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

Born into an intellectual aristocratic Egyptian family, Inji Efflaron’s artistic flair was discovered in her mid-teens by veteran artist, Mahmoud Said. Upon seeing her earliest works, the painter acknowledged her innate talent and insisted that she dedicate herself to its refinement.

While she grew to participate in art exhibitions by the popular group ‘Arts and Liberty’, it wasn’t until 1952 that she headlined her own exhibition. This was a bold step in her career that paved the way for the rest of her career, during which she was involved in another 26 exhibitions before her passing in 1989.

A huge body of her works was kindly donated by her sister to the Egyptian government for conservation purposes. Seeing little use for the paintings in the years to come, the paintings were reclaimed by the Efflaton family, a selection of which is available for purchase at Safar Khan Art gallery.

Since Efflaton was an active painter who created an eclectic range of pieces, the gallery sells the paintings by media category. In ‘Inji’s World’, water colour, pastel and ink works are on display.

The exhibition is dominated by works that she had created while living in her country house in Kafr Shokr after having been released from prison in 1963. They are known for their energetic presence through the use of bright colours and seemingly reflect the artist rejoicing her freedom.

While Efflaton hailed from an upper class background, she was very much absorbed by the simple lives of the lower classes.

The exhibition also features pieces from other periods in Efflaton’s life, such as ‘Denshwai’; a black and white water colour image with clear political themes. The painting displays a man executed by hanging in the centre of the image. He is surrounded by a row of soldiers in the foreground, while military men are seen torturing people in the background. It is an incredibly strong contrast to the other paintings and one of the few that are solely black and white.

Unrestricted by genre, ‘Inji’s World’ also features a series of portraits; ‘Reclining’ shows an anonymous man relaxing with his legs crossed on a couch, holding a kitten as he reads the newspaper. There are also two self portraits showing Efflaton’s face from the neck up – one in colour, the other in black and white.

By far the most striking portrait is ‘The Kind Soldier’, which shows a policeman in uniform with empathetic eyes. Whilst drawn with nothing more than black ink, the painting oozes emotion, simply because of Efflaton’s attention to the soldier’s face, posture and expression.

‘Inji’s World’ displays the masterful artistry and intense life story of one of Egypt’s finest artistic minds, making for an interesting, thought-provoking exhibition.