Written by Arthur Debsi
Born in 1930 in Alexandria, Mariam Abdel Aleem received her BA from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Cairo University in 1954, and completed her master of Fine Arts in graphic printing at the University of Southern California in 1957. Back to Egypt one year later, she started a long and active career in higher education. She began this career as a printmaking teacher at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Alexandria. In 1968, she was appointed assistant professor and head of the printmaking department of the same institution before being granted a full professorship title in 1975. She then founded and led, the design department, from 1985 to 1990. Later, she earned a Ph.D. in Art History from Helwan University in Cairo and again pursued further graduate studies at the University of Southern California, and eventually at Pratt Institute of New York.
Mariam Abdel Aleem was invited to establish a department of artistic education in the Girls' College in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and worked as a visiting professor in 1985.
During the 20th century, Egypt was a central creative space in the Arab world where many and important artistic movements arose and developed. However, the oeuvre of Mariam Abdel Aleem is not specifically affiliated to one of those, although she vividly showed her attachment to her roots both Egyptian and Islamic. In June 1953, the monarchy was abolished and the Republic of Egypt was established[1], ending almost one century of British occupation. Therefore, a strong sense of dignity and nationhood spread all around the country, and deeply marked the arts and culture as well. At that time, Abdel Aleem was newly graduated and undoubtedly lived in this major historical context but she wouldn’t produce an art that follows nationalistic ideals. In fact, the topics that she tackled refer to life in Egypt with its streets, its people and vehicles, but she would focus more on the technique to use. She carried out her graphic work in diverse ways, engraving on zinc, copper, stone and wood. Graphic art that she practiced is a form of art, which includes photography, drawing, printmaking, and has its early origins in ancient China, Greece, and Egypt[2]. The ancient Egyptian mortuary text called ‘Book of the Dead’, completed during the 16th century BCE, is a perfect example proving that the style and technique from graphic art is part of an artistic heritage for modern and contemporary Egyptian artists. As a part of them, Mariam Abdel Aleem chose to celebrate the Egyptian identity in a method based on academic research, experimenting with techniques, and the constant use of Arabic calligraphy.
Although she doesn’t use pure hieroglyphic symbols in her works, the painter makes reference to the animated and colorful stories illustrated on papyrus from antiquity, by showing a particular interest in their narrations such as in the work Memories (1953), part of the Dalloul Art Foundation. Here, she represented in a one-dimensional perspective the theme of self-introspection – maybe her own, by ascribing the thoughts, and memories of an individual. She created a surrealistic scene by interweaving straight and curving lines and overlaying various objects, and characters. The space is also confusing since she played with the inside and outside. The artist integrated elements from the popular culture like the lute, or from the Islamic artistic tradition with the Arabic script on the top right corner of the composition. In the Islamic civilization, writing occupies a fundamental place, namely sacred, as it is initially the physical appearance of the divine word transcribed in the Holy Quran[3].
In the work on paper entitled Arab awakening (1999), at the Dalloul Art Foundation, Mariam Abdel Aleem continued the ancient Egyptian tradition, which consists of combining images and script. She depicted another fantastic world made up of pyramids, horses and mysterious hybrid creatures, and gave it a religious dimension. In the center top, she drew a page, on which appear the first five verses of Sourat Al-Baqarah (The Cow), an essential surah of the Holy Quran. Indeed, it is the second and longest surah, which sets out the principles of the Muslim community, addressing multiple themes like marriage, divorce, fast etc. She also made calligraphy of the introductive formula ‘Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim’ – ‘In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful’ – in a shape of a fruit hanging from a tree. Some writings are visible a little over the composition as if she wrote on the paper. The treatment of the work consequently resembles the one of a manuscript with a symbolic dimension, almost esoteric. From her experience in Saudi Arabia, Abdel Aleem demonstrated more visibly references to Islam. Employing collages and a palette of bright colors, she executed the piece Al-Shahid in 2002, also at the Dalloul Art Foundation. In Arabic, the term ‘al-shahid’ means ‘martyr’ who dies for bearing the religious testimony, ‘al-shahada’[4]. Followed by two musicians, the people are carrying the deceased body and walk towards a woman sitting on a bench, dressed in black, who is probably a relative. In addition to some writings, the artist also included some typical architectural elements such as the horseshoe arches and a dome surmounted by the Islamic crescent, both in the background. The richness of Islamic culture and civilization was the basis for the artist to adapt a traditional artistic practice into a contemporary form. Hence, she invented a visual language, which corresponds to another way of thinking and making art in order to let the imagination free.
Mariam Abdel Aleem passed away in 2010.
[1] Tomiche, Nada. “Chapitre IV. Les Origines Politiques De l’Égypte Moderne” in Groupe de Recherches Et D’Études sur le Proche-Orient (dir.). L’Égypte d’aujourd’hui : Permanence et changements, 1805-1976. Aix-en-Provence, France: Institut de recherches et d’études sur les mondes arabes et musulmans, 1977. https://books.openedition.org/iremam/792?lang=fr. [PP.85-105]
[2] Meggs, Philip B. “Graphic Design.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., April 2, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/art/graphic-design.
[3] Eigner, Saeb. 2011. Art of the Middle-East, Modern and Contemporary Art of the Arab World and Iran. London, UK: Merell Publishers Limited. [P.63]
[4] Aggoun, Atmane. “Le Martyr En Islam. Considérations Générales. ” in Études Sur La Mort, Vol. 130, no.2. Paris, France : L’Esprit Du Temps, 2006, pp. 55-60. Accessed May 8, 2020. https://www.cairn.info/revue-e....
Sources
Aggoun, Atmane. “Le Martyr En Islam. Considérations Générales.” in Études Sur La Mort, Vol. 130, no.2. Paris, France : L’Esprit Du Temps, 2006, pp. 55-60. Accessed May 8, 2020. https://www.cairn.info/revue-etudes-sur-la-mort-2006-2-page-55.htm.
Eigner, Saeb. 2011. Art of the Middle-East, Modern and Contemporary Art of the Arab World and Iran. London, UK: Merell Publishers Limited.
FineArt Sector - Biographies - Mariam Mohamed Abdel-Aleem. Accessed May 8, 2020. http://www.fineart.gov.eg/eng/cv/cv.asp?IDS=320.
Meggs, Philip B. “Graphic Design.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., April 2, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/art/graphic-design.
Tomiche, Nada. “Chapitre IV. Les Origines Politiques De l’Égypte Moderne” in Groupe de Recherches Et D’Études sur le Proche-Orient (dir.). L’Égypte d’aujourd’hui : Permanence et changements, 1805-1976. Aix-en-Provence, France: Institut de recherches et d’études sur les mondes arabes et musulmans, 1977, pp.85-105. https://books.openedition.org/iremam/792?lang=fr.
