Wael Shawky
Wael Shawky questions Western assumptions about Islam and the Arab world. His work is concerned with history, politics and religion – all brought into sharp focus by the recent upheavals in his native Egypt.
Wael Shawky lives and works in Alexandria, Egypt. His work questions Western assumptions about Islam and the Arab world. His animations and re-enactments explore histories that repeat themselves in different eras but still resonate in contemporary politics and culture.
Alongside Al Aqsa Park, the exhibition will show Cabaret Crusades: The Horror Show File (2010) – the story of the first Crusade of 1096-1099. Based on eyewitness accounts recorded by Arab historians, it is acted out by a collection of 200-year-old puppets. Telematch Sadat(2007) is a re-staging of the assassination of President Anwar Sadat – the event which ushered in the dictatorship of the recently toppled Mubarak. Children replace the soldiers and assassins. In The Cave (2005) Shawky himself is recorded wandering the aisles of a Hamburg supermarket, reciting a chapter of the Qur’an.
