Jabal Abu Ghneim

The multifaceted Egyptian artist Ahmad Nawar was heavily involved in the turbulent political events of the late 1960s in the Arab world. Following his graduation from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Helwan University in Cairo, he was called by the government for military service and was deployed to the Suez Canal to participate in the War of Attrition (1967-1970). This experience tremendously impacted his visual language, as seen in this triptych, produced in 1979, which consists of three small-scale sculptures made of resin. The title of the artwork is a direct reference to the hillside area of ‘Jabal Abu Ghneim,’ which has been under Israeli occupation since the Six-Day War of 1967. This artwork was created in three distinctive colours to indicate how sunlight is cast upon the hill at different times of the day. Chalky white represents daylight, while the soft pink hues of the second sculptural piece signify a sunset, and the last piece in black resembles the darkness of night. The ultimate symbol of Egypt, the pyramids, are a source of inspiration for the artist, evoked in the shape of this sculptural triptych.