EL LEILA EL KEBIRA

2016

Series of 5 photographic portraits of mosque’s minarets taken at night in different villages across the Nile’s Delta.

Exhibitions:

‘Desorientalismos’, CAAC Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, Sevilla, 2020

In rural Egypt, the local electricians are in charge of installing the lights on the mosques, and they make their aesthetic decisions following the sense of proportion and harmony that they developed naturally due to their cohabitation with artefacts, motives and textiles visually loaded with the aesthetic codes of Islamic Art.

When shot at night, the mosque’s main building blends in the darkness and the only visible architectural features are those lit by the light arrangements. By photographing them in this manner, the classical references undergo a process of abstraction and an opportunity for reinterpretation opens up, exploring their similarities with other “celestial” elements. At first sight, one could think of spaceships, rockets or skyscrapers and in a closer glance the details of the Islamic architecture reveal and the resulting geometrical patterns juxtapose; ancient Egyptian and Islamic iconography with sophisticated minimalism.

The project borrows its title El Leila El Kebira, from Salah Jahin and Sayed Mekawy’s puppet operetta, which depict the last night of a moulid in the Delta region. During that night, different members of the village put at the service of people their skills, abilities and craftsmanship to celebrate the religious ceremony. Coincidentally some of the photographic images contained in the project, bear resemblance to the traditional outfits used by the moulid’s tanoura dancers.

Ultimately these photographs stand as a tribute to Arab Shaaby culture and aims to extend and deepen the conversation on Islamic Cultural Heritage, for a better understanding of its transcendence and diversity.