Artist Mohamed Abla from Egypt is showcasing his artworks of poly and monochromatic cut-outs. He tells Shrabasti Mallik about the tradition of cutting out figures from magazines and pasting them on paper
Have you ever heard of the popular Egyptian folktale where a young prince survives a fatal curse with the help of his wifeIJ legend has it that when he was born to a royal family, it was predicted that he was destined to die from the bite of either a dog, snake or a crocodile. The king and queen built a tower and kept him there and instructed that the tower be guarded round the clock.
Years past and the young prince saw a puppy playing in the fields across his tower and longed for one. The king loved him so much that he fulfilled his wish. The prince and the puppy grew up together in each other’s company.
A few summers later the prince got married and his new bride saved him one night from a serpent. All that was left was the crocodile who challenged the prince to dig him a hole in the sand and fill it up with water so that he can take a dip. And if the water soaked up, he would kill the prince. Confused and scared, the prince shut himself up and refused to meet anyone even his wife.
The princess comforted him and told him that she knew of a herb whose leaf can keep water on a sand hole for a year. She went in search of the herb while he went to the sea shore. The crocodile was pleased and the curse was lifted.
Every country has stories to tell of its history, culture, people and monuments. Folk tales, on the other hand, narrate stories of mystic creatures, goblins and tales of kings, queens, prince and princesses. These stories are passed down through generations and continue to intrigue and interest readers and listeners alike.
There is a unique aspect to Egyptian art though. Artist Mohamed Abla, from the land of the Pharaohs and pyramids, told us that in Egypt, it is an old tradition to cut figures from magazines and paste them on paper. Apparently, that is how stories are told, reminding us of how the Pharaohs carved figures of animals and humans on the pyramid walls to tell stories of the deceased.
Sitting at his exhibit titled Egyptian Folk Tales at the India International Centre, Annexe, the 62-year-old artist told us that he used techniques of shadow puppetry in his paintings. Some figures were placed on the wall, cut out from black paper while others were cut from coloured papers.
The walls of the basement gallery displayed an intriguing collection of mono and polychromatic cutouts, monochromatic prints and oil paintings. Artworks made in different sizes were pasted on the walls like cinematic screens. According to the artist, visitors are invited to imagine, make connections and create their own story.
“Throughout my career,” Abla said, “I have worked on the concept of art as an approach to play and vice versa. I have learned a lot of techniques, but all the time there was a parallel path through which I tried to deconstruct all that I had been taught, and specifically any seriousness about art schools or trends. I was keen on dealing with art as a fun and play.”
For Abla, this exhibition is closely linked to his past exhibitions, which also used play as both a theme and an approach, such as: Snake and ladder, Future Fossils, and Revelations of a Tree, which were held at different stages in his rich career.
The paintings, we found out, reveal a huge dose of freedom and enjoyment on the part of the artist. With scissors, Abla starts to adjust his characters which he collects and puts aside. A few days later, he starts to put some of these items together to create a scene, or rather a painting. One painting leads to another. “There were no specific stories in my mind while I was cutting out the figures,” he confessed.