Nagy Shaker at his 2015 exhibition 'Light Talk'. At the background are photos from his 1964 visual theatre project, The City of Dreams. (Photo: Ati Metwaly)
Osiris Art Production and Training hall is scheduled to host an open discussion with renowned artist, puppet-maker, scenographer, costume designer, and professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Helwan University, Nagy Shaker on 11 February.
Born in 1932, Shaker is best known for his contributions to Egypt's puppet theatre. In the 1960s, he was chief designer for El-Leila El-Kebira, Cairo's iconic marionette musical. Without being bound to one art genre, Shaker's experiments with puppets, theatre and scenography were soon coupled with an interest in film since "theatre and cinema are interlinked. All forms of art are connected," Shaker revealed in a 2011 interview for Ahram Online.
Over the decades of artistic practice, Shaker touched on many art forms, experimenting in visual theatre, cinema, paintings, sculpture, graphic work, even interior and architectural design.
In May 2015, Shaker presented 'Light Talk', a display of 14 installations, each incorporating unique light techniques to express the artist's dream. The rectangular blocks or boxes, rotating around the vertical axis or fixed, are illuminated from the inside.
"Light is the magic of theatre," Shaker told Ahram Online in this 2015 interview. "I was never interested in stories, but rather in visuals created by light."
Programme:
6pm Thursday 11 February
Osiris, 68 Qasr Al-Aini Street, second floor, apartment #23, Garden City, Cairo
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