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‘Remarkable’ Egyptian Presence in Ramadaniyat Exhibition at Jeddah Art Atelier

Painting by Saudi Artist Marwan Abdulhalim Radwi at the Jeddah Art Atelier.
Painting by Saudi Artist Marwan Abdulhalim Radwi at the Jeddah Art Atelier.
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‘Remarkable’ Egyptian Presence in Ramadaniyat Exhibition at Jeddah Art Atelier

Painting by Saudi Artist Marwan Abdulhalim Radwi at the Jeddah Art Atelier.
Painting by Saudi Artist Marwan Abdulhalim Radwi at the Jeddah Art Atelier.

The 14th edition of the Ramadaniyat Exhibition opened at the Jeddah Art Atelier, on April 3, with a remarkable Egyptian presence displaying over 60 works inspired by the spirit of Islamic civilization and arts, reflecting various intellectual views, and embodying the Islamic architecture and decorations. The artworks include pieces of Ramadan-inspired Arabic calligraphy and some Quran verses.

“The exhibition is running until the end of the holy month and represents an annual tradition through which the Jeddah Art Atelier brings the works of the best Arab artists to the city,” said Hisham Kandil, director of Jeddah Art Atelier. “Ramadaniyat features a wide variety of works that revolve around the spirituality of the holy month, the popular folklore in its different elements and values, and some modern topics. The event also includes a cultural evening hosting many artists and critics,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Displaying over 150 works, the exhibition boasts a painting by Esteemed Artist Abdulhalim Radwi, pioneer of the contemporary art movement in Saudi Arabia, and four works by the late prominent Artist Fahad Al-Hejailan, in addition to the works of an elite of Saudi artists including Abdullah Hamas, Abdullah Nawawi, Abdullah Idris, Fahd Khalif, Mohammed al-Rabat, Abdulrahman al-Maghrabi, Mohammed al-Shehri, Mohammed al-Jad, Bassem al-Sharki, Mohammed al-A’jam, Fauzia Abdullatif, Ola Hijazi, Sahar Anani, and Thamer al-Rabat.

According to Kandil, this year’s edition of the exhibition marks a “powerful comeback of Artist Marwan Abdulhalim Radwi, the eldest son of Abdulhalim Radwi, after a long break.”

From Egypt, Artist Izzedine Naguib takes part with works that highlight the Egyptian values and heritage, depicting the face of modest human and nature. “Ramadaniyat is one of many great exhibitions that the Jeddah Art Atelier insists on holding every year to celebrate the holy month,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

This year’s edition is witnessing a remarkable participation of artists known for their unique creative personalities in the art circles in Egypt and the Arab world, according to Zakariya Ahmed al-Kadi, photography professor and former vice dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts at Minia University (Upper Egypt), who said he is happy to be part of the event.

His works reflect the ambiances of Ramadan in the popular Egyptian community, and recalls details from the popular Egyptian childhood such as the swings and clowns, in addition to landscapes of houses and lanes in old neighborhoods.

As usual, his paintings show a significant human and expressive charge that focuses on the popular Egyptian heritage. “I celebrate this heritage because it is an integral part of our national identity, and has many inspiring elements,” Kadi said.

Egyptian society celebrates many social and spiritual events in joyful ambiances, which has always prompted artists to depict them in their artistic expressions.

“In ancient times, Egyptians used to join the Sufi convoys known for their flags and chants. Even nowadays, we still see carnivals and celebrations in the streets with lights and decorations, and around mosques with their domes and minarets surrounded by colorful lights. On the spiritual level, worshipers flock to perform Tarawih prayers, and neighbors exchange plates of sweets and food,” he explained.

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Gabon Forest Elephant Forays Into Villages Spark Ire

(FILES) Forest elephants are seen at Langoue Bai in the Ivindo national park, on April 26, 2019 near Makokou. (Photo by Amaury HAUCHARD / AFP)
(FILES) Forest elephants are seen at Langoue Bai in the Ivindo national park, on April 26, 2019 near Makokou. (Photo by Amaury HAUCHARD / AFP)
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Gabon Forest Elephant Forays Into Villages Spark Ire

(FILES) Forest elephants are seen at Langoue Bai in the Ivindo national park, on April 26, 2019 near Makokou. (Photo by Amaury HAUCHARD / AFP)
(FILES) Forest elephants are seen at Langoue Bai in the Ivindo national park, on April 26, 2019 near Makokou. (Photo by Amaury HAUCHARD / AFP)

In heavily forested Gabon, elephants are increasingly wandering into villages and destroying crops, angering the local population who demand the power to stop the critically endangered animals in their tracks.

"The solution to get rid of the pachyderms is to kill them," said Kevin Balondoboka, who lives in Bakoussou, a mere scattering of wooden huts in the sprawling, lush forest.

Villagers across the central African country live in fear of close encounters with elephants, whether on the road, going to wash in the river or especially in fields where they grow their crops.

Strict conservation policies have made Gabon "the refuge of forest elephants", Lea-Larissa Moukagni, who heads the human-wildlife conflict program at the National Agency of National Parks (ANPN) said, according to AFP.

African forest elephants, which inhabit the dense rainforests of west and central Africa, are smaller than their African savanna elephant cousins.

Poaching for ivory and loss of habitat have led to a decline over decades in their numbers and conservation groups now list the African forest elephant as critically endangered.

But that does not stop villagers from viewing the animals as a pervasive problem.

With a population of 95,000 elephants compared to two million inhabitants, the issue is a "real" one, said Aime Serge Mibambani Ndimba, a senior official in the ministry of the environment, climate and -- recently added -- human-wildlife conflict.

- 'Protecting humans or animals?' -

"What are the men in government protecting? Human being or beast?" Mathias Mapiyo, another Bakoussou resident, asked, exasperatedly.

"I don't know what the elephant brings them," he said.

Some worry their livelihoods will be stamped out.

"We provide for our children's needs through agriculture," Viviane Metolo, from the same village, said.

"Now that this agriculture is to benefit the elephant, what will become of us?"

William Moukandja, the head of a special forest brigade, has grown used to the anti-elephant complaints.

"The human-wildlife conflict is now permanent, we find it across the country, where we are seeing devastation from north to south and from east to west," he said.

Moukagni, from the national parks agency, said people's perception that there are more elephants than before was borne out by the figures.

"It is scientifically proven," she said -- but what has changed is that the elephants no longer shy away from villages and even towns.

To protect crops, the agency has experimented with electric fences, not to kill but to "psychologically impact the animal" and repel it.

Experts have looked into why the "Loxodonta cyclotis" -- the African forest elephant's scientific name -- is venturing out from the depths of the forest.

Climate change is affecting the plants and food available to the animals, Moukagni said.

But humans working the land that is the animals' natural habitat is another factor, while poaching deep in the forest also scatters herds, she said.

- 'Responsibility' -

The population of the African forest elephant plummeted 86 percent over 30 years, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which has placed it on its red list of threatened species.

While they are still a long way from extinction in Gabon, Moukagni said the country had a dual responsibility "to keep this species alive for the world and for the sustainability of forests".

Last December, just three months after seizing power in a military coup, transitional President Brice Oligui Nguema publicly sided with "victims of human-wildlife conflict", in a shift from the conservation priorities of the previous government.

"I authorise you to kill these elephants... I am a humanist," he told the crowd to applause, also announcing he had asked for "all those jailed for killing elephants to be released without delay and conditions".

Jeremy Mapangou, a lawyer with the NGO Conservation Justice, said the message to the people was "strong" but added: "When the president said 'shoot them', he was referring to self-defence."

Hunting and catching elephants in Gabon is banned and carries a jail term. Ivory trafficking is also severely punished.

But in cases of self-defense, the killing of an elephant is permitted under certain conditions.

The weapon must comply with the law, the relevant administration must be informed, a report written and the ivory handed over as "state property".

Other measures permit the worst-affected communities to file a complaint and request "administrative hunting" to remove the four-legged troublemakers.

"But how can you file a complaint against an elephant?" Marc Ngondet, Bakoussou village chief, asked.

Mibambani Ndimba, wildlife management chief in the environment ministry, stressed that "the protection of elephants remains a priority".

Known as the "forest gardener", the mammals play a crucial role in the biodiversity and ecosystem of the forests of the Congo Basin, which has the second-biggest carbon absorption capacity in the world after the Amazon.

"We must provide help to Gabon so that we do not get to situations where the population rises up and wants to take justice into its own hands," Mibambani Ndimba said.

Otherwise, "elephant heads will roll".