Friday, 30 July 2010
Friday, 23 July 2010
Sunday, 4 July 2010
9:35P.M. Noord Amsterdam!
My mind still resisting the fact that the sun goes down every day at 10:00 PM!!
Saturday, 3 July 2010
Osama!
simona: makhmood? nice to meet you! I'm simona!
Osama: hi simona, im Osama!
simona: Osama?!
Osama: yeah!
simona: Osama as "Osama" !?
Osama: YES!
simona: Oh.. nice to meet you!
Mapping for Tourists
Opening exhibition and launch travel guide
- 4 sept 2010 Mediamatic BankMediamatic Bank, Vijzelstraat 68, 1017 HL, Amsterdam Kaart Door: Stichting Mediamatic, +31206389901, www.mediamatic.net/Stichting Mediamatic
Mapping for Tourists is an international project. Ten Egyptian and Lebanese artists and graphic designers will spend July and August living in Noord. They will map the visible and invisible locations, people and data flows, and explore the history and future of this peripheral borough. This work will result in an exhibition, and in the first ever Arabic travel guide.
Laat mij leven, illustration by Ganzeer -
"My first Noord-inspired sketch (digitally-altered), which most likely will have nothing whatsoever to do with the actual project I'm gonna do here, because I think I want to do something that involves the ferries." Ganzeer says on his blog.
met:
Bliss Street Misnomer by Lara Balaa
Poster using Fedra Arabic / Lego and Photography - Photography by Karen Kalou - Artwork commissioned by Xanadu for the launch of Typographic Matchmaking 01 (2007)
Mapping
Traditional cartography aims to generalize, project and communicate. The maps we've grown up with, contain fixed geographical, political and economical information set in a distinct time span. But whenever you visit an unfamiliar town, you soon realize the map you used to get there could never have prepared you for what you were going to encounter. There is a gap between the visual representation of a location, and the actual situation.
That's where mapping comes in. For us, mapping is about making the invisible visible. It aims to represent data flows rather than statistics. It concerns itself with psycho-geography, rather than with the representation of generalized regions and nationalities. In contrast to traditional geography, mapping has the capacity to decentralize and democratize. Mapping concerns real and imaginary experiences and usages of space. It has the power to not only show alternative views of the world, but also change local and even international policy.
Nasr City, Osama Dawod -2005 C-print, 50x70 cm
Amsterdam Noord
Amsterdam Noord used to be an execution sight. The then small island called Volewijck existed of a big well that the dead bodies were thrown in. Some would argue Noord actually hasn't changed that much. The borough is still peripheral in the Amsterdam imaginary. Despite numerous urban renewal projects, Noord has had a hard time shaking off her bad image. During the second world war many houses were bombed, only to be replaced after the war with large housing blocks. The shipping industry disappeared in the sixties, leaving thousands of people unemployed. Today, Noord has the highest rate of unemployment, the most PVV (read: extreme right political party) voters, but also the highest number of Egyptian citizens. Noord is a conflict area.
And where there's conflict, there's art. Since the nineties, artists and cultural entrepreneurs have been heading north. They have turned parts of Noord into bubbling cultural areas, attracting nomadic artists and media companies alike. Noord sees a mixture of urban, suburban and rural neighborhoods, and houses top politicians, working class single moms and young artists. Amsterdam Noord serves as a pars pro toto for The Netherlands.
Volewijck, Oud Noord -Old drawing of what Amsterdan Noord used to look like. This is the well they would hang the criminals from. Quite handy: after they died, they could cut the rope and the bodies would fall in the well. Found on the City Archive website.
Flip-side, by Ahmed Kamel -Flip-side. Graphic design, 2007. Done for: New web pick / Connection - Issue 03 “Made in Egypt” Online Magazine
The tourists
Mapping is all about allowing for different point of views and different truths to live side by side. Free from all preconceptions, who better to map Noord than a group of outsiders? Mediamatic went on a quest to find the best designers and artists to shed a new light on our favorite borough. A group of people who are critical, communicative, but also true tourism professionals. We couldn't help but ending up in Cairo, the city with the most travel agents in the world. From their northern neighbor Beirut, we took the best graphic designers the Arabic world houses.
Ganzeer
Mohammed Fahmy, aka Mofa, prefers to go by the name Ganzeer. And although the number of aliases a man has is usually no guarantee for the number of talents he possesses, there are exceptions. Ganzeer is a keen illustrator, graphic designer, writer and video artist. Based in Cairo, his art aims to express and comment on local and global issues, societies, and cultures.
Malak Helmy
Originally from Alexandria, Malak Helmy spent her teens in Doha, Qatar. At the American University in Cairo, she majored in visual arts and Islamic art and architecture. Her work concerns itself with art and public space, the urban landscape, human interaction, and audience participation and engagement. Her work has been shown in Egypt, Bangladesh and Finland.
Ganzeer at Palace of the Arts, Cairo -Shooting Up Yours, during a One-Minute Film workshop at the Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, April, 2008
Nasr City, Osama Dawod -Nasr City, 2005. C-print, 50x50 cm
Osama Dawod
Osama Dawod received his Master of Fine Arts from the San Francisco Art Institute, where he majored in photography. Politics and its effect on people have been continuing subjects in his work. He has captured the impact of climate change on Egypt, and photographed protesters at a G8 summit. Dawod has exhibited his work in his home country Egypt, as well as in Europe and Asia.
Poster on Economic Migration -The Sea Harlem Studio Fellowship: Osama Dawod, Issa Nyphaga, Susy Blu, Stefan Barbic. Picture by Stefan Barbic, found on Flickr/
Mahmoud Hamdy
Mahmoud Hamdy is a Cairo-based artist, plunging in and out of photography, graphic design, installation art and typography. After having studied animation, he co-founded the progressive design firm File Club Studio. Since 2009 he has been in charge of Dalton Maag's Cairo office, where he supervises the design of Arabic fonts. Hamdy's work has been shown at international festivals and exhibitions.
Ayman Ramadan
Originally from the Nile Delta, Ayman Ramadan moved to Cairo at the age of eighteen, and started working for Townhouse Gallery of Contemporary Art soon after. His work ranges from minimalist sculptures to photography and performances. It touches on concepts of memory and tradition, politics, class and religion.
Kareem Lotfy
Artist, musician and graphic designer Kareem Lotfy was born in Cairo. He released an album on the 100copies label, entitled Dirty Zeyda. His art work has been exhibited in various galleries in UK, Singapore, Germany, Greece and Egypt, and is inspired by mass media and dominating audio-visual culture. His work varies from glitch- and sound art, to applications and illustrations.
The Graphic Design Team
Khajag Apelian / KJ
KJ is an Armenian Lebanese who was born in the United Arab Emirates. In 2007 he received his BA in graphic design from Notre-Dame University. Two years later he received his MA in type design from KABK (Academy of Art, The Hague). Based in The Netherlands, he has worked in Dubai en Beirut, and his work has been part of publications like Arabesque, Graphic Design from the Arab World and Persia.
Lara Balaa
Lara Balaa was born and raised in Beirut. She received her BA in graphic design at the American University of Beirut, and her MA in international communication management at The Hague University. She has worked in advertising and for various creative agencies. Balaa knows her way around visual communication and Arabic type design, as well as communication research and advice.
Poster design by Lara Balaa -Al-Ghad font used on an Arabic Poster on censorship of cultural expression in the Middle East - Poster designed by Lara Balaa. Lara is one of the participating artists in Mapping for Tourists. Image from Tarek Atrissi's blog.
Facade -One of the serie C-prints by Osama Dawod, Cairo, 2005.
Lynn Amhaz
Lynn Amhaz is a Lebanese artist based in Beirut. She graduated from the Lebanese American University, majoring in Graphic Design. She is particularly interested in illustration and type. She has designed books, posters and magazines, and participated in a number of workshops, amongst which a workshop given by illustrator, author and character designer Titus Ackerman.
Engy Aly
Engy Aly is a graphic designer specialized in patterns and typography. She has participated in numerous art and design exhibitions across Africa, Asia and Europe. Her work is very colorful and fresh, and combines Western and Arabic elements.
Ahmed Kamel
Although he majored in painting at Helwan University, Cairo, in recent years Ahmed Kamel has been turning heads as a photographer. His work is highly personal: by placing his subjects in an intimate environment, his pictures deal with class, social status, and relationships. Kamel has participated in film and photography workshops, and was artist in residence in Germany and Switzerland.
Exhibitionteam
Willem Velthoven (director)
Jans Possel (director)
Femke Vos (projectmanager)
Amber Verstegen (projectassistent)
Ista Boszhard (researchteam)
Julia Luczywo (researchteam)
Tommy (website)
Alberto (reporter)
Bas van den Broeke (communication)
Dido Reijntjes (communication)
Evelyn Austin (web-editor)
Lars Wannop (graphic design)
More information
The project kicks off during Map Fest, on July 6th, 8th and 9th . Full of fresh ideas and insights, the artists will commit themselves to mapping Amsterdam Noord. The artists from the Middle East will be living and working in Noord. The various mappings will be presented in a publication and exhibition at Mediamatic Bank on 4 September, 2010.
Aufgepasst! -By Mahmoud Hamdy, A Docu-feature (Public intervention), 2005