El Gouna Art Exhibition
The TU Berlin University Campus proudly presents the El Gouna Art Exhibition by Rasha Amin;
As the town of El Gouna we are very privileged to host the most recent El Gouna art exhibition, The Renaissance by the extremely talented visual artist Rasha Amin.
If you haven’t already seen the thought provoking collection then don’t worry, you still have a chance, its exhibited at the TU Berlin University campus, daily from 9am-8pm and is running till the end of December. I was lucky enough to not only view the collection but also to meet with Rasha Amin herself and find out more about the fascinating artist.
Rasha decided from the early age of seven that she was going to be an artist. This isn’t a talent that ran in her family but it ran in her blood and nothing could stop her from following her dream, her passion, she explains, “Art isn’t a thing – it’s my life”
Her family are her biggest fans and have supported her unconditionally throughout all of her studies & her career. Her career in visual art began after she graduated from Helwan University having gained her BFA in Interior Design. She found her passion for painting during this time which had led her to learn many other skills that she combines to create her visual art.
She is constantly growing as an artist and loves to renew her skills or to acquire new techniques by partaking in workshops or new projects. As a visual artist she uses a combination of different techniques including digital, painting, drawing, video, photography, mix media and installation.
After graduating she spent the next 5 years with a group of inspiring artists in Cairo. They would gather every Friday morning in and around old Cairo to experiment and paint, this work was then exhibited in numerous art galleries. Her first solo exhibition about Jazz “Dokki Ya Mazzika” opened 5 days before the 2011 revolution.
It was a huge success and was the starting point for her to pursue her career as an independent artist.
The 2011 revolution was a big turning point in Rasha’s life both personal and professionally, it was like a hurricane. She started to think about this current exhibition by observing the effects the revolution was having on society and the role social media played in it.
She spent one year just watching, observing, researching and understanding. She discovered that social media negatively played a large part in it, dividing families and generally being used for the opposite of what it was designed for, instead of connecting people it was tearing them apart.
She researched the work of the Italian artist Caraviggio and took inspiration from his art to create her “Ctrl+d” collection. She stared working on this mixed media on canvas exhibition, using different mediums including, screen printing, drawing, digital and manual painting, in 2013 and completed in 2015.
“Ctrl+d” stands for duplication in the digital world, from her research Rasha found that history often repeats itself yet has evolved with the use of social media & technology.
In the real world we find repetitive actions and experiences of violence, hatred and loneliness and unfortunately this reality has become so connected to the digital world especially with the uprising of social media.
Research has shown that social media can actually make us more isolated and can contribute towards increasing the negativity, violence, anger and hatred which grows within us. This is reflected in the collection combining historic and modern day images.
In 2014 Rasha came to El Gouna to teach Art at El Gouna International School, a job which she loved and will always cherish however she decided not to return this academic year as she felt she needed to focus on her own art.
She gave her all to teaching for two years as she wanted to give the children an unforgettable art experience however this left her with little time to follow her own visions and create her masterpieces. Luckily for El Gouna Rasha will stay here for now, she describes El Gouna as ‘free of negativity’ which is exactly what she needs to create her next collection.
For Rasha art is a calling, it’s part of who she is, each el gouna art exhibition has part of her soul in it. All her collections have equal importance to her as they remind her of who she was at that time, how she felt, her emotions and experiences.
Her art work and this collection are for sale, but beware some has already sold so don’t miss out on an opportunity to own one of these fantastic pieces of art.
So what’s next for Rasha Amin? She’s currently working on a personal project that’s more contemporary and conceptual due to be released in the early part of 2017. We are hoping El Gouna will have first glance at what promises to be yet another inspiring visual art experience.
http://www.elgounahomes.com/2018/08/03/things-to-do-in-el-gouna/
