TWO FACES OF DIFFERENT WORLDS
Daily News Egypt
October 9, 2008 Thursday
Ursula Schulz-Dornburg is taking time out on the roof of the
Windsor Palace rooftop garden watching fisherman toil in the murky
waters of Alexandria’s eastern harbor to explain the origins of her
latest exhibition. She is a busy woman and her current exhibition,
"Sonnenstand" alongside Egyptian artist Bahaa Medcour’s "Two Faces
of Eternity" is currently showing at Bibliotheca Alexandrina and
sponsored by the Goethe Institute.
She recently exhibited in Bilbao and Paris before returning to
Dusseldorf, her native city. Ursula’s also putting the finishing
touches on the next big event due in January 2009, an exhibition in
Munich alongside celebrated Polish artist Miroslav Balka. At first
glance, Ursula’s photographs strike the viewer with their several
references to contemporary society and the overriding sense of loss
and disappointment seen firsthand by the celebrated photographer.
The images are shot in black and white, accompanied by some literature
from well-known artists including the conceptualist artist Lawrence
Weiner.
Four months prior to the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War, Ursula was
photographing the marshes and remarkable archaeological sites of one
of the world’s oldest civilizations. The devastation and disappearance
of such beauty left an impression on her that has lingered throughout
her career. As her exhibits go from Europe to the US, she continues
to explore other diverse cultures such as Burma, Russia, Armenia,
Saudi Arabia and Iran. Yet it was during her trip to Iraq that Ursula
started researching Arab influence on Christian architecture, which
is the main theme of her latest exhibition.
Central to the exhibition is the Cordoba Calendar that is displayed
in Arabic within the exhibition hall. The calendar, believed to date
to the 10th century, includes important dates and festivals of both
Muslim and Christian faiths.
Ursula used the calendar to tie together the many themes of the
exhibition, including life, light, seasons and cycles, astronomy,
enlightenment and the complexity of human nature.
Seven blown up shots of various species of seeds echo the feeling
of loss and struggle. The seeds were a difficult subject to capture
due to their size and were photographed in a fashion that makes them
look like they’re shaking; a technique that Ursula admits was time
consuming. Ursula said seeds were chosen because they represent one
of the most basic and fundamental elements of life. They were taken
from a seed bank, highlighting the current threats including genetic
modification and the delicate balance of the seasons. A quote that
reads "Stars don’t stay still for anybody" splits the photographs on a
large panel, once again highlighting the idea that we are governed by
the earth’s cycle and not the other way around. The following section
of the exhibition includes shots of 10th and 11th century Spanish
hermitages. Despite being a Christian sanctuary, their design is
subtly influenced by Islamic architecture and highlights the intricate
multi-faith relationships that existed during the period. The role
and cycle of the sun is captured in the sequences that illustrate the
differing positions of light illuminating the dark interior. Ursula
said that the concept came to her while she sat on the cold floor
of a hermitage in Estaban, summing up the experience by quoting a
well known saying, "If you travel by car you see nothing, if you walk
you see more and if you sit on the side of the road you see all." On
the adjacent walls of the Bibliotheca’s exhibition hall hangs Bahaa
Medcour’s work entitled "The Face of Eternity." Photography has
been a passion for the electrical engineer, who said that he can’t
remember the last day that went by without him using a camera. The
subject of Medcour’s exhibitions have included the Great Pyramid,
Philae and Rome’s Coliseum.
The 47 colored prints focus on one of Egypt’s most famous edifices,
the Great Pyramid, and the stunning tombs of the southern village of
Hiw, some 550 km south of Cairo. As you look over the shots, you are
immediately struck by the apparent differences of the subjects – one
is an immense stone structure designed for the elite, the other very
small and modest clay tombs. Still, he said, they are both ‘houses of
eternity’ and therefore one of the overriding themes of his exhibition
is unity. The images, most of which have never been printed before,
capture the Great Pyramid in a unique way. Medcour is well aware of
the difficulties of photographing a subject that has been covered
to death, but his approach, focusing on interesting details of the
pyramid and not shooting it in its entirety. "Every stone deserves
more than a second look. Every shadow needs to be studied. Every
angle needs to be measured.
So many aspects of this Great Pyramid are still ignored till this day."
The exhibit’s other focus, the tombs of Hiw (nicknamed the merry tombs
due to the use of color by the villagers) provide some remarkable
images of the graves and simple architecture of the cemetery. Many
of the prints, said Bahaa, compliment those of the pyramids thus
highlighting the notion of unity between the two subjects. First
displayed in the Egyptian Academy of Arts in 1984, the first
photographer to do so, Bahaa has been to Hiw four times and exhibited
these images extensively, including inaugurating the exhibition hall in
the museum of Turin, as well as being included in numerous magazines.