Agoraphobia
Prologue exhibition of the 13th Istanbul Biennial, TANAS, Berlin, 25 May - 27 July 2013. Curators: Fulya Erdemci and Bige Örer. Co-curator: Kevser Güler
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Silence of the Sheep. 2009
Video
8:51 min (loop), colour, sound
In this work, Kenawy, dressed in overalls, led a group of men (including her artist-brother and frequent collaborator Abdel Ghany, and several hired day workers) crawling on all fours along the street. But the sight of "sheepified," and humiliated Egyptian men led by a woman in a hyper-patriarchal society was too much for the public. And its indictment of a populace held in thrall by an oppressive regime was not loss on her audience. The performance ended in a melee; Kenawy and her collaborators were arrested, but later released. The public response to Silence of the Sheep had much to do with its apparent attempt to rupture already tense and fraying boundaries of gender, patriotism, and the social imaginary -- especially in an Egypt riven by religious anxieties and political oppression.
(Chika Okeke-Agulu, in: Huffpost Arts & Culture, 9 May 2012)
© Still: The Amal Kenawy Estate
Repro: Haupt & Binder
Prologue exhibition of the 13th Istanbul Biennial, TANAS, Berlin, 25 May - 27 July 2013. Curators: Fulya Erdemci and Bige Örer. Co-curator: Kevser Güler