary cultural work.

How do we make a living today? What are the challenges we face? What feelings does the concept of work evoke in us? How do the interests of stakeholders intersect to shape the contemporary scene? And how can we envision and develop alternative methods for production, organization, exchange, and coexistence in our field? What kind of infrastructure, shared spaces, and solidarity might contribute to making this field less economically unstable? What will artistic production look like in light of these questions, and what forms will the artistic practices and research/artistic theses take, not only addressing current conditions but also intervening in them?

“Al Masaleh Bette’stalih” is designed for professionals in contemporary art fields, including artists, coordinators, event organizers, writers, editors, and anyone engaged in contemporary cultural work. Additionally, it targets researchers specializing in intersections between creative work concepts, the market, and forms of regulation in economically insecure situations and alternative economies and societies in cultural work.


Program Structure:

The program spans nine months starting on April 1, 2019. Recognizing the importance of a space to gather all participants throughout its duration, it provides a workspace (studios) for all participants.   

During April and May, the program engages in studying the realities and conditions of work and life in the contemporary cultural field through four case studies, categorized into two pairs: “Harm City Studios” and “Townhouse Roof Top Studios,” and “Nothing Fades, Everything Transforms Exhibition” and “Cairo Documenta.” Through these pairs, recent experiences in the cultural field are examined to reveal the nature of relationships, networks, resources, and emotions affecting participants within these examples and possibly within the sector as a whole. This part serves as a rich introduction to developing participants’ perspectives on the current reality and its implications for artistic production, artistic practices, event formats, educational methods within the field, relevant writings, forms of organizations, publication methods, and the exchange of research/artistic productions, imagining networks of interests and relationships that unite us.

In June, the program labs begin where participants work collaboratively in groups to study and enhance concepts and topics related to the program’s theme. The labs focus on forms of knowledge exchange and collective work.

For more information about the labs, check the application form.

The program concludes with a research forum that traces the impact of exchanges, ideas, discussions, and artistic projects produced during the program period. It also serves as an opportunity to create effective exchange spaces with the public.

Throughout its duration, the program hosts two directed working groups specifically designed for cultural managers, discussing topics relevant to the program’s theme. Applications for these groups and further details will be announced later.


The program offers:

  • Each participant will receive a modest stipend.
  • The program provides studios to provide space and time for participants to focus on their projects and productions.
  • WiFi, office, and a shared kitchen.
  • Visits from external consultants suited to each participant’s needs.
  • A shared space where others with similar interests are prepared to discuss and exchange experiences.

The Participants:

We received 45 applications from female and male artists, researchers, and cultural activists with diverse interests and backgrounds. We focused on selecting individuals whose interests align with the program’s objectives and who have proposed research, production, and pedagogical projects relevant to the program’s themes and questions. At the same time, we recognized the importance of providing workspace and fostering ideas for the largest possible number of interested participants. Therefore, we divided the participants into two groups: one group receiving individual studio space and a stipend, and another group sharing studio space with the flexibility to join the program as needed.

This cycle, we welcome 18 cultural actors from various backgrounds!

// Group receiving individual studio space and stipend // Osama Ayad, Eman Ibrahim, Sara Younis, Mahmoud Magdi, Marwa El Sayed, Nahal El Shamy, Randa Abu El Dahab, Rawia Sadek, Roshan Al Qurashi, Hager Aze Eldin

// Group sharing studio space with flexibility to join the program as needed // Ahmed Mongy, Batool El Hanawy, Sohair Sharara, Fatima Al Zahraa Nyazi, Marwa Abdel Monem, Mariam Khalil, May El Shazly, Hend Moaz

Program Activities:

“Al Masaleh Bette’stalih” is a social educational program aiming to produce and exchange knowledge, experiences, and skills within the cultural field. Participants are required to commit semi-full time over six months and are provided with space for collaborative work and thinking. During April and May, the program offers an introduction to the realities of cultural work through workshops, lectures, readings, field visits, and film screenings. Throughout the six months, we present a series of public events aimed at expanding the discussion on topics of interest to participants in the program.

Stay tuned for updates on public events through our Facebook page, and join us!

Urgent Eviction #1

Urgent Eviction #1 is a public meeting program organized as part of (Al Masaleh Bette’stalih), Roznama 7 – Studio Program.

The program began in April by developing a set of questions and concepts that will help us explore the reality of cultural work over the introductory months of April and May. We met over two days to share ideas about our concerns, drawing from our personal experiences and our work in the cultural field as artists, researchers, and cultural coordinators. We then developed broader themes to guide our research over the two months. We asked about the relationship between profit-oriented companies and non-profit cultural institutions, the history of unions in the cultural field, individual and institutional security and social insurance, financial sustainability and economic practices in the cultural field, as well as nepotism, personal networks, institutions, alternative work histories, and mechanisms that might contribute to our envisioning of the future of cultural work and our reality within it.

During April, we focused on two case studies: Haram City Studios and Roof Top Studios, through field trips, readings, meetings with individuals, film screenings, and exhibition visits. By examining these experiences, we aim to deepen our questions and achieve a tangible understanding of cultural realities.

Through the public program, we invite you to join us and share your ideas and experiences!

\\Schedule\\

Sunday, April 21

7:00 PM to 9:00 PM

  • Screening of the film “Outside in the Street” (directed by Yasmina Metwally and Philip Rizk, 2015) followed by a discussion with Philip Rizk.

The film was shot on the rooftop of Roof Top Studio, where the directors met and developed a collaboration. The film is based on the experience of several workers who joined an acting workshop, through which they reflected on their roles within the work system. The spatial setting of Roof Top Studio serves as a stage allowing workers to embody various roles: laborer, factory manager, and police officer, portraying the interactions between these parties. The film relies on acting and recreation to raise awareness about larger questions concerning power relations governing the lives of the working class, especially factory workers. Philip will discuss the film’s development stages and the artistic choices made with Yasmina Metwally to develop a cinematic practice that could be considered part of biased cinema history.

Philip Rizk is a director and writer based in Cairo. He co-directed with Yasmina Metwally the film “Outside in the Street” (2015), which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and later at the German Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in the same year. His writings have appeared online and in books including “2011 is not 1968: A Message to the Audience.” He was a resident visitor at the DAAD program in Berlin in 2016 and is currently working on a new film titled “World Without Maps.” Philip will lead a workshop within the framework of the (Al Masaleh Bette’stalih) program with participants on Sunday morning.

Monday, April 22nd

7:00 PM to 9:00 PM

  • Panel discussion with Osama Abdel Moneim, Ghada Abdel Moneim, and Sayed Abdel Khalek about Haram City Studios.

Today, artists of Haram City face the oncoming threat of displacement from their studios and homes in 6th of October City due to changes in agreements between the fine art sector and businessman Sameh Sawiris. These changes have led to rent increases and pressures to either own the studios or evacuate them, as stated in a Facebook statement by a group of artists from Herm City Studios under the hashtags #Solidarity_With_Experiment_In_Crisis #Haram_City_Studios. In this meeting, two artists from different generations, signatories to the statement, will discuss the history of Haram City, the details of the current crisis, and the actions they have taken to resist the displacement of artists from their studios and homes due to rent raise.

Osama Abdel Moneim, born in Cairo in 1984, lives and works as an independent visual artist. Since 2002, he has participated in 47 international and local art events and held two solo exhibitions. He has won several awards, including the Grand Prize for Artwork at the Second Youth Salon, the Oscar of the Third Creativity Festival, and others. His works are part of the official collections of the Museum of Modern Egyptian Art, the General Authority for Cultural Palaces, and the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Braunschweig, Germany.

Ghada Abdel ElMalek, born in Cairo in 1971, graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Painting Department, in 1993. She is a visual artist based in Cairo and has been actively involved in the art movement since 2007. She has had three solo exhibitions, participated in numerous art workshops, and exhibited in many group exhibitions. She received the Artistic Creativity Grant from the Egyptian Ministry of Culture in 2010 and 2011, and the Siwa Studios Grant in 2013 from the Egyptian Cultural Palaces Authority. She participated in a mural project “About Peace” The event was implemented by the Coalition of Youth Fine Artists and coordinated with the Masterpiece Movement as part of a week-long festival “Cairo, a Global City of Peace,” and was involved in an interactive project (a mural along Said Obeid Street in Imbaba about 500 meters long) with the participation of 30 artists, organized by the Coalition of Young Fine Artists.

Sayed Abdel Khalek, a graduate of the Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Expressive Arts, in 2001, Bachelor of Arts in Drama and Criticism. He has worked as a freelance artist and director since 2001. He participated in the 14th Youth Salon and is a founding member of the Association for Studies and Training of Independent Teams since 2004, which was established by six independent teams: Atelier Theater – Light – Movement – Fragmentation and Approach – Gypsy – Maghraty. He is also a founding member of the September 5th Group concerned with supporting the families of martyrs of Bani Sweif Theater in 2005. He participated in establishing the Links Theater in cooperation with Town House and contributed to organizing the Independent Teams Meeting until the ninth session in Cairo, Alexandria, and Minya, the largest gathering of independent teams since its founding meeting in 1990. He participated professionally as an actor and director in performances and films of the Independent Atelier Theater from 2001 to 2016, the latest of which was directing the theatrical performance “The Monkeys” presented at the Hanager Arts Center and as an actor in the film “Midnight Party.” He is a founding member of the Aswan International Women’s Cinema Festival and Workshop Director at the Aswan International Film Festival for Women’s Films since 2017. He received the Grant of Dedication from the Ministry of Culture in 2018 and completed shooting his first long documentary film “6 Characters.”

Wednesday, May 8th

7:00 PM to 9:00 PM

Discussion on the studio as a space for the artist’s work and the development of artistic practice.

We are questioning the nature of the space offered by “the studio,” not only based on case studies from April but also on the reality of the program we are in. It’s a program that provides studio space where we sometimes work individually and other times as a group. Do we need dedicated space for work, and what is the form of the studio today for us? What is the nature of the routine that connects us to our workspaces, and do workspaces enforce a certain practice on us or does practice dictate the workspace?

This open discussion invites the public and calls on several artists to reflect on their relationship with their studios in a seminar where we explore readings on the history, evolution, and nature of the studio as a space for creative work, and the type of activity taking place within artists’ studios in contemporary times.

Alaa Abdel Hamid, born in Dakahlia in 1986

Alaa is an artist and writer who uses multimedia including sculpture, texts, video, and installations. He employs assemblage and narrative of myths as artistic practices, blending real and imaginary narratives to mirror current political events. Alaa lives and works in Cairo. His works have been exhibited in solo exhibitions at the Medrar for Contemporary Art in Cairo in 2014, Saad Zaghloul Center in Cairo in 2012, and Artellewa Space in Giza in 2011. He participated in the Thessaloniki Biennale in Greece in 2011. He has undertaken several artistic residencies, including at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris in 2015 and Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France. He has authored two novels, “Security Personnel” in 2012 and “call me” in 2009.

Urgent Eviction #2

Participants in the (Al Masaleh Bette’stalih) program direct their attention during May to two case studies for this month: Cairo Documenta 1 (2010) exhibition and the “Nothing Vanishes, Everything Transforms” exhibition. This is done through field tours, readings, and meetings with individuals. Our aim in examining these two experiences is to deepen our inquiries and achieve a concrete understanding of cultural realities.

During the month, we are developing a set of questions and concepts related to regulatory mechanisms, administrative structures, and contexts where private capital intersects with the public sector. We explore experiments involving forms of Self-regulation of artists. The case studies raise questions about classifications like “youth,” “Egyptian,” or “contemporary” in their relationship to artistic products within local, regional, and international art markets, as well as the identity of those working in arts and culture. Can we view Cairo Documenta organizers as a “new generation,” young artists who have experimented with Self-regulation methods for presentation and production? What is the history of exhibitions in Egypt? To what extent does the public sector influence them compared to the private sector? What are the organizational and legal frameworks governing the work of cultural actors and artists? These questions serve as a starting point for the program, aiming to expand the scope of discussion with the public, initiating an understanding of current complexities and envisioning organizational structures and working mechanisms that critically engage with them.

\\The Schedule\\

Tuesday, May 14
From 8:30 PM to 10:30 PM
Recalling the History of Cairo Documenta 2010 Exhibition
Meeting with Ahmed Nagy, Mahmoud Hamdi, Ahmed Talal, Mohamed Allam

Cairo Documenta is a collective exhibition, whose first edition was held at the Viennoise Hotel in Downtown in 2010. After almost a decade, we revisit the history of Cairo Documenta through a meeting with the organizing group, aiming to discuss questions about the exhibition’s organization mechanisms and its historical context in the local art scene. In addition to the mentioned names, Ahmed Al Shaer (currently abroad) and Ahmed Basyouni were also members of the organizing committee.

Monday, May 20
From 8:30 PM to 10:30 PM
On Mechanisms of Organizing Cultural Events in the Public Sector

Meeting with the artist and curator Tarek Mamoon, inspired by his extensive experience within the Fine art sector and cultural centers in Cairo. Tarek Mamoon will discuss his history of collaboration with the governmental cultural sector and the lessons learned over the years. He will elaborate on the nature of the fine arts sector system, its bureaucratic complexities, its relationship with other governmental systems, and mechanisms for stimulating cultural product consumption and audience engagement.

Currently, Tarek Mamoon serves as the Director of the Museum of Modern Egyptian Art. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Art Education from the Faculty of Specific Education, Cairo University, 1992, and a Master’s degree in Art Education, 2006. He has worked in various roles within the fine arts sector since 1995, including as a cultural and artistic member at the Fine Arts Office, Director of Saad Zaghloul Cultural Center, artistic member of the Arts Complex, General Director of National Museums at the Ministry of Culture, and member of the Visual Arts Committee at the Supreme Council of Culture. He organized art exhibitions, managed art facilities at the El Giza Arts Center, and served on several committees at the Ministry of Culture, including the committee overseeing and preparing works of participating artists in the Cairo International Biennale 2001, and a member of the Artistic and Cultural Activities Measurement Unit project committee.

Sunday, May 26
From 8:30 PM to 10:30 PM
Meeting and Tour with Participants in the Program

We have been working on filling an entire room with diverse materials inspired by case studies during the introduction period to reflect the collection of our research paths throughout April and May. We divided into four groups (Alternative Group, Art Market Group, Audience Group, and Institution Roles Group), each developing its questions and ideas. The room bears the traces of our collective work to understand the reality of the field we work in and aspire to change some of its elements. During the meeting and tour, participants will present the key ideas we discussed and what we have concluded about the past, present, and future of the cultural and artistic field.

Between May 2019 and early August, participants focused on their individual projects in preparation for their first critical review sessions held during the first ten days of August.

The critical review sessions:

Between May 2019 and early August, colleagues participating in Schedule 7 – Studio Program (Al Masaleh Bette’stalih) focused on their artistic and research projects during the period from May to August.

The collective critical review sessions are held internally among participants in Roznama 7 – Studio Program (Al Masaleh Bette’stalih) and the program’s curators. Each participant presents their findings in their projects and personal research. Attendees, including program colleagues and curators, criticize the work, guide research paths, develop ideas, and discuss them with the project owner to assist in their development for the upcoming critique session or final research forum, an event open to the public and critics for attendance and discussion of the final form of various projects and researches.

The Labs:

Participants in Roznama 7 – Studio Program (Al Masaleh Bette’stalih) conducted open labs for the public to engage in as part of developing their work and enriching research sources, in the form of workshops facilitated by project owners.

Chick Museum Lab with Nehal El Shami:

Nahal presented her research project to the Studio Program about the nature of museums, their different types, methods of displaying artifacts within museums, and their value. Nehal organized the “Chick Museum” lab, which served as a practical experiment to create a museum. She invited children to participate in the lab and organized several field visits to various museums around Downtown and historic Cairo. Alongside these visits, sessions and discussions were held with children about the concept and importance of museums and how to handle artifacts of historical value.

At the end of the lab, under Nahal’s supervision, children will create a small museum showcasing artifacts they brought from their homes, overseen by their parents. The children also prepared the space to exhibit their artifacts and engage in discussions with the public about them.

“Secret Magazine” Lab with Sara Younis:

Sara’s work submitted to the Studio Program revolves around money and its direct impact on social life. Sarah invited various photographers to collaborate on producing a magazine titled “Secret,” inviting guests from different visual backgrounds including photographers Yasser Elwan and Heba Khalifa.

Workshop sessions continued to meet weekly for two months, during which participants worked on developing their ideas and coordinating shots and different projects published in the first and only issue of the Egyptian magazine “Secret.”

“In the Great Trap of the Time” Lab with Rawia Sadek:

Rawia Sadek has long been researching the life of feminist “Doria Shafik,” uncovering secrets about her upbringing, literary activities, role in opposition, personal life complexity, and mental health until her passing in the 70s.

Rawia issued an open invitation to comic art enthusiasts to work on a series of illustrated stories and comics depicting different stages of Doria Shafik’s life, collaborating with comic artists Aliaa Bassiouny and Tawfig, along with the presence of various guests during different workshop sessions such as Shawky, a comic artist and founder of TokTok magazine.

Publication Lab:

Mohamed Abdel Kareem and Noor El Safouri, curators of the second edition of Roznama 7 – Studio Program, coordinated the Print Lab to work with participating artists and researchers on creating a publication about the program as a whole, encompassing all writings, notes, and collective projects worked on by colleagues throughout the studio period.

Abdel Kareem and El Safouri discussed various publications and methods of self-publishing with the studio participants. Alongside Abdel Kareem and El Safouri, studio participants conducted recorded discussion sessions—later transcribed—about various challenges in artistic practices in general and within the studio in particular.

What Are We Selling in the Cultural Field?

We are preparing for the research forum, the final event of this year’s “Al Masaleh Bette’stalih” program, concluding our open program for the public. The first event within its framework is the workshop “What Are We Selling in the Cultural Field?” facilitated by Mariz Qallada, and we invite you to join us.

Our preparatory meetings for this workshop focused on the instability of work in the cultural field and the insights provided by the perspective of affective labor and precarious/temporary labor. These are aspects through which we understand our lives as cultural actors. We conceived a research tool around which the workshop revolves, settling on auto-ethnography for its potential to employ artistic research strategies on subjects such as emotional labor, individual agency versus collective will, solidarity, and support among workers in the cultural field. This opens up spaces for new practical and cognitive practices in arts and culture.

Auto-ethnography is a research tool in the humanities and social sciences, characterized by a liberated style of writing free from conventional and descriptive templates, allowing us to engage with ourselves and our experiences to confront broader contexts. Over the first two sessions, we progressed through successive stages of writing, note-taking, and reflection in an attempt to deepen our understanding of some questions.

First Session:
Focused on “What Are We Selling in the Cultural Field?” where we discuss the progress of the relationship between “work” and “capital,” starting from Karl Marx and moving through writings of the Italian Autonomia movement. We address overlooked forms of work such as women’s labor, care work, and minority ethnic labor, and inquire how we can broaden our concepts of work and its necessity in studying our work reality in the cultural field and its relationship with the global economic system.

Second Session:
Poses the question “Is it enough for each to follow their own path?” We write and analyze our personal experiences and what our insecure work may offer in terms of potential for reactivation or use of emotional involvement, often compelling us to work beyond the value of our wages. We continue to reflect on the potential of insecure work in the cultural field—whether it drives us to reaffirm individual will, analyze institutional structures, or perhaps requires us to blend both—and how we can achieve this.

Third Session:
Centers around “What do we think about when we hear/say solidarity?” Here, through exercises and collective discussions, we delve into intersections apparent in our diverse work experiences, our different positions, personalities, and occupations. How do we build networks and social relationships based on what is common in our experiences? What do concepts like solidarity and support mean to us, and can we imagine meanings that turn these concepts into practical actions to improve living, psychological well-being, and work atmospheres without restricting them to ethical approach?

The workshop is open to artists, researchers, writers, project coordinators, and professionals in fields intersecting with culture such as translation, publishing, education, and journalism. No prior experience in the discussed topics or writing is required—only an interest in the themes and a willingness to learn collectively, and share experiences, and knowledge within the group.

At the end of the workshop, there is an opportunity to develop a collective contribution presented to the public audience of the research forum in November 2019.

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November 22nd and November 23rd | Marathon (Al Masaleh Bette’stalih)

The marathon starts at 11 AM on November 22nd and ends at 1 AM on November 24th.

We open Roznama Studio to the public for 36 hours, during which participants will showcase the implementation of their work stages to the audience. The format chosen for the event aims to extend the time to occupy studio spaces for a long period where we interact together: eating, conversing, engaging around artworks, discussing them, eating again, and then producing posters about work environments within the cultural field.

We meet each participant twice, whether inside their studio space or in the corridors used by some to display their works. Some presentations are repeated, while others occur twice in different ways.

Here is the schedule. We look forward to welcoming you.

Note: You can bring a sleeping bag and stay inside the studio for the night of the 22nd.

The eventWe start on 22 November and end 1 am on 24
Breakfast and Beverages and Program Overview11:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Marwa El-Sayed Presents (Graph Chart) as part of her research project on social relationships as infrastructure in the art scene between 1989-2019, inviting the audience to participate in its development.1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Marwa Abdel-Moneim Marwa presents a dual-print project titled “Eating Meat,” where the artist attempts to document human consumption of the universe through a mythological framework.2:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Eman Ibrahim Iman presents her second puzzle book focusing on architectural entities as a case study, part of her long-term research project “I am Munira from Egypt.”2:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Nehal El-Shami Nehal publishes a print as part of her research project addressing our intertwined relationship with the museum as a cultural institution that should reflect both our present and heritage together.3:00 PM – 3:30 PM
Fatma Abu Douma Fatma presents a multimedia work exploring the personal narratives and psychological dimensions faced by a group of women working in the creative field.3:30 PM – 4:30 PM
Break / Lunch4:30 PM – 5:30 PM
Mariam Khalil A tour of Mariam Khalil’s studio showcasing works in development, discussing her relationship as a photographer with oil painting and photography.5:30 PM – 6:00 PM
Hagar Az Eldin Hagar stages remnants (objects, language, action, conflict) from the inner world of middle-class homes, aiming to create space for questioning personal relationships with the public.6:00 PM – 6:30 PM
Eman Ibrahim6:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Rawiya Sadek Rawiya presents personal prints and diaries (“Memory of the Ephemeral, I see nothing but what is unseen”), alongside participant prints from the workshop (“In the Trap of the Great Time”), covering the 1960s and two important events in Doria Shafik’s life during 1967-1968.7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Ahmed Mange Ahmed presents “Temporary Printing,” an experimental project under development addressing publishing and its various practices.8:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Burnout / Poster Workshop on Work Fatigue10:00 PM – 1:00 AM
Musical Playlist by Ahmed Mange1:00 AM – 4:00 AM
Nap Break5:00 AM – 10:00 AM
Breakfast and Beverages10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Reading and Discussion Session
A session starting from contributions within the program’s print to contemplate “Toxic Work Environments”: What does it mean for a work environment to be toxic? How can we broaden our understanding of the nature of relationships that arise within our workplaces?
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Fatma Abu Doma12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Tour at the Chick Museum with Nehal El-Shamy
A project coordinated by Nehal El-Shamy where children create their museum themselves, following several tours Nehal conducted with “Chicks” at Cairo museums in early 2019; a group of children aged between five and twelve.
1:00 PM – 1:30 PM
Sara Younis Sara presents her work along with the team – Hadeer Nagy, Salma Shatah, Norhan Ibrahim, Manal El-Sayed – “Siria,” a photographic print they have been working on since last June. The print includes several illustrated stories exploring the impact of money on our daily lives.1:30 PM – 2:30 PM
Rawiya Sadek2:30 PM – 3:30 PM
Break / Lunch4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Hagar Azz Eldin5:00 PM – 5:30 PM
Marwa Abdel-Moneim5:30 PM – 6:00 PM
Ahmed Mongy6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Marwa El-Sayed7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Mariam Khalil8:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Nehal El-Shamy8:30 PM – 9:00 PM
Sara Younis9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Osama Ayad Osama presents a film of his choice, followed by a session discussing the creative work challenges faced by a new generation of male and female creatives in various fields (music, cinema, arts, design).10:00 PM – 1:00 AM




WORKSHOP- VIDEO EDITING

Video editing is an introduction to the video creation process for artists. A pure technical approach for those who want to produce their own moving image and discover various tools for achieving a good quality output. Led by Karim Hashkobly as well as other guest instructors, the workshop will touch upon processing digital video files, timeline environment, special effects and treatment of audiovisual material.

 About the workshop 

After completing this workshop, you will be able to:

  • Identify best practices for video production and implement them
  • Recognize common pitfalls in the video production process and determine how to avoid such difficulties
  • create an effective plan for video production that accounts for time, resources and your production team’s abilities
  • Identify the main recording methods used in video production and employ them to create high-quality, impactful image.
  • Utilize non-linear editing systems to manipulate your raw footage and incorporate graphics, animations and third-party media to produce polished video segments.
  • Describe the editing process from start to finish
  • Encode your finished videos
  • Best practices for video production
  • How to get a video from an idea to delivery

 Conditions for participation: 

  • Fill out the application form below this page
  • Availability on workshop days (6 sessions): Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday from 7 to 10 pm for two weeks
  • Workshop fees 1500 EGP
  • Paying workshop fees at Medrar after receiving the acceptance email, maximum on Thursday 2 November 2017
  • Workshop fees are non-refundable after the commencing of the workshop

Deadline for submitting applications: Thursday 2 November 2017

Address: 7 Gamal El Din Abou El Mahasen St. Garden City, 1st Floor, Apt.4, Cairo, Egypt, 11519
Tel: (+2) 02 27957714
Email: events@medrar.org

Workshop – Video Dystopia

Video Dystopia
Image as a language in video art  A workshop led by Artist Ahmed El Shaer 

Dystopia is an imagined environment; its components are illogical, bad and unpleasant, and often tyrannical and unfamiliar. The same is applicable on animation practices, be it real or virtual, which do not fall under any fixed rules and are considered non-tamable.

Technology hybridization is when a video is collected and recollected, often in interactive constructions, alongside a huge variety of other media, such as: digital video, films, DVD, computer art, CD-ROMs, graphics, animation, and virtual reality that are used to form new artistic expressions and languages. Thus, it is not a pure film or a pure video.

We will pose the questions of ‘what is video art?’ and ‘what is the language of image?’ throughout this workshop. It also covers practical discoveries in the history of animation artists from the abstract methodologies of film since the 1920s, the avant-garde cinema of 1960, to this day and the evolution of video art and animation as an art medium.

The workshop tackles the techniques of using camera, texts, animation, virtual reality, video games and graphics for producing artworks through the linguistic characteristics of the image within a video. We will discuss means of producing a video image and its process in a way that allows adding new poetics of image and construction. During the course of the workshop, we will produce a series of new works using methodologies that you can apply to your artistic practices.

The workshop targets the students of arts and emerging new media artists and filmmakers.

The workshop will be held daily in Medrar Sunday 30 July 2017 to Thursday 17 August 2017 from 5 to 8 pm.

A two-week group exhibition will be held by the end of the workshop to exhibit the output artworks.

Workshop guests: Shady el Noshokaty, Mohamed Abdel Kerim, and Hany Rshed.

Conditions for participation:

  • Filling in the application form (the application at the bottom of the page).
  • No specific age or experience is required, but it is preferable for the participant to have a minimal expertise in drawing and painting.
  • Participants shall bring their own laptops.
  • Availability on workshop days for two weeks and committing to attending all daily sessions, except on Friday and Saturday from 5 to 8 pm.
  • Paying workshop fees at Medrar after receiving the acceptance email, maximum on Thursday 27 July 2017 (500 EGP).
  • Workshop fees are non-refundable after the commencing of the workshop.
  • The selection of works to be exhibited will be made by the organizers.

For submission, please fill the below application.

Deadline for submitting applications: Tuesday 25 July 2017. Selected participants will be notified on Wednesday 26 July 2017 maximum.

Address: 7 Gamal El Din Abou El Mahasen St. Garden City, 1st Floor, Apt.4, Cairo, Egypt, 11519

Tel: (+2) 02 27957714

Email: info@medrar.org

Open Call: Naema’s office is bleeding 3 

 Naema’s office is bleeding 3  (Painting & Collage workshop) 
 led by Artist Hany Rashed 

For the third year in a row, Medrar for contemporary art organizes with the artist Hany Rashed the workshop of Naema’s office is bleeding, which has become one of the ambitious programs in Medrar because that it’s able to impose its own character and involve a community of creative young artists by giving them the opportunity to learn and experiment and practice the visual vocabulary of collage. The workshop offers a unique experience to get to know traditional collage techniques and experiment and explore new and contemporary techniques through the using colors, newspaper clippings, magazines, glue and cardboard to create different creative compositions.

The workshop discussed several topics such as the impact of media and the Internet on the arts. This year, we will address a range of topics that are more relevant to human and his daily life. The workshop’s content is co-facilitated by Mona Essam.

The workshop starts from the beginning of August and lasts for three weeks. A two-week group exhibition will be held for the artists participating at the end of the program to present the workshop’s output.

 Conditions for participation 

  • Fill out the application form (the application at the bottom of the page).
  • No age or experience is required, but it is preferable for the participant to have minimal expertise in drawing and painting.
  • Availability on workshop days: Saturday, Monday and Wednesday from 5 to 9 pm during August (workshop duration).
  • Pay workshop fees at Medrar, after receiving acceptance email maximum Sunday 30 July 2017 (600 EGP).
  • Workshop fees are non refundable after the beginning of the workshop.
  • Selection of works to be exhibited will be made by the organizers.

Deadline to submit application: Tuesday 25 July 2017, selected participants will be notified on Wednesday 26 July 2017
Address: 7 Gamal El Din Abou El Mahasen St. Garden City, 1st Floor, Apt.4, Cairo, Egypt, 11519
Tel: (+2) 02 27957714
Email: info@medrar.org

CALL FOR SUBMISSION  – TECH-MYTH PRODUCTION WORKSHOP

TECH-MYTH PRODUCTION WORKSHOP 
 for Video Art and Experimental Film

Deadline for application submission: 1 April 2017
Workshop dates: 3 April – 7 May 2017

‘Myth’ is a word often used to describe cultural accounts that diverge from the prevailing logic of those societies that consider themselves founded on the rational and scientific. Technology is understood as aiding the idea of the progressive society, informing and enlightening its citizens and affording prosperity through efficiency.

Technology’s ability to remix reality, through the editing and the circulation of images, for instance, seems to have evolved from providing magical make-believe to challenging the very concept of truth. Who would’ve guessed that the renewed legitimisation of non-scientific accounts of reality would emerge from the stronghold of science itself!

For artists working with the moving image today, the context of their practice expanded fundamentally. Within this landscape of New Age Mythical production of meaning detached from any kind of historical relationship to facts, and from the expectations of authenticity and authority, what kind of possibilities may arise for the artist?

It may be that our sense of overview and control is potentially disappearing – but this sense might have been fictional in the first place. Lived myth is indistinguishable from facts. Only the myths of The Other appear fantastical and surreal.

The workshop will invite 5-8 Egyptian participants to develop their proposed concepts and Medrar will offer a budget to produce a video art/ experimental film.

Part of the workshop’s seminars and screenings are open for the public and will be announced here and on our social media networks.

We encourage applicants from outside Cairo to apply; Medrar is able to provide accommodation for one participant from outside Cairo during the month of the workshop.

Applicants must be willing to fully commit to the workshop four days per week between April 3 – May 7, and are required to attend lectures and sign up for one-on-one meetings with the workshop conductors, Mohamed Abdelkarim from Egypt and Anne Haaning from Denmark.

To apply, please fill in the form below and submit it before 1 April 2017. Only selected applicants will be notified.

For further inquiries contact cvf@medrar.org

Workshop – Tech-myth production

TECH-MYTH PRODUCTION WORKSHOP 
 FOR VIDEO ART AND EXPERIMENTAL FILM 

During one month of the workshop, eight Egyptian participating artists met four days per week for nine sessions collectively to explore video art production and to develop their proposed concepts, while looking at works and writings of some selected artists working with the moving image. During the workshop each of the eight participants had the opportunity to have a weekly one on one meeting with one of the workshop instructors, Mohamed Abdelkarim (Egypt) and Anne Haaning (Denmark), in order to discuss the progression of their work. 8 video art and/or experimental film pieces were produced during the workshop.

Part of the workshop’s sessions was open for public attendance and participation. Field trips included attending Alain Resnais’s Night and Fog at Cimatheque. The workshop was a merge between both the visions of the instructors and the participants with some brainstorming which had taken place in the screenings, public discussions and the readings.

Tech-myth production workshop 

‘Myth’ is a word often used to describe cultural accounts that diverge from the prevailing logic of those societies that consider themselves founded on the rational and scientific. Technology is understood as aiding the idea of the progressive society, informing and enlightening its citizens and affording prosperity through efficiency.

Technology’s ability to remix reality, through the editing and the circulation of images, for instance, seems to have evolved from providing magical make-believe to challenging the very concept of truth. Who would’ve guessed that the renewed legitimisation of non-scientific accounts of reality would emerge from the stronghold of science itself!

For artists working with the moving image today, the context of their practice expanded fundamentally. Within this landscape of New Age Mythical production of meaning detached from any kind of historical relationship to facts, and from the expectations of authenticity and authority, what kind of possibilities may arise for the artist?  

It may be that our sense of overview and control is potentially disappearing – but this sense might have been fictional in the first place. Lived myth is indistinguishable from facts. Only the myths of The Other appear fantastical and surreal.