Wael Shawky (born 1971) is an Egyptian artist working between Alexandria and Philadelphia. Shawky gained international recognition for his works that trace the history of the Crusades through a Middle Eastern lens.[1] Shawky has won many awards and prizes for his work, including the Ernst Schering Foundation Art Award in 2011[2] and the Mario Merz Prize (2015) for his film trilogy, Al Araba Al Madfuna.[3] He is represented by Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Galleria Lia Rumma and Lisson Gallery.[4][5]
Based on extensive periods of research and enquiry, Wael Shawky’s work tackles notions of national, religious and artistic identity through film, performance and storytelling.[8] Shawky frames contemporary culture through the lens of historical tradition and vice versa. Mixing truth and fiction, childlike wonder and spiritual doctrine, Shawky has staged epic recreations of the medieval clashes between Muslims and Christians in his trilogy of puppets and marionettes.[8]
In 2011, Shawky presented his work at the 12th Istanbul Biennial.[9] In 2012 he exhibited at dOCUMENTA (13) in Kassel, Germany where he premiered the second part of Cabareh Crusades (The Path to Cairo) and became internationally renowned. In 2013, he created a live performance piece for the Sharjah Biennial from his 'Dictums' series, where 30 workers (primarily of Pakistani descent) sing a song in qawwali, a form of Sufi devotional music[6] with words borrowed from the curatorial statement of the Biennial.[10] Shawky went on to receive the Sharjah Biennial prize for the work [11] In 2010, Shawky launched MASS Alexandria which is the first independent studio programme for young artists in Alexandria, Egypt.[9]
In his ambitious film trilogy, Cabaret Crusades, Wael takes as his subject the complex historical and sociopolitical narratives surrounding the Christian Holy Wars.[8] The series began in 2010 and was finally completed in January 2015, when it premiered at MoMA P.S.1, New York.[13]Cabaret Crusades consists of three films: The Horror Show File, The Path to Cairo, and The Secrets of Karbala, loosely inspired by Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf's The Crusades Through Arab Eyes.[14] Shawky's films depict various historical accounts in an attempt to provide and illustrate an Arab perspective on the Crusades (from 1095 to 1204).[10] All the characters in Shawky's three films are played by marionettes and feature classical Arabic.[15] The second episode, The Path to Cairo, featured marionettes made of clay - a material believed to be what humans are made of according to the Qu'ran.[16]
In 2017, Wael Shawky premiered his latest project 'Song of Roland: The Arabic Version' at the opening of Theater der Welt 2017 in Hamburg, German.[22] The large musical and theatrical installation translates the epic French verse 'La Chanson de Roland' into classic Arabic and features performances by 25 fidjeri singers.[23]
In 2017, Shawky undertook a residency at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, in partnership with the Fire Station, in Doha, Qatar, where he conducted research for his first feature-length film on the history of oil production in the Persian Gulf. Filming for the project began in 2018.[24]
2007 Then you will return to me and I will judge between you in the matters in which you used to dispute, Kunsthalle Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland
2007 Digital Church, Collective Gallery, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
2007 The Forty Days Road, Wet Culture – Dry Culture, Galeria Sztuki Wspolczesnej, Bunkier Sztukim, Krakow, Poland
2007 Al Aqsa Park, YAMA, digital screen on top of Marmara Hotel, Istanbul, Turkey
