Shaware3na (
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
: Our Streets) is the launch project for
Mahatat; a newly founded arts organization that promotes art in public spaces. Shaware3na consists of four projects to be held between January 2012 and 23 June 2012: The Art of Transit, Cinema Sky, Stop and Dance and The Tree Project. Performances and events are held in public spaces such the
Cairo Metro, coffeehouses, public buildings and squares including the
Tahrir Square
Tahrir Square ( ar, ميدان التحرير ', , English: Liberation Square), also known as "Martyr Square", is a major public town square in downtown Cairo, Egypt. The square has been the location and focus for political demonstrations in Cai ...
as well as in front of kiosks.
History
Shaware3na is the launching project of Mahatat, a newly founded arts organization that started in 2011 as part of a post-revolutionary revival of the arts scene in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
. Mahatat describes itself as a "collective that arose from the passion, conviction, dedication and vision of individuals to encourage the mobility of art in public space." It was co-founded by five women: Astrid Thews, Heba El Cheikh, Marie Girod, Mayada Said, and Myriam Makhou.
Projects
The Art of Transit
The Art of Transit is the first project of Shaware3na to take place and consists of
pantomime
Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...
performances taking place in
Cairo Metro's underground lines. Participant artists wave between one metro wagon and another to hold short performances and silently communicate with commuters. Amr Abd El-Aziz, an Egyptian pantomime artist, has been known to perform mainly on Friday mornings. Further participants include the clown duo Kouta Hamra (Red Tomatoes) by Aly Sobhy and Ahmed Mostafa. A short theatre performance by Hani Taher, Dina El-Sayed, and Maha Monieb. The Bussy project consists of feminist monologues held inside the metro. Some women have become emotional upon hearing the monologues and have wanted to share their own stories. The issue of sexual harassment has prompted many audience members to get involved in the conversations.
Cinema Sky
Cinema Sky was announced as part of the Shaware3na project as screenings of short films. Like the Kazeboon campaign, Cinema Sky screens its videos on the street using projectors.
Stop and Dance
Stop and Dance refers to workshops for non-professional dancers held by modern dancers
Karima Mansour, Paulina Almeida and Birgitt Bodingbauer. Dancing styles include breakdance, the Brazilian martial art and dance, capoeira, and parkour in public spaces.
The Tree Project
The Tree Project refers to participatory art project of creating artistic designs for tree in the Cairo neighborhood of
Dokki.
Reception
Shaware3na has been featured in the newspapers, such as the English-language version of
Al-Ahram and the Arabic Al-Shorouk.
References
{{reflist
Culture in Cairo