ahmed askalany: 'a good body for better sanity'

ahmed askalany is one of egypt’s most original
younger generation artists. he was born in 1978
in a nubian village in southern egypt (nagi hammad
in the governatorate of qena) and moved to cairo in 1995.

made of palm leaves woven with an ancient
craft technique that has always been used
in the villages to make baskets and ‘poor’ objects,
his work eschews the lofty prerogatives of sculpture.
it maintains traditional plastic forms, the sense
of modelling, of volume and of representation.
subjects typical of this young artist are animals
or human figures, which acquire an embalmed,
mummified look from his use of woven leaves.
yet askalany’s particular skill is in his unerring
ability to capture his subjects in an always
profoundly natural, ‘real’ moment, gesture or
attitude and stage them with frank candour
and, sometimes, merciless irony.