Abstract: Mural Painting between

Nationalism and Absolute Creative Freedom..

Published in 2008

Not considered strange, the strong relation between the expression of nationalis
m & the mural painting since the early times and even now, & because the mural p
ainting is often presented to many different kinds of people and groups, therefo
re it is not limited to the high class, so there is a creative dilemma to the ar
tist, who is bound to limit his absolute freedom and take into account the taste
s of different categories.. And even though he has to come out with a new creati
ve solution, otherwise his art work would not be under the mantle of Fine Arts.
In fact the mural painting has a message that Western countries had begun to rev
ive since the early twentieth century, where this art is designed primarily to a
ccess to the ordinary man in the street, in demonstration of the knowledge of th
ose communities the importance of returning once again to the cities and towns s
treets, Thus Murals, (Trompe l'oeil) & art works could be everywhere as street a
rts or public arts as well as what is called graffiti.
Perhaps if we look at the reasons of the importance of a state such as Mexico â whic
h is not one of the major countries - in the field of Mural painting with its na
tionalism trends, and then the United States of America, but particularly on the
walls of a certain category of ethnic groups as African Americans, we will find
that, whether here or there or in other marginalized and poor societies alike w
ho have illegally made their own graffiti.. we will find that there is something
in common among all of them, that, as the world is getting smaller as the gap
between north and south becomes bigger, meaning: power and weakness, richness an
d poorness, and this is ironic .. thus, it is assumed that the world as smaller
as it gets, its poles should be closest, but in contrary to what is happening on
the ground, where there is a first world, second and third .. So, perhaps becau
se of this failing justice such grinded communities need to reflect their own op
pression even only in their arts, and, most important are trying to grasp & hold
their own origins & identities.
Meanwhile, one of the most really significant matters in the Western c
ommunity in arts generally & in mural painting especially is the diversity & ope
ned minds of issues and trends in such works, we can find decorative styles, rea
listic, abstract, landscape, including nationalism issues or even multi free sty
les, all are provided within continuous coordination between artist & different
official authorities in order to be positive that these arts would not affect th
e society negatively.
It is within the encouraging of strong supporters of globalization and
the deployment of U.S. model in the entire world through all possible media, es
pecially since the nineties of the twentieth century, after the U.S. success in
toppling the Soviet Union, when the art has become a cultural commodity that mus
t have a U.S. stamp, non-local but global styling so any person in the world can
taste, and accept, so, no place, no borders, assets or roots, but it is one wor
ld, despite the collapse of the social justice in that world, and the artist mus
t be looking for a way that makes him a part of this system of globalization, ev
en melting in it; but in return, many Artists in the entire world remain, even i
n the United States itself, are resisting these forces and overwhelming power in
order to firm their roots & identities.

** In Egypt, after years of founding the division of mural painting in the mid-s
eventies at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Cairo by the great Artist Hamed Nada, th
is art began to be more serious and profound, both in technical and substantive
terms, before that time murals in most cases were nothing but decorative & shall
ow works either in line with Islamic culture which was known as the "oil culture
" that prevailed in the seventies or some ancient Egyptian (Pharaonic) works, es
pecially in the monumental & tourist areas.
What happened in most contemporary Egyptian artists murals that the idea
has matured and followed the known academic methods and techniques newly abroad
.., these Egyptian artists had their special way in the search for Egyptian and
Eastern identity in their own works of painting, which had an impact on their wo
rks of mural painting.
Those known artists such as Ahmed Nabil, Abdul Salam Eid, Sabry Mansur,
Mohamed Shaker & Mohamed Salem, despite the fact that their works are successful
, respected and dealt with different methods in line with the whole modern era,
testing, experimenting as well as keeping their national heritage touches; Howev
er, the researcher is not inviting or making a propaganda to revive the national
spirit in the modern Egyptian mural painting in general, In fact the absolute n
ationalism art works if will be spread over and over again, particularly under t
he circumstances of the proliferation of mural painting itself in Egypt, it will
become futile, like deployed posters on the roofs, walls and fences without awa
reness, It may also threaten the credibility of the artist in front of the humbl
e citizen who is culturally penniless, socially and economically exhausted, he w
ould become sick of these repeated art works, which is leading to an important q
uestion: Does every work of mural painting in Egypt must be characterized by a n
ationalistic symbols & design or is it also possible not to adhere to such ideas
, therefore the artist may have different solutions & issues to present ..,& tha
t is what we will try to answer by the following conclusions.

Conclusions:
1 â One can not find in any way that such national and moral missions are an obligat
ion to the artist or even administrations, who aim to disseminate arts in the co
mmunity. Thus art in general and mural painting in particular has different func
tions depending on locations, environment and many other factors, for instance,
a mural inside a shopping mall or a nightclub or children or public park or so p
laces do not necessarily need such national missions.
It also should be noted here.. that's through the experience of the researcher i
n teaching students of Fine Arts - Mural Painting depart., there are already obv
ious tendencies of most of them, especially near the graduation to go in each of
experimentation and free expression of their own opinions and ideas without the
limitations of traditional themes or symbols even when these visions were linke
d to works of art or a murals meant to be in places bearable the idea of nationa
lism, & still we can not of course in any way here to refer to their creations t
hat they are not appropriate or - incorrect - so to speak, as long as they are n
ot incompatible aesthetically ,which is more important in terms of function
.
2 - As overcrowding has become one of the most significant features of Egypt, ab
straction in art would be one of the most incentives for the use of simple desig
ns in order to allay the pace of the rush, if there was in the first place a nee
d for an art work in a crowded place or location.. like in under bridge or in a
tunnel where vehicles are speeding or other similar critical places which simply
require very, functional and artistic treatment.
- Abstract has always been a common feature in the Egyptian arts since ancient t
imes as the Egyptian visual language memory was adequate to abstract and even cr
eative within it, thus this language could be familiar & acceptable to the humbl
e citizen, without even understanding the content or the message in the art work
, it is not necessarily here to these art works to present nationalism or biome
features, but can not necessarily be out of job, meaning that, if the artist eve
r suggest a negative impact or bleak impression or personal criticism directed a
t a certain ethnic, ideological, intellectual group, all this must be rejected a
t a general level; thus, if the West continues trying to deter such behavior and
even consider some arts as terrorist, how can we be negative while we are coord
inating work collectively for alleged civilization, So the issue here is broad a
nd flexible, meaning that many creative solutions can be possible but within man
agement, which means that absolute creative freedom in the mural painting is not
available.
3 â Public arts in general, as well as the equivalent of education, culture, media &
an economic boom, within all of them & the mural painting - nationalism or non
-nationalism trend - if we as a society can respect & benefit the good function
of it in the right place in the right way, it can fill an important gap which ha
d ballooned when visual artist lived isolated from his community, badly that mov
ies dealt with such matter with tragedian scenarios; Despite the continuous huma
n progress in time & in thought, but the artist in ancient times was not living
this isolation like he does now; on the other side, we find that the simple cit
izen is living in his own country isolated from his heritage and historical back
ground hardly knowing the name of his third grandfather, how would he know about
his ancient ancestors?! .. Such works can be the first step toward the exchange
of interests and knowledge, it would be a social partnership in all fields and
areas, & would emphasize the psychological health of human side by physical and
mental health.
4 - If the world around us and as already mentioned at the beginning of the rese
arch is actively towards spreading the language of art in their communities, whe
ther by individual responses or by the central ruling authorities there., all of
this should not adversely affect artists in their own exhibits & galleries wher
e absolute creative freedom should be available, these two Channels should be al
ways parallel to each other, it is possible to find some exchange of influences
between here and there, but in the end, both in its course .. taking the chance.
Dr. Zeinab Nour
Artist & lecturer
At the Faculty of Fine Arts
Helwan University - Cairo
http://zeinabnour.artistportfolio.net/
nourzeinab@yahoo.com