Author: Mena El Shazly

Needlepoint Tapestry, 100x100cm. 2013.

A recurring form of poetry during the pre-Islamic period is now known as “The Poetry of Wine.” Within this genre, themes including death, rebellion, the passage of time and sanctity were examined through the personification of wine mostly as a woman. Both a drinker and a worshiper of God enter a state of trance that leads to the absence of the mind. For that reason, some branches of Sufism incorporate the poetry of wine to help worshipers feel closer to a higher being. “A Hail of Abuse” is an attempt to bring the names that poets used to personify wine back to life, while integrating them in the modern Egyptian society. Three women in an Island in Aswan that is highly influenced by Sufi culture collaboratively wove 99 names written by calligrapher Mohamed Hassan and inspired by the early Kufic script. The yarn and the tapestry are all dyed in wine natural ingredients. Abu Nuwas, a classical Arabic poet, once said “اثن عليها بآلائها وسمها بأحسن اسمائها” (Praise its blessings; and call it by its best names) while referring to wine.

Album artwork, Art Direction – Mena El Shazly

https://ccworld.hkw.de/#nadah-el-shazly

Written and Directed by Nadah El Shazly.

Visual Effects were done by me.

Currents.fm

Joy in Times of Uncertainty

This online event is led by the Curatorial Practice 2019-2021 participants of KMD that address the central question of how we experience and express anxiety and resistance, but also joy and solidarity, in these uncertain times of perpetual global crisis.

تعاويذ العالم الآخر هى قناة تلفزيونية عالمية ترفيهية متخصصة في مجال الطهي ونمط العالم الآخر. تبث القناة المجانية التابعة لمنة الشاذلي وأونجوينج بروجكت برامج حوارية ومواد دعائية لها علاقة بوعود الخلود الموازية التي قدمتها الطقوس المصرية القديمة ووسائل التواصل الاجتماعي. شعار القناة هو “وانتصر على الفناء، وأصبح نجماً في السماء، ساطعاً دائم الخلود”

Death Spells is an international food and afterlifestyle TV channel owned by Mena El Shazly & ongoing project. The free-to-air channel broadcasts talk shows and advertisements dealing with parallel promises of immortality made by ancient Egyptian rituals and social media. The channel’s motto is “And you defeated mortality, and became a star in the sky, shining eternally”.

(Allam+Mena) live video performance from Mohamed Allam on Vimeo.

 

 تسمية الأجزاء: تحكم ال-واي، جبس وحديد وسيليكون وتطريز على قماش، مقاسات متعددة، ٢٠٢٢، ٢٠١٩

تتضمن السلسلة سردًا متعدد التخصصات يشير إلى روابط بين أناس حقيقيين وحيوانات وخضروات وأماكن وبنى تحتية، وذلك في إطار خيالي إلى حد ما

‘Naming of Parts: Y Control’, plaster, metal, silicone, embroidery, 2019, 2022

The series incorporates a multidisciplinary narrative that heavily references connections between real people, animals, vegetables, places and infrastructures, but are all fictionalized to some extent.

“Fabric of the Everyday” Curated by by Sabine Bitter & Helmut Weber together with Huda Lutfi, Austrian Cultural Forum, Cairo, 2024.

 

Special thanks to Mariam Makramalla and Mohamed Fathy.

Rib C in progress