A sculpture exhibition to showcase the newly established Adam Henein Prize will open at Cairo's Hanager Center on Friday.

The exhibition is organised by the Adam Henein Foundation, and will showcase a number of accepted submissions and works eligible for the prize. On the opening day the winners will be announced.

The prize, inaugurated last October with an event held at the Adam Henein Museum, aims to discover and support contemporary artists under the age of 35 from Egypt and the Arab world.

The launch of the prize was prompted after several controversies around “ugly” public statuary--such as the incident of the “Frankenstein” Nefertiti bust in Samalout--which undermines the value of sculpture and the skill of Egyptian sculptors, according to a press release.

A seminal Egyptian artist, Henein’s work dates back to the 1950s. 

The artist belongs to a movement of modern sculptors, including Mahmoud Mokhtar and Mohamed Moussa, whose work is heavily influenced by Pharaonic sculpture, yet also features contemporary and experimental elements.

His work reflects a relationship between heritage and modernity.

He established the Aswan International Sculpture Symposium in 1995, and opened the Adam Henein Museum in 2014.

Programme:
The exhibition opens on Friday 31 March and will run until 13 April.
It is open daily from 10am to 9pm
Adam Henein Hall, Hanager Art Center, Cairo Opera Grounds

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