AT THE CORNER OF A DREAM

Complementing the festival program, works by visual artist and activist Bahia Shehab will be on display in an exhibition at the Barenboim-Said Akademie: At The Corner of a Dream 

The exhibition shows a series of short films that were shot in Cairo but stand for different urban spaces where Bahia Shehab has also painted her artwork, inspired by Palestinian Poet Mahmoud Darwish (1941–2008) on walls: New York, Beirut, Marrakesh, and the Greek island Cephalonia. Each short film looks at the discrepancy between the idea(l) of freedom and the reality of human suffering, thus reminding us of the fragility and preciousness of human life.

The exhibition accompanies the book of the same title published by Gingko in association with The Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC).

—Esen Kaya

Bahia Shehab is an artist, designer and art historian. She is associate professor of design and founder of the graphic design program at The American University in Cairo where she has developed a design curriculum mainly focused on the visual culture of the Arab world. She has taught over fourteen courses on the topic. Her artwork 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; BBC 100 Women list (2013), TED Senior fellowship (2016) and a Prince Claus Award (2016) among others. Her publications include "A Thousand Times NO: The Visual History of Lam-Alif." She is the first Arab woman to receive the UNESCO-Sharjah Prize for Arab culture.