Last week saw the opening of a new exhibition of the work of French cartoonist artist Golo (Guy Nadaud), celebrating 40 years of his work covering Egypt.
The exhibition was opened by the French ambassador in Egypt at the Hotel Viennoise in downtown Cairo. It coincided the release of the eleventh edition of popular local comic Toktok, for which Golo provided the cover illustration. An essay on Golo's life was also included in the edition of the comic, paying homage to his contribution to the Egyptian comic scene.
The largescale exhibition includes almost 200 works going back to the 1970s, documenting Golo's effort to capture the Egyptian story of humour, contradictions, problematic politics and kindness in his colourful sketches. Seven rooms are devoted to the exhibition, each one displaying work from a particular era.
Born in Bayonne, France in 1948, Golo has worked as an illustrator for several French and Egyptian periodicals since the early 1970s. When he came to Egypt for the first time in 1973, he fell in love with Cairo and kept revisiting the city and producing works on it until he decided to permanently relocate there in 1993.
He has produced two books on the city, the first concerned with the city in the 1970s and 1980s and the second focusing on Cairo in the new millennium.
Critics have hailed his honest portrayal of the country and its people, which stands in contradict to Orientalist trends in depiction of the Middle East.
Programme:
Exhibition runs until 31 May at Hotel Viennoise
Opening hours: Sunday - Thursday from 5pm until 10pm; Friday and Saturday 2pm until 8pm
7 Champollion Street, Downtown Cairo
Photos: Bassam Al-Zoghby