The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Known for their arts & crafts workshops, cultural events, and frequent exhibitions, Art Lounge, with its decently sized space and adequate lighting, is currently displaying a collection of carefully selected work by 23 different artists.

This particular exhibition is made up of intricate paintings; complex drawings, colourful prints, textiles and some delicate wire sculptures.  Everything within this space is actually quite small with nothing overly elaborate. Nonetheless, it is a pleasant exhibition with talented artists, some of whom are known from previous exhibitions at Zamalek Art Gallery and the Picasso Gallery.

Hala Shafey fits into this category and has two beautiful and colourful pieces on show by the entrance, created using oil pastels. One is of flowers presented in a vase and perhaps one of the more colourful pieces in the entire display with its strong marks and vivid colours, really reaching out to the viewer.  Hala Shafey is known for her love of pattern and colour, as well as objects and scenes that ooze feminism.

Looking around it appears that the majority of the art displayed is quite illustrative and narrative as though they were taken from a children’s book. This also explains their small size.  One example of this would be the paintings by Gamal Lamei as they appear to be telling a story about nature and mankind’s relationship with it. They do this through the vivid blues, the lustrous greens and glowing yellows. Images of happy people immersed in nature, surrounded by birds, fish and trees all merged into one vivid scene.  Born in 1948, Gamal Lamei has a PhD in Art Education and is a professor of painting at Helwan University.  His art work is well-known for being quite colourful and almost always possesses strong links with drawing focusing on plants and animals.

Though most of the work featured in the gallery takes the form of a drawing or painting, there is a small collection of wire sculptures moulded into tiny figurines of men, women and animals made by an artist called Gomma, who’s known for using a variety of materials in his work. They are simple and fun though the interesting thing is the wire’s resemblance to an ordinary pencil drawing on paper.

After inspecting each piece, it seems that not only is the theme both narrative and illustrative, but also features animals, nature and/or people in every piece.

Two portraits of famous actresses by Nadia Wahdan also grabbed our attention. Both appear to be created through a process of screen printing and have a vivid red and wild green colour scheme.  A nice delicate touch to these pieces is that they both have small pieces of material subtly collaged within them giving them a personal essence.

Art Lounge is a quiet gallery with everything situated on one floor though the actual dimensions of the space and the separated rooms are what make it more interesting to walk around in.  The venue offers many workshops to the public, including those suitable for children; classes range from drawing, painting, jewellery-making, fashion, photography and more.