In Conversation With : Fatenn Mostafa Kanafani Part 1

Author Daf Beirut

A series of in depth interviews with Arthur Debsi, writer and researcher at Dalloul Art Foundation where he discusses various subjects with professionals in the Arab world.

Fatenn Mostafa Kanafani – Lecturer, and Art Historian on Modern Egyptian Art

Part 1. Egyptian modern art is being continuously subject to research and documentation until date. Published in July 2020, Modern Art in Egypt: Identity and Independence, 1850-1936, focuses on a specific time frame which corresponds to important changes in Egypt. In the first part of the conversation, Fatenn Mostafa Kanafani explains her intention to analyze the Egyptian modern art movement, especially including the political context, as well as the religious environment. Through a local point of view, Kanafani describes the birth and evolution of the artistic dynamic in Egypt, from 1850 – one year after the death of Muhammad Ali Basha (1769-1849) – to 1936, when the Anglo-Egyptian treaty was signed. The author introduces the key figures of the movement of al-nahda such as Rifa’a al-Tahtawi (1801-1973) and Imam Sheikh Muhammad Abduh (1849-1905). Delving on another note, she discusses how institutionalizing art was part of the modernization process, starting with the opening of the School of Fine Arts in Cairo in 1908, followed by the foundation of the Salon du Caire in 1921.

Video recorded on Zoom by Arthur Debsi
Edited by Christine Labban