| Arab zones really do seem to be very “hot” at the moment. Not just because of war, occupation, and the clashes between the Palestinians and Israelis in the Gaza Strip, which dramatically marked the beginning of 2009 with the death of over 1,200 people, but also, fortunately, in a more positive sense, because warmth and fire forms the basis for a performance project presented by Moataz Nasr in A Memory Fills with Holes, the second show realized by the Egyptian artist at the Galleria Continua in San Gimignano, Italy. In the beautiful, womb-shaped exhibition space of the gallery, formerly a theater and now a focus and melting pot for artists and collectors from around the world, Nasr explored the Arab and African world, its identity, development, and boundaries, concerns that were viewed in relation to a not-infallible historic memory. |  |
Gaia Serena Simionati
Arab zones really do seem to be very “hot” at the moment. Not just because of war, occupation, and the clashes between the Palestinians and Israelis in the Gaza Strip, which dramatically marked the beginning of 2009 with the death of over 1,200 people, but also, fortunately, in a more positive sense, because warmth and fire forms the basis for a performance project presented by Moataz Nasr in A Memory Fills with Holes, the second show realized by the Egyptian artist at the Galleria Continua in San Gimignano, Italy. In the beautiful, womb-shaped exhibition space of the gallery, formerly a theater and now a focus and melting pot for artists and collectors from around the world, Nasr explored the Arab and African world, its identity, development, and boundaries, concerns that were viewed in relation to a not-infallible historic memory.
The narrative thread running through the show takes the form of a series of colorful tapestries in Propaganda, while Under Fire is a map of the world consisting of lots of tiny puzzle pieces that suggest an intricate mental problem. Then there is Khayamemya, a sculptural expanse comprising 3,800 tapers arranged to form beautiful Sufi symbols. Almost dreamlike and out of focus, the works are burnt by the artist in a subsequent performance. Once again Nasr proves that he is a profound and visionary artist anxious to keep his traditions and history alive, or at least to evoke them, in contrast to the brittle powers that would like to seem them dispersed.
In Two Faces of a Coin, a video shot in the Egyptian desert, a bare-chested man watches as traditional Muslim patterns, almost embroideries appear in his skin. These are the symbol and identity of a religious power so invasive and totalizing that they reproduce themselves, emerging and literally flowering from the skin. The work is infused with connotations of the tribal, archaic, and sublime.
Alternating the use of simple materials and sophisticated video technologies, the artist reflects on the dichotomies of the Arab-African world today: chaos, tensions, overcrowding, boundaries, social pressure, individual identity; government and power against small lives; indifference and possessiveness. The surname of Moataz Nasr means “victory” in Arabic, and this, in the light of his works and following the criteria that names are significant, is undoubtedly no coincidence. His video installation An Ear of Mud, Another of Dough, which consists of a video and a wall dotted with small ears made from bread dough and clay, relates to the Egyptian tale of Goha. In his intensely active practice Nasr explores the silence of details, and in the evidence of unseen things, brings to life the corollary of the culture of tradition, explicating the ancient in modern technology.
