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Atelier of Alexandria
Atelier of Artists and Writers (AAW)
"A history pulsating with life in the heart"
General Information:
Address: 6 Victor Bassili Street, Al Azarita, Alexandria, Egypt
Tel & Fax: 03-4860526
Email: info@atelieralex.com
Site: www@atelieralex.com
Current Staff:
- Board Chairman: Prof. Mohamed Rafik Khalil (Head of the Surgery Department at the Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University), email mrafikkhalil@yahoo.com
- Coordinator: Artist Moataz El Safty (Coordinator of the Artistic Programs, web contents and External Relations), email mmmoataz@hotmail.com
- Vice President: Prof. Mohamed Salem
- Honorary Secretary: Dr. Medhat Nasr
- 6 Board Members
- Secretary: Eglal Ibrahim
- Logistic: Ahmad Saad
Foundation of AAW:
AAW is one of the oldest and most important national organizations in the Alexandrian civic society. Besides, its importance in Egypt, as an artistic and cultural organization, comes next to Organization of Lovers of the Fine Arts in Cairo, which was established legally in May 22, 1923 as an extension to Egyptian Organization for Fine Arts.
The beginning was when Atelier of Athena invited the artist Mohammed Nagy (the pioneer of the modern picturing) in the autumn of 1934 to hold an exhibition for his products there. At the same time, the French literary Gaston Zananiry was invited also to lecture in Egyptology in the same place. Other literary figures, writers, thinkers, and artists of different trends were all invited also, to meet in the same place. When Nagy held his exhibition in Athena, he got a dream to execute the same idea, as soon as he returns to Alexandria. In October 1934, Nagy determined to realize his dream. He, along with foreign group of artists and writers living in Alexandria, started to found an atelier in Alexandria to be a real thing. This newly founded atelier was a meeting point for the Alexandrian artistic scene, and it was active and dynamic in the cultural life along many years. The establishment of this atelier was the coronation for discontinuous previous trials and for a stage of growth, maturity, and crystallization of the cultural and plastic movement in Alexandria. The first formation of the board of directors was as following:
- Chairman of the Board: Mohammed Nagy
- Vice President: Gaston Zananiry
- Honorary General Secretary: Artist Wanriko Terny
- Artistic Secretary: Joziny Sbaty
- Treasurer: Madam Sason
- Members of the Board: The majority was foreigner artists, and the minority was Egyptian artists. Later, Egyptian artists started to join the Atelier more and more.
The second Chairman of the Board was the well-known lawyer and the counselor of municipality Mr. Ahmed Abdel Hady. During the period of his presidency, the Board started to include a number of Egyptians along Europeans; e.g. Amin Shohaib and the great chiseler Mahmoud Moussa. Many of the well-known Egyptian names started to appear in the Board; e.g. Seif Wanli and the greatest of the contemporary cultural figures and artists. Thanks to the efforts of those pioneers, the Atelier was founded. Nagy, the main founder of the Atelier, described those pioneers as "They are like the beehive. They exerted an extraordinary effort to accomplish this symbol, which restores the liveliness". Nearly 1000 member of AAW contribute with their donations to provide most of its funds. AAW also rents its premises (halls and working studios), at very affordable prices, for exhibitions and artists.
Chairmen of the Board of AAW:
- First chairman of the board was artist Mohammed Nagy.
- The lawyer Mr. Ahmed Abd Elhady
- Dr. Mohammed Lotfy Dewedar, one of the great surgeons who occupied the position of vice president of Alexandria University
- Artist Seif Wanli
- Engineer Rada Mess Allaqany, Director of the Centre of Vocational Training and Production for Kafr El Dawar Factories
- Prof Na'eema Elshishiny, lecturer in Faculty of Fine Arts in Alexandria University
- Dr. Shams El Din Abo El Azm, lecturer in Faculty of Pharmacy
- The current chairman, Prof. Mohamed Rafik Khalil, Head of the Surgery Department in the Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University and a famous Alexandrian poet, writer, and intellectual
Location of AAW:
In March 1935, Nagy signed the first rent contract for the Atelier, when the Atelier’s address was 10 Messala Street (Safeya Zaghloul now). Saint Lewis School occupied the same building at that time. After one year, the Atelier moved to the second location on 18 Fouad Street (Metro theatre now). One year later, the Atelier moved to a third location on 2 Saint Saba Street, and it continued to be there for twelve years as a main centre. Some other places were rented for some activities. Then, the Atelier moved to the fourth location at 25 Fouad Street (Bento Co for Cottons place), in front of Royal theatre. The fifth location of the Atelier was "Villa Mekhlaa" which consisted of two floors on 54 Fouad Street, in front of the head office of the water company, next to governorate building. The Atelier occupied the first floor of the Villa, while the French Friendship Organization occupied the second floor. The sixth and final location of the Atelier (the present one) is a villa on 6 Victor Bassili Street (previously Korant). This villa was constructed in 1893. The date 1883 written on its gate is considered the foundation date of Martini Foundry, which built that gate at that time. This villa included in the past a wide garden and a theatre, where parties were held. It was said that a wealthy Greek merchant Tam Nacho is the one who built that villa. Then, its ownership moved to the wealthy wood merchant El Sayed Karam, who replaced the alabaster floors with precious wood. This villa was later known as being a palace. Then, the ownership of this villa moved to many persons, until it moved finally to the Egyptian Italian Bank in 1956, from whom the villa was rented as the Atelier, and took the name of Atelier of Artists and Writers (AAW) of the City of Alexandria and in 1969 the major part of the garden was also sold.
Goals of AAW:
- Connecting artists from different horizons and making it possible for artists from different fields and nationalities to share their experience
- Making art more accessible to the public by organizing exhibitions, workshops, seminars, and talks
- Organizing and holding exhibitions in the fields of plastic art, photography, books and publications
- Organizing cultural and artistic lectures, as well as arranging concerts and plays
- Issuing cultural bulletins in the different trends and interests (e.g. plastic arts, literature, movies, and general culture
- Arranging classes for the young and the old for studying plastic art in the studio, for practicing pottery craft, and for photography amateurs
Regional and International Trends:
Since 1969, AAW has hosted many cultural events, both regional and international, with a wide variety of activities in the fine arts, poetry, music, history lectures as well as seminars.
AAW is one of the most vital and active resources for contemporary culture and art in Egypt; its members represent the top intellectuals and thinkers. AAW is active in all of the modern movements in art and culture, giving many workshops and supporting established and emerging talents. AAW became as a partner with ZINC-ECM de la friche belle de mai, as a member of BJCEM, as a member of the International Association of the Biennial of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean (la Biennale des Jeunes Créateurs d'Europe et de la Méditerranée), and as a member of Egyptian network in ALF Anna Lindh Foundation for culture dialogue between Europe – Mediterranean. AAW now had participated in two proposals as a partnership for call for proposals to ALF Anna Lindh foundation with ZINC/ECM in Marseille, Azzuro studio in Milan and SHAMS in Beirut, second call for proposals to EU European Union with ARCI in Italy, BJCEM in Italy, FYRO in Macedonia, Bosnia Herzegovina association and Greece association.
Activities of AAW:
As part of its message in presenting both Egyptian and international works of art, the AAW has hosted many exhibitions for international artists such as:
- Hosting an exhibition for the international artists, e.g. the French artists Lotrik and August Rodan
- Hosting an exhibition for the great British chiseler Henry Moor
- Hosting many prominent thinkers, artists, and literature lecturers or holding their exhibitions in the headquarters of AAW
- Welcoming and encouraging the young to visit prominent artists in their open studios in AAW for training and gaining experience in artistic craft
- Holding the Annual Salon for the Plastic Art, and keeping this as an annual tradition since the foundation of AAW
- Holding the Annual Atelier Salon for the Seaport Artists, which is one of the most important artistic events that take place in Egypt
- Organizing a lot of cultural activities; e.g. artistic, cultural, social, and scientific lectures and seminars
- Holding conferences in the diverse creative fields; e.g. literary and plastic criticism, short story, novel, poetry, music, cinema, theatre, etc
- Holding theatrical and musical parties as well as social parties either for welcoming or farewell as an opportunity for the artists and intellectuals to meet
- Arranging classes for the young and the old for studying the plastic art in all its diverse fields; e.g. drawing, porcelain art, and photography
- Arranging classes for the young and the old for studying languages, theatre, and music
- Arranging exhibitions in the field of plastic art and photography
- Issuing publications, books, and bulletins from time to time
Examples of Activities:
- Celebrating the memory of prominent artists and writers, who enriched the cultural life in Egypt, e.g. the great writer Abbas El Aqad and artist Shady Abdel Salam
- One of the famous exhibitions organized by the AAW in partnership with the branch of the Syndicate of Artists was the exhibition of three generations of the Alexandrian artists, aiming at making artists of different generations meet on the occasion of honoring the Alexandrian artist Mahmoud Moussa, one of the artists of the first generation and one of the first founders of AAW
- Cooperating with different foreign centers to organize different cultural activities (plastic, cinematic, and musical), e.g. cooperation with: Exhibition of “The English Sculpture in Forty Years", "Exhibition of Modern Spanish Engraving", and "French Graphic Exhibition"
- Holding exhibition on the anniversary of artist Mahmoud Nagy
- Issuing cultural bulletins in different trends and interests (plastic arts, literature, cinema, and general culture)
- Participating in Alexandria Biennale of Arts through exhibiting the Biennale's works in its different halls, especially the works of the participating French suite
Clubs of AAW:
AAW includes clubs specialized in the fields of different creative fields, which are as following:
- Camera club, where artists and amateurs interested in photography, meet weekly
- Film club where those who are interested in the cinematic art and the fine movies, meet weekly. This club also organizes meetings and seminars with cinema artists and critics
- Pen club, where the literary figures and those who are interested in literature meet
- Poetry club
- Theatre club
- Book club
- Atelier chorus
- Acting team
Examples of most Recent Activities of AAW:
- 2005: Participating Alexandria Biennale of Arts in 2005
- March 2006: Swedish Artist Jan Cardel's workshop with 10 artists
- April 2006: AAW International Youth Salon 2006
- June 2006: AAW international Woman Conference
- November 2006: AAW International workshop 2006
- April 2007: AAW international Youth Salon 2007
- Coming event through 2007: AAW art residency programs
Membership:
AAW is a national organization for the artists and writers, managed by Board of Directors which is formed of nine elected members. There should be at least five members among the nine who are Plastic artists and Syndicate members. The Board members elect from among them the Chairman, Vice president, Secretary, and Treasurer. The Board constitutes committees for different activities such as the cultural committee, artistic committee, and social committee. The current number of the members is 300. The membership is divided into:
1) General membership: This member should either have participated in the foundation of the Organization, or applied for joining AAW and the Board accepted him. In addition, a general member has the right to attend the sessions of the General Assembly and run for elections of the Board.
2) Affiliate member: This member can enjoy the activities of the AAW and can join the different classes of the Atelier, but cannot attend the sessions of the General Assembly, and cannot run for elections of the Board.
3) Honorary member: This member provides notable services to AAW but does not have the right to attend the General Assembly sessions or run for the elections of the Board.
The AAW will continue to be a pulsating live history in a heart to enrich the cultural life and react with art and the literature in an equal and intimate relation forth and back. AAW still retains its pioneering role in the cultural fields because of its long history in serving as meeting place for creative thinkers, artists, and literary figures from Alexandria and from all over Egypt
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