Why are the Lebanese so charming? I found myself wondering this (again) as I sat across the desk from Gerard Avedissian in his office — a high-ceilinged room in the beautifully refurbished Villa Grey, née Villa Hendawi, the petite Ottoman palace in the heart of Dokki that doubles as Cairo headquarters for Grey Worldwide (the massive advertising agency) and a promising new cultural arts center.
The interior walls have been painted a blistering orange, and in Avedissian’s day-lit office they are orange-red, Chinese red, play-dough red — an impossible shade that makes photographing him difficult. Against this furious slice of color and the stained glass, he looks pensive and relaxed in a white linen shirt and olive cargo vest. “I have two lives,” he starts warmly, with a bit of gravitas. He studied theater in the Soviet Union and has directed, produced and written plays in Lebanon for several years, a parallel with his almost 40 years in the advertising business. He came to Cairo in April to head up Villa Grey and to realize, as he puts it, the “dream child” of Grey’s director in Lebanon, Philip Skaff, the “madman” behind the beloved community arts project. “The idea behind this is to create a social link between the agency and the city of Cairo, the people of Cairo. It is non-profit because I don’t think it is our calling to make any money out of this. Once we cover our expenses, whether from sponsors or from sales of art, all the rest is cashed by the artist himself. We don’t charge a commission, la’a. We’re not an art gallery. We just have this non-profit movement within the agency and in the garden, and we open our doors to talented people, whether young or old.” This talent will come from the visual arts — including painting, graphic design, sculpture and installation, photography and fashion, performing arts, music concerts, poetry, script readings, film screenings — and whatever else shows up on the marble steps to inspire Monsieur Avedissian and his team. So far, a sumptuous November line-up for the weekly ciné club — including Ted Browning’s Freaks (1932), Fellini’s Otto e Mezzo (1963) and the uncensored version of Bertolucci’s Last Tango in Paris (1972) — hints at what could take shape as a slightly more democratized high-brow cultural agenda. It suggests a bit of bravado, too.  | | | Nadia Loutfi are two of the muses behind Villa Grey’s grand-opening exhibition, Sultanat el-Chacha |
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But European imports and the “daring and modern” exhibitions Grey promises are composed in an open dialogue with singularly Egyptian iconography and nostalgic revivals. Avedissian’s commissioned digital art tribute to the “goddesses” of Egyptian cinema and new creative director Hossam Abd El-Bary’s planned poetry nights with legendary Iraqi oud player Nassir Shamma on the first Thursday of every month — recalling the performances of Omm Kolthoum that are burned into the nation’s historical consciousness — begin, with the space itself, to define a unique mise en scéne. Since the Villa’s gala opening last month, I’ve been curious about the vision behind the project and how a non-profit arts center — run by a multinational ad agency — will carve a place for itself in the Cairo arts scene. While Avedessian assures me that the project is not part of Grey’s PR outreach but an autonomous labor of love, Abd El-Bary, himself a poet, sees it as an obvious means of attracting clientele — if through the unconventional measure of connecting creative communities. The reality is most likely somewhere in-between. At once foreign and local, corporate and independent, modern and traditional, private and public, the Villa operates from a peculiar, privileged position and thus may stand to influence the identity of the nation’s art scene. The following are edited excerpts from a conversation with Avedissian: How are Villa Grey exhibitions curated? Who is in charge of selecting artists?
Well, it’s a positioning problem, because Villa Grey should be a place for very talented people, whether young or old. So I don’t have a specific profile yet of what Villa Grey should be. But you choose?
Well, I had to quickly come up with a project. My first project was Sultanat Al-Chacha, which was based on a French book by Mona Ghandour [Sultanat Al-Chacha: Leaders of Egyptian Cinema] on the six original women who established production in Egyptian cinema. I have added [more] of these divine goddesses, who are magnificent women, and who have changed the identity of Egyptian cinema. So this was a kind of digital art tribute to them. I asked some people to find these original pictures that I bought, and then I gave them to artists in Beirut, Jihad Ramadan and Marcello Carrozzini, who came up with this digital approach to it. So this is a kind of a tribute. It’s very Egyptian, and this exhibition can take place only in Cairo. I don’t think other capitals in the Arab world would be so emotionally attached. The second exhibition is a photo exhibition of Thierry Gicquel. Of course there are photos done in Egypt because I asked him to, but basically it’s a retrospective of 25 years of his work — personal research, not commercial work.  | | | Tahia Carioca |
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So what links them all together is beauty. Is the art itself. There is no specific identity yet for Villa Grey. Maybe it will come with time. Maybe each person who will handle this will add his personal vision of it. I will ask people to come up with ideas. We have to find a way of telling people, “Come and see this beautiful thing, you can’t see it anywhere else in Cairo.” Really, that’s the objective. And whether these people are 20 or 30, 40, 50, 60, it doesn’t matter. Whether they come from English-speaking society or non-English speaking society, I really don’t care. I want people to appreciate what we offer them. And it has to be great. Do you have the schedule set for the next year?
I have ‘til the month of May, tentatively, because you never know what happens. But I have a great idea []. I’m planning to have a painting marathon. This I have tried in Lebanon and it worked. You get 10 young talents, non-established artists, from different disciplines—who work in acrylic, oil, ink, charcoal, photo, whatever — and I give them a theme. The theme is going to be this Ottoman villa. And they will have 10 days to come up with two pieces that are worthy to be exhibited. So after these 10 days we’ll do a collective hanging, and whether they came up with installations or sculptures, photos, paintings, all will be here for people to see. And simultaneously, I will find a young director, girl or boy, to do a documentary about this, to follow step-by-step until opening night, and ask people what they think of this whole thing. The challenge in this is that you have an imposed theme, on talented people, and this is the way they will deal with the theme. And I don’t care if they do the whole villa or one detail, it has to be related to the theme. So we’ll see I noticed that the Villa Grey literature mentions “original and daring modern installations” — do you foresee that any of these planned (or unplanned) exhibitions will challenge cultural taboos?
What taboo? Sexual? Political? Moral? If it’s done with art, there is no taboo. I always give the example of the Modern Museum of Tehran: When the Khomeini revolution started, they closed down the museum in Tehran. It was the private collection of the Shah. Of course he had the best of the best from the world! Whether nineteenth or twentieth century art. For years they didn’t know what to do with it, until they found a fatwa saying, “this is art.” And, you don’t have to be here if you don’t want to. If you think that this art is offensive, don’t come The idea of saying daring, it doesn’t mean confronting the society. Some people are less open-minded than others, but these people don’t go to art galleries anyway. Okay, someone is offended; they can be offended by the films we show at the ciné club. So. If you think you’re going to be offended by all this, you’re not welcome to this villa — you’re not invited anyway. Why should I abide to the rules and forbidding moods of people who anyway don’t come to art exhibitions or are not involved with art? So do you see Villa Grey as providing an alternative space in the art world here in Cairo — because as you say, it is a private institution, but it is open to the public, and entrance is free So you’re sort of in between
It’s a juggling act. But I’m not here to please people who are not open-minded. Do you feel any pressure to do that?
No. Not at all. No, no, no. I’m sure that one day someone will come up with an offensive remark, but that happens to any artist, or any organizer of artistic activities. It’s part of the game. I will not be surprised if this happens, believe me, I’m ready for it. But this is not a challenge; I’m not in a defying mood. If I see that the art that will come and I will appreciate and I’ll give it a chance to be exhibited, is too offensive, then I could say, “this is a private exhibition by appointment only.” In that case, the villa would not be open to everyone, but by appointment only — because this is my right. Because this is a private place. It’s not a public place. So there is always a way around it. If — and I repeat, if — the art is worth it. Because doing daring things just for the sake of slapping the society in the face without creating something positive, it’s not worth showing anyway. So if the art is violent, because this can happen, if I like violent art, I will give it a chance. Sexual, I will give it a chance. If it’s erotic and vulgar, no. [I contend, from across the desk, that the two are not mutually inclusive, to which he agrees]. But sometimes there is a limit for what counts as art, for me. Whether it’s erotic or not, I don’t care. Most of the nineteenth century art was erotic anyway. It’s all over the world. Remember when Monet came up with his “Lunch on the Grass,” it was banned from all museums in Paris. Now it’s one of the most expensive impressionist paintings in the history of art. So every period has its forbidding obsessions. Cairo has its own. But I’m not here to challenge the society, and say, “I’m here to challenge you, I don’t believe in your values.” I don’t deal with their values. So why should I believe with them? For me it’s not a moral judgment, it’s an artistic judgment. I would never allow myself to judge people’s moral values. I have my own, they have their own But it’s an interesting position to be in, because, as you say, each time and place has it’s own obsessions. But you are an international, multinational company in an international city, and you’re composed of both Egyptian and foreigners
It’s only Egyptians. There are no foreigners in the agency. I’m the only one. This agency employs only Egyptians.  | | | Derwiches, a still from Gicquel’s recent work in Cairo |
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But run by a foreigner.
No. You’re running it.
I’m running it, yes. I’m Lebanese, I’m not a foreigner. I’m an Arab. Where do you see this going in five, 10 years? Besides creating cultural ties with the community and giving young artists an opportunity to establish themselves and to show their work, what else do you see?
I hope that many people will jump in and propose projects. Not artists only. For instance there is a man I met, he’s passionate about cinema, and he knows very well the history of cinema. So I asked him to do next month’s program for the cineclub. So it will be his selection, his choice. He’s Egyptian. I wish more people would jump in, and come to me with projects that are more related to the concerns of young Egyptians. Do you have a target audience?
No, no it’s open. It’s too soon to say I have a target audience. People call each other, people send e-mails to each other, but this is how networks are built. I even have some crazy people in the agency who put the villa on Facebook! I know the average age of people on Facebook, but I don’t know who they are, I don’t know their concerns, I don’t know their cultural values, I don’t know who they are! So. If they show up, fine. If they don’t show up, fine. This is not a commercial place. If I get 10 people a day who are curious about what I’m showing, then I’m successful. I don’t need 100 because I’m not a commercial gallery. That’s the difference.  | Courtesy of Villa Grey | | The men behind the curtain: Creative minds Philip Skaff (left) and Gerard Avedissian at the opening gala |
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There is a difference, though, between an ad agency running an exhibition space [which he reminds me, is non-profit] and a gallery. Perhaps some detractors would question the relationship, they might say, oh it’s corporate funding, an ad agency running a cultural arts center, it’s not in the art world proper, there’s something
Fishy? Yeah. Fishy
No, there’s nothing fishy. This is a passionate project. I agreed even with Philip Skaff, who is the madman of this project. I said, “First year, what if we don’t cover our own expenses, what do we do?” He said, “I’ll pay from my own pocket.” Because it’s his dream. So there is no hidden agenda here. And those that want to find a hidden agenda here can find it even in a palm tree growing by the seaside. So. Who cares! Some people will like it, some people will dislike it, some people will say, “Who are these people who are coming to Cairo and doing exhibitions?!” Some people will say wonderful, it’s an occasion to see something else. So, we juggle with this reality.  | Beige Adams | | Conference-room-cum-gallery |
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I think you’re right, that it’s a juggling act.
You know, it doesn’t matter. This particularly, I’m used to because of my theatre background. You do a play, you write it for a year, you direct it, you open the curtains, people come, they either applaud you or boo you. So what! You’ve done what you have to do. You don’t get paralyzed because maybe 10 percent will boo you. It’s the same thing in advertising: when we pitch for a client, we are full of hope that we will get the client. We do a beautiful campaign, we’ve done something great, we go and see him and the client rejects us. Basically we’re in the rejection business. So, why should we be concerned by it? et Villa Grey 24 Abdallah Al Kateb St. Dokki Tel: +202 33382184 Fax: +202 3335-2516 Mobile: +20 18 304-7770 |
Volume
# 31
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