Saturated Souls II Exhibition

Welcome to our exhibition, Saturated Souls II at the Applied Artist Syndicate Exhibition hall in the Cairo Opera House. The exhibition will run from 12.10.2010 till 20.10.2010.

October Art Exhibition

All the Egyptian Firefly Tunnels artists are joining in a visual art exhibition in October..... Details are coming soon.....

Saturated Souls

After a full month of work, including 3 weeks of intensive workshop the FireFly Tunnels project successfully completed the Egyptian part of the work. The work was exhibited at Darb 17/18 under the title Saturated Souls.

All in all 21 artists exhibited their work. The exhibition included paintings, video shows, performances, poetry, installations, Photography etc.

The artists have proven to be extremely talented as they managed to create art using mediums which are out of their comfort zone. The exhibition drew many positive comments from the audience.

Congratulations to all the artists, with all our wishes for further successes.

We would like to thank lead artist and curator Tavia La Follette for all the effort and hard work she put in the residency and we look forward to receiving her for other projects in the future.

Thank you to all artists. You have made us very proud of you.

Enjoy & Believe

THE PROJECT

The Firefly Tunnel Project is an artist exchange between the U.S. and Egypt. The project is the concept of the U.S. based artist Tavia La Follette and was brought to Egypt via her acceptance as an Artist-in-Residence to ARE (Artist Residency Egypt). La Follette runs her own non-profit gallery/performance space in the United States called ArtUp. Together with ARE and ArtUp, La Follette has begun to Egyptian side of the Firefly Tunnel. ARE and its director Essam Serry, partnered with La Follette to not only gather an eclectic mix of Egyptian artists, but to also host the workshop and artists who are living outside of Cairo. ARE is currently providing an artistic home to 10 artists in there residency home based in Giza with a picturesque view of the pyramids.

ArtUp using U.S. based artists will run a parallel workshop/residency. A symbolic and technological (web site) tunnel will be built between Egypt and the States for the artists to exchange their ideas on art, cultural community and how to utilize performance art and installation as a road towards a common understanding of humanity. The words “performance art and installation” are used to describe the work as it invites various forms of artists to participate- poets, dancers, conceptual artists, musicians, actors, videographers, painters, essayist, sculptors etc. Because it is a virtual tunnel and can be accessed worldwide, this allows for the dialogue to open up to a global community. A final exhibition of the exchange will take place in the United States, bringing in 3-4 Egyptian artists to represent that side of the tunnel.

Firefly Tunnels, The Metaphorical Passageways

Firefly Tunnels are metaphorical passageways for the exchange of ideas through the language of Performance Art. One could think of them as an Underground Railroad that crosses the border of language, a system of tunnels that doesn't believe in the barriers of countries or in the obstruction of segregated tongues.

Tavia La Follette

FireFly Tunnel project starts

The FireFly Tunnel project has started... more than 17 artists have joined the project... Good luck to all of them....

FireFly Tunnels Project Starts

We would like to welcome artist Tavia La Follette Executive Director and founder of ArtUp organisation in Pittsburgh, USA in our residency. Tavia is curating and leading a group of Egyptian artists for a 3 weeks intensive project (FireFly Tunnels). For more info about the project email: eserry@artsresidencyegypt.org
Welcome to Egypt Tavia....

Egyptian American Art Project مشروع فني مصري أمريكي

تم فتح باب قبول الطلبات للأنضمام إلي مشروع فني مصري أمريكي مشترك. يتضمن المشروع أعمال فنيه من مختلف التخصصات ( فيديو ، نحت ، حركه ، الشعر ، الأستعراض ، الموسيقي إلخ

علي الفنانين الذين يرغبون في الأنضمام أرسال الطلبات عبر الإيميل الي العنوان التالي

eserry@artsresidencyegypt.org

علي أن تحتوي الطلبات علي الأتي

خطاب طلب الأنضمام موضح فيه المهارات الفتيه وأسباب تقديم الطلب
السيره الذاتيه
نماذج من أعمال سابقه ( عدد 10 صور في حالة فنانوا التصوير أو 10 صفحات من الشعر أو الكتابه في حالة الكتاب أو 10 دقائق تصوير فيديو في حالة فنانوا الفيديو أو 10 صور لفن الرسم أو النحت أو 10 دقائق للموسيقي ... إلخ
عنوان الموقع الألكتروني للفنان في حالة وجوده

المشروع يتضمن ورش عمل لمدة ثلاث أسابيع من 6 إلي 8 ساعات يوميا للذين يقبل طلباتم وفي نهاية ورش العمل سيتم عرض الأعمال الفنيه في مصر والولايات المتحده الأمريكيه وتبدأ ورش العمل من منتصف يوليو الي منتصف أغسطس

فعلي من يجد في نفسه الكفاءه التقدم قبل بداية شهر يوليو 2010 وسوف يتم الأتصال بالذين سيقع الأختيار عليهم في الفتره من أول يوليو إلي يوم 14 يوليو

Artist Call for all Egyptian artists

Artist Call: The Firefly Tunnels- Cairo

The Firefly Tunnel Project is now accepting applications. Running from mid July to mid August, the performance art and installation project will culminate with an exposé of the program’s work in Cairo around the celebration of Ramadan. The Firefly Tunnel research continues as a virtual exhibition and dialogue open to the international community. The project also includes an opportunity for 2-3 of the curated Egypt based artist to go to the United States for the final stage of the exhibition.

Tavia La Follette, a U.S. based artist, will lead and curate the project. La Follette is an award-winning deviser of performance, curator and designer whose work has toured all over the States, Europe, South America and Asia. Her politically driven work has been the subject of articles such as the Economist, Rolling Stone Magazine and the New York Times. La Follette seeks artists who are diverse in their medium, background and in various stages of their careers. The project is an opportunity for participating artists to achieve international recognition, participate in an ongoing global dialogue, and to explore their own work through performance art. Performance art grew out of DaDa and the avant-garde movement in the visual arts. It is conceptual by nature. It therefore is adaptable to a variety of artists who will be learning from one another in an intensive residency atmosphere.

The Firefly Tunnels will incorporate performance, video, sculpture, movement, poetry and sound to create various installations sites throughout Cairo. As a director and curator, La Follette’s mission is to develop a foundation of experimental artists in Cairo who range in diversity (race, gender, religious/cultural beliefs, economic background etc) who will strive to push each other’s boundaries, stimulating dialogue and discovery through the exchange of aesthetic works.

A metaphorical “tunnel” or website will be set up between Egypt and the U.S. that investigates visual and performative colloquy. By building a discourse between the U.S. and Egypt, the goal behind the project is to break down the barriers between Muslim and Christian prejudices as well as addressing general xenophobia, gender and class issues. Cairo is rich in academia and the arts. The project hopes to tap into the various forms of these fields, birthing a hybrid language of communication.

Through social, political and environmental observations the “tunnels” will create an experience that seeks and speaks emotional truth and intelligence through art, unafraid of change, culture and inspired by the education of new ideas.

An exposé of the work will be presented in Cairo around Eid ul-Fitr. Curated artists must be available to commit to a 3 week intensive workshop based out of Arts Residency Egypt (ARE) from mid July through mid August of 2010 (exact dates to be announced).

Interested artists should send a one page artist statement as to why they should be considered for the Firefly Tunnel Project, a resume, and collection of up to 10 images, 10 pages of written work or 10 minutes of video (performance, movement videography), sound to: Tavia@artup.org and eserry@artsresidencyegypt.org. Please send inquiries to the same addresses.

If you are including video, please provide a link to a website or upload to an open access site like You Tube. Artist can provide both images and video by sending, for example- 3 images and 7 minutes of video, but the average portfolio review time should amount to approximatly10 minutes.

Expectations of the artists and the role of art:

The Cairo based collective will work together to build a dialogue based on perceiving that enunciates with space, body and cultural expressions. Hence, the need for a variety of mediums in which the artists work. Our topic of discussion will be around the issues of borders and identity with a common goal for peace. The project is seeking artists who are not naïve about human nature and see conflict as a necessary transcendental turning point. The major role of art in this project is to metaphysically investigate the concept of “peace”. The 3-week portion of the project will demand a commitment of 6-8 hours a day. This intensive schedule is needed to produce a tolerant and safe risk-taking zone of performance and installation.

Opportunity To Win a Residency

An opportunity to win a residency is open to artists from all categories. If you think your work benefits society and art, if you think visiting Egypt will enhance your art, submit a proposal with a project. Who knows, you might win an award to stay with us as resident artist and get the opportunity to experience the Egyptian culture first hand.

Your proposal will be evaluated against set criteria. If you cover all the required criteria then you will be allowed to stay and work on your project. Each proposal is evaluated according to its own merits. This means that you can submit as many proposals as you wish as long as they are for different projects.

The criteria is based on the following guidelines:

1. How much does the project benefit the society?
2. How much involvement is there for local artists or local community?
3. Is the project multi-discipline?
4. Is the project's outcome tangible?
5. Is the time frame for the project realistic?
6. Does the project have clear aims?
7. Is the project related to the country and the location?
8. Does the artist's previous work show ability to bring the project to a successful outcome?

IF you think you can do it, submit your proposal and application to the following email:

applications@artsresidencyegypt.org

The application should include your CV, samples of your work, a project proposal and any other evidence which might be supporting your proposal.

If you need further information or clarification email:

eserry@artsresidencyegypt.org

Looking forward to receiving some brilliant ideas and lost of creativity.

Enjoy & Believe.

What We Offer

We offer:

Residence facilities accommodating artists in private and shared rooms.

Indoor and outdoor shared work space.

Private work space, work studios and the supply of materials and equipment needed for art projects could be arranged upon request.

Tourism services including, airport pick up, visits to museums, galleries, events, arranged tours with qualified and licensed Egyptologists.

Introduction to the art community in Cairo including art colleges, universities and other art organizations.

Assisting in the publishing, distribution or exhibiting of works of art produced by visiting artists.

Assisting and organizing courses, workshops and events.

CAIRO & Modern Art

CAIRO is a wondrous city enriched with thousands of years worth of art, culture, civilization and tradition.

As one of the largest cities in the world, it is truly a diverse and timeless metropolis, and a home for people of various backgrounds.

From Coptic Cairo to Islamic Cairo, The Pyramids at Giza and the Sphinx, not to forget the various castles, villages and temples that have endured centuries.

The city has the oldest and largest film and music industries in the Arab World. Many international media, businesses, and organizations have regional headquarters in Cairo,

The art scene in Cairo is age-old and has evolved over millennia to be the lively force it is today. Pharonic art museums are readily available, as are museums for every era of Egypt's impressive history. The Cairo Opera House in Zamalek is the central hub of art; home to the Philharmonic Orchestra and host to numerous artistic events. In Downtown and Zamalek art galleries are plenty and more than willing to sponsor art.

In the city, you can rest assured that you'll always have sights to see. The night scene in Cairo is quite a lively one, and Cairene's are particularly fond of their nightlife. You are sure to enjoy a wide selection of bars, cafes, restaurants, casinos and more! You will find in Cairo, beloved historic gems, remnants of a foregone era as well as trendy nightclubs of modern appeal.