[NOTE: This event is cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic]
Al-Bustan is pleased to co-present Bahia Shehab with the following University of Pennsylvania collaborators: the Institute of Contemporary Art, the Department of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations, and the Middle East Center
Artist Talk: WE WILL NOT REPENT: NAVIGATING THE ART SCENE IN POST-REVOLUTION CAIRO
Time: 12:00-1:00 PM
Location: The Institute of Contemporary Art, 118 S. 36th Street, Philadelphia
Admission: FREE
Bahia Shehab will discuss the factors that drove crowds of people into the streets during the 2011 Egyptian uprising and share how the protests inspired her street art during and after the revolution in Cairo. Shehab will also present her new project At the Corner of a Dream, which chronicles her journey to the streets of over fifteen cities around the world. From New York to Tokyo, Amsterdam to Honolulu, Shehab documented the stories of the people she encountered while intently focusing on the visual landscape of the urban spaces she visited.
Bahia Shehab is a multidisciplinary artist, designer and art historian. She is Professor of design and founder of the graphic design program at The American University in Cairo where she developed a full design curriculum focused on the visual culture of the Arab world. Her artwork is concerned with identity and preserving cultural heritage. Through investigating Islamic art history she reinterprets contemporary Arab politics, feminist discourse and social issues. Her work has been on display in exhibitions, galleries and streets internationally. The documentary Nefertiti’s Daughters featuring her street artwork during the Egyptian uprising was released in 2015. Her work has received a number of international recognitions and awards which include the BBC 100 Women list (2013), a TED Senior Fellowship (2016) and a Prince Claus Award (2016). She is the first Arab woman to receive the UNESCO-Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture. Shehab holds a PhD from Leiden University in The Netherlands. Her publications include A Thousand Times NO: The Visual History of Lam-Alif (Khatt 2010), At The Corner of a Dream (Gingko Library 2019) and a co-authored book A History of Arab Graphic Design (AUC Press 2020).
