“Inherited” is a long-term project that explores and documents folk murals and the practice of self expression on public walls in Egypt. It spotlights this art form that Egyptians have continued to practice as a way of documenting their cultural traditions, religious beliefs, and celebrations. The project explores the origins of these paintings in the areas where they are most widespread, suggesting a similarity to the ancient Egyptians’ practice of visual documentation. It also aims to identify and seek out the self-taught painters behind these works, to trace influences behind this organic artistic expression and its development. As the low-cost paints cause the murals to fade out, so do the traditions they depict. Combined with encroaching modernization of the areas where these murals are found, this practice is being pushed toward disappearance, making documentation an important means of conserving these aspects of Egyptian culture.
Wafaa Samir Biography
Wafaa Samir is a Photographer and visual artist based in Cairo. Her work explores two main tracks; our relationship with our external environment, whether urban, social, environmental, or otherwise, and our relationship with our internal world of emotions and states of mind. She alternates her attention between these outer and inner worlds to explore how each world influences the other and how this influence shapes us.
Wafaa earned her Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Cairo in 2013. She also studied in Behna independent Program for Visual Arts from 2021 to 2022. In parallel she actively showcased in many exhibitions In Egypt, Germany, Belgium, France, Dubai, the UK and Spain, most notably PHotoESPAÑA at Casa Árabe in Madrid (2023), Thresholds at Wekalet Behna in Alexandria (2022), Sight mapping at Arts’ hub gallery in Cairo (2022), Diffusion festival in Wales (2021), The Arab streets at Gulf photo plus in Dubai (2019), Nile Salon at Mahmoud Mokhtar Museum in Cairo (2017), Biennale des photographes du monde arabe in Paris (2015), Nord Art International Exhibition in Germany (2015), and Layer of green at CIC in Cairo (2014). Her participation at the 26th edition of the Youth Salon in Cairo earned her the Photography Award. Her photographs was selected as the official poster image for the 1st Biennale des Photographes du monde arabe, and for the official poster of Mooov Film Festival in 2015.
Website: https://www.wafaasamir.com/