IN A WELL-LIT exhibition hall, heels clicked over drawings on the floor and wingtips shuffled from painting to painting; a crowd of all ages gathered in their tuxedos and dresses, chatting to each other about the artwork scattered around them. Parts of the hall are illuminated by spotlights, directing viewers’ eyes towards the colorful pieces of various sizes hung on the wall. In another part of the exhibition, the walls are wrapped in black fabric, creating a darkroom to showcase a multimedia piece. It is the April opening of the 2008 International Media Art Forum for Youth in the Palace of Art at the Cairo Opera House.

A small crowd gathered around Mohamed Zayan in the makeshift darkroom. The 21-year-old Egyptian artist has created a piece that plays with the idea of an audience interacting with art. Zayan has installed a screen on the ceiling and a mirror on the floor to reflect inverted images of the action. The piece, which he worked on for over a year, immerses viewers in the artwork itself, surrounding them with images that allow them to escape their everyday lives.

Despite his young age, this is the seventh multimedia exhibit for Zayan, who studies graphic design at the Applied Arts Institution. Nevertheless, he has not yet sold any of his works.

Despite Egypt’s reputation as a hot-spot for art in the Middle East (alongside Iran), contemporary art is still far from being a common taste. Hundreds of artists are exhibiting across the country and roughly 23 galleries have sprung up in recent years, but is the life of an artist self-sustaining? For all the energy and money put into a piece of art, is anyone earning enough to survive, to say nothing of turning a profit?

Zayan is under no illusion that his work will provide his sole source of income. For him, the genre is the only one that can represent his feelings and viewpoints. However, multimedia art doesn’t attract buyers, or at least not as easily as other media. “Multimedia art is hard to sell. So I do another side job to get some money, like [...] a painting,” Zayan says. “However, the joy you feel after finishing the work replaces the unrewarded expenses you spent.”

Over the past two decades there has been a rise in contemporary art in Egypt. The burgeoning art scene is paired with fast economic change and an increasing emphasis on spending as a sign of success. Farghali Abdel Hafiz, a 67-year-old painter and one of the biggest names in contemporary art, recalls his early days as an artist with limited supplies but large ambitions. “I got back from Italy from my scholarship in 1968, with only two pairs of pants. I had an old car, which we used mainly to transfer our equipment and paintings. Even the material used was very basic, but despite all that, we managed to participate in the Venice Biennale,” Abdel Hafiz says, referring to a 113 year old contemporary art exhibition that takes place every two years in Venice, Italy.

Courtesy Khaled Hafez Khalid Hafez, who produced this mixed media piece, is one of the few local artists to find success abroad.

For Abdel Hafiz, the money earned from sold paintings is not the benchmark of success in art. Being accomplished means delivering his intended message to his audience through his works. His latest exhibition, entitled Egyptian Women, was displayed at the Zamalek Gallery and it was entirely dedicated to the role of Egyptian women throughout history, from Cleopatra and Hatshepsut to Omm Kolthoum and the modern working mother. Painting is a medium of hope for Abdel Hafiz, who points to the character in his painting The Lady and Al-Arosa Tea (a portrait of a woman preparing tea on the street with a satisfied smile spreading across her face) as a kindred spirit, finding happiness in her work.

“In the old days we had more inner satisfaction and the whole of society was cohesive,” Abdel Hafiz asserts. “We didn’t have such financial pressure. It is the current generation’s problem that life is portrayed to the young as if they have to work all the time to get what is perceived as a decent life.”

Similar to other artists in his generation, Abdel Hafiz started out with simple tools such as wood boards as canvases, and he reused them until they were worn out. However, he managed to find success in his career, both academically and financially. Abdel Hafiz was dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts at Helwan University twice before he decided to resign for good. His paintings are now sold for significant sums of money — a medium-size painting can bring in around LE 100,000. The Egyptian Women exhibition consisted of more than 10 paintings of different sizes and completely sold out. Some of the works went to local collectors.

Art as become a financially viable career path is a relatively new development. Ten years ago, a price tag of LE 3 million for a single piece would have been laughable; a painting of Arabic calligraphy by Ahmed Mustafa recently sold for that amount.

The previous lack of financial support, and even appreciation, had much to do with the absence of gallery spaces that were not owned and managed by the government. A decade ago, there were only a couple of private galleries in Cairo: a far cry from today’s multitude of galleries and cultural exhibits.

Opened in 1998, the Townhouse Gallery is a pioneer of the independent art scene in Cairo. It is located in an alley in Tawfikeya, an area near Midan Tahrir full of mechanics’ workshops. The streets outside the gallery bear testament to the neighborhood’s working-class character: The pavement is speckled with oil stains, while the skeleton of an old car is parked in the alley.

While promoting art in such visual juxtaposition must be challenging, the Townhouse Gallery has established itself as one of biggest private, non-profit art institutions in Egypt. Its range of activities varies from art workshops for children to providing and facilitating art scholarships, hosting theater and musical performances and holding workshops in different art disciplines throughout the year.

William Wells, the gallery’s director, has lived in Egypt for 23 years and believes that presently there is a resurgence of interest in Middle Eastern art. “There is such a focus on Arab art, and the biggest producer of Arab art is Egypt,” Wells says, noting that the drive for new blood which pushed the international art communities to turn towards India a decade ago is now bringing them to the Middle East, a region that is experiencing a flourishing artistic consciousness. In Wells’ eyes, Egypt is far from facing a talent shortage: “I think [Egypt] is one of the richest and most creative countries that [I have known] in my lifetime.”

While the door is open for any artist to present his portfolio to the Townhouse Gallery, the selection process focuses mainly on the social consciousness of the work. An artist might be technically talented and capable of achieving beautiful artwork, but the purpose of art is no longer to simply be pleasing to the eye. At Townhouse at least, exhibits must have a message. The most important feature, according to Wells, is the artist’s social engagement, the story behind each piece and how effectively this vision is communicated by the artwork.

Omar Mohsen One of the few local artists represented internationally, Khaled Hafez works with seven galleries spanning the globe, including in Switzerland, Belgium and Italy.

As a non-profit organization, the Townhouse Gallery has had to find creative solutions to raise funds for its activities. One of the more unique ventures was the International Contemporary Art Sale. In a stunning display of the sense of community between artists and the gallery, Townhouse offered those who have gained exposure at the gallery a chance to give something back, namely by donating a piece of work. And give back they did: 46 Egyptian and foreign artists offered up 58 pieces for the auction.

One Sunday night last December, 300 Egyptian collectors filled the floor space at the gallery to bid on various contemporary works. The result? Fifty-six pieces sold in two hours, for a total profit of LE 363,000. Some of the pieces earned far more than their reserve bids. One such piece, which Wells declined to identify, was set at a reserve value of LE 1,400, but bidding ended at a staggering LE 27,500.

It was a unique and educational experiment for the venue. Beyond raising fund, the auction revealed a shifting trend among Egypt’s art collectors, who had previously lacked interest in modern art created by Egyptians.

To nurture this trend, Wells and the Townhouse team wants to encourage collectors who will preserve their purchases and not export them to a global market, which will pay more than local buyers can offer.

“We want this art to stay in Egypt and not be sold only abroad, so last December we launched the ‘Collectors’ Circle’ here in Egypt,” Wells explains. “We had a dinner with potential collectors who showed interest in starting their own collection for the first time but are hesitant and nervous. They don’t know what to buy.”

Art is an investment, and new buyers hope the works they collect will appreciate in value. “We had an art collector from India who is in her mid-30s and started her own collection 10 years ago,” Wells notes, “and now the collection is worth an absolute fortune.”

Beyond helping collectors to broaden their tastes, Wells also believes in developing young artists, whom he feels have the strongest grasp of the struggles and essence of modern Egypt. They are open to new technologies and styles and are looking to take risks in their work.

“The young generation [is] the generation which is really grabbing social issues,” the Townhouse director says. “They are talking about contemporary Cairo, urban space, life in Alexandria today. Their form of representation is not beautiful, it is generally extremely challenging — challenging intellectually, and possibly disturbing to look at.”

Wells’ statement touches a nerve; the general public’s interpretation of art — and the importance of beauty therein — is an extra obstacle for artists, who sometimes rely on grotesque or jarring images to convey their message.

Amal Kenawy is one of the biggest names in video art and installations in the world. The Cairo-based artist started her art career when she was only 11 after her elder brother, artist Abdel Ghany, introduced her to the scene. Kenawy studied at the Fine Arts School at Helwan University. Now, at the age of 34, Kenawy has a lengthy list of awards to her name, including the UNESCO grand prize at the Cairo International Biennale in 1998, the Global Crossings Prize in Los Angeles in 2005, the Best Animated Film Prize at the Twelfth Cairo International Film Festival in 2006 and the first prize at the Sharjah Biennale in the UAE in 2007.

But how does this success translate into money? Even globally, video art is difficult to sell and Kenawy started her career in debt. “I borrowed money from friends and family. I was telling them to pray for me to win so I would be able to pay them back,” she says. Realizing that earning a living as a video artist was unlikely, Kenawy began using her talent in commercial fields.

“I tried to do some side jobs, interior design work and fashion design tasks so I could cover my art expenses,” she admits.

But after years of empty pockets, things have changed. While Kenawy declines to comment on how much her video art and installations sell for, Wells was able to give a figure for the market value of video art: “The majority of [young artists] are in their mid-30s and they are selling a video for 8,000–10,000.”

Kenawy’s art has a reputation for being powerful. Wells feels that Kenawy is increasingly finding her voice through her art and creating a strong message about the role of women through oftentimes unsettling and brutal images: “She is dealing with gender, women and marriage. There is a lot of violence in there, but she is making a very strong point with the images she uses.”

You Will Be Killed is one of Kenawy’s best-known videos, inspiration for which came when she was attending the Singapore Biennale. One of the exhibiting venues in Singapore was a renovated military hospital, and while visiting it she found herself overcome by thoughts of war and aggression mixed with human weakness.

“This drew me to the question of the meaning of art in a violent world,” she recalls. “I was working on this project during the war in Iraq, and I was collecting pictures of dead children to use them in my work. But finally I decided to use my own picture as a figurative victim.”

In a nightmarish sequence of the video, Kenawy portrays herself in the background, then draws images over this portrait that represent her subconscious interpretations of violence: a rat crawling over her face, purple blood spilling from her nose, a hanging, disembodied head. The work represents the simplicity of human fear and sends a strong message decrying a world that spills blood to reap the financial benefits. You Will Be Killed and other works by Kenawy are among the permanent collections of various contemporary art museums across the world.

As a single mother, Kenawy does not think art is a sufficient source of income to support her family. For her, financial stability is what makes artists able to pursue their passion as well as pay the bills. After separating from her husband, Kenawy managed to continue making art while re-building her life. She is now financially independent and providing for her child. “I had some tough times in the last two years [but] I managed to get a home, spend money on my child and to live well. I got myself a nice house and I was able to educate my son,” she says.

Art is never cheap, for collectors or the artists themselves. According to Kenawy finding the money to finance projects can be troublesome. The last installation Kenawy exhibited, Blue, was shown in the Townhouse Gallery and cost her around LE 17,000 to produce — a huge investment for any artist. These days, however, Kenawy’s reputation helps her find sponsorships when she plans a new project.

Kenawy, who started showing her art in public spaces in 2003, says that the public should decide about the merits of art for themselves, and believes that they won’t necessarily reject her work simply because it deals with difficult social issues. In Minya, she performed The Room, a piece where she sits onstage sewing a wedding dress while in the background a video of a hand sewing a human heart is shown. While the venue was far from the typical art scene, the show was met with applause and approval. Kenawy hopes to interact more with the public and is considering modifying one of her videos to be shown on screens at a railway station.

Another notable name in the Middle Eastern art scene is Karim Francis. Francis has dabbled in a number of fields — commercial ventures, critiques, performing music and making art himself — before finding his niche as an art dealer and gallery owner. When Francis opened a gallery in 1995 in Downtown Cairo, it was only the second privately owned art space in the city.

“I noticed that there are a lot of interesting [artists] but no space to exhibit their art,” Francis recalls. “I was very doubtful about this at the beginning. Will it work? Should I continue? Will the artists like it?”

According to Francis, the start was encouraging but not profitable. However, he did not go into the gallery business for money. It was satisfying for those in the art scene to finally have a place to gather and discuss and critique their work, instead of living on what Francis calls “their own islands.”

“I didn’t want to make it a commercial gallery with meaningless decorative art. If [that’s what I wanted], then why not sell shoes?”

As an art critic, Francis takes inspiration from Wassily Kandinsky, a Russian painter and art theorist whose abstract work centered on the use of color and lines. From Francis’ point of view, contemporary art has characteristics that make it more than just something to be bought and displayed on the living-room wall. Every contemporary art piece should communicate with its viewers as part of a universal language. The artwork should be innovative. Just as it is technically interesting, the meaning of a piece should be creative too.

For art to be contemporary, it needs to describe the period in which it was created. For example, a piece from the Renaissance era would use perspective and idealize the body, as painters of the time were learning to accurately portray the human body. That’s why Francis finds it meaningless now to emulate Renaissance art unless the artist adds something new.

“You cannot do art without money,” Francis stresses. But while money is a year-round need, the business of art in Egypt is seasonal. Showings tend to be held from January through June, which means galleries must cover a year’s expenses in only six months.

“One show usually costs LE 15,000. This is only the cost of the brochures, the rent, electricity, and the employees,” Francis notes. “If one show does not break even, the next should bring in LE 30,000.”

With seven shows a year, the gallery needs to sell LE 500,000 to break even. Francis has tried to get sponsors to cover some expenses, but has so far been unsuccessful. “When I went to business organizations to ask for sponsorship, they looked at me as if I was a thief or insane.”

Not all art is sold with ease. Francis explains that paintings and sculptures are bought more often than installations and multimedia art. Sculptures are more expensive as the materials cost more and more sophisticated equipment is needed to produce them. The most expensive piece Francis has sold? An Adam Henin sculpture that went for LE 300,000.

Francis typically receives a 30–40 percent commission on any work he sells. His cut may be larger with young artists whose work doesn’t sell for much, while with big names who sell for hundreds of thousands of pounds, he may take a smaller commission.

Many art collectors think that they can avoid paying a commission if they buy from the artist directly. According to Francis, this is not true for many reasons. Artists typically have a fixed price, and many of them are unwilling to negotiate.

Bargain power aside, the gallery also plays an important role in helping a collector match his tastes to a certain artist or type of art. “I try to get the collector the right artist and the right piece from that artist,” Francis says. “It depends on names and stages.”

This kind of assistance is especially important for collectors who are just starting to buy, and have limited knowledge about what makes a piece worth buying.

Francis’ vast experience with Egyptian art attracted the notice of London auction house Christie’s, the world’s leading art auctioneer with global sales topping $ 6.3 billion in 2007. Francis is now an agent for four of the biggest names in the art scene on behalf of Christie’s: Mohamed Abla, Adel El-Siwi, Adam Henin and Monier Kanaan.

Christie’s extended its purchasing to the Middle East in 2005 and the past three years have brought in a profit of nearly $33 million (LE 178 million) from its regional dealings. The top name on Christie’s list of Arab and Iranian artists is an Egyptian: Ahmed Mustafa, an Alexandrian artist born in 1943 and well known for his Qur’anic calligraphy. Mustafa set a world record when he sold one of his paintings for $657,000 (nearly LE 3.6 million) — an unprecedented figure in the region.

While Christie’s statistics shows that Emirati buyers are the biggest spenders in its Middle East auctions (purchasing from 39 to 53% of exhibits), interest is growing in Europe and Christie’s officials disclosed that at one recent auction, 31% of the purchasers of Arab art were European bidders.

Christie’s is not the only auction house to take notice of Egyptian art. Sotheby’s of London, founded in 1804, has auctioned the paintings of 45-year-old Khalid Hafez. Hafez began to explore his interest in art while pursuing a degree in medicine; during his sophomore year, Hafez began attending night school at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Helwan University. While he finished both degrees with excellent marks, he began hopping from job to job to support himself as an artist. “I [have] worked many jobs throughout my life: TV translator, art director, graphic designer, you name it,” Hafez says.

His art doesn’t come cheap. As one of the few local artists to hit the foreign market, Hafez says he chooses the highest quality canvases, authentic colors and hires only highly experienced carpenters to stretch his canvases over their wooden frames. The cost of the production is high, as the final product should be stunning: Canvas costs LE 400 per square meter and a big painting with dimensions of 200 x 250 centimeters will cost around LE 1,500 in materials alone.

That LE 1,000 or so in materials is a small price to pay for international exposure. The first piece Hafez sold was at a Sotheby’s auction in London, and it went for LE 45,000. The second painting was sold in Morocco by the Compagnie Marocaine des Oevres et Objets d’Art for LE 200,000. Unfortunately for Hafez, the proceeds from the second auction went to the art collector who owned the work. Still, the sale gave the artist valuable recognition.

Hafez works with seven galleries — only one of which is in Egypt — that sell his art throughout the year. The principal gallery, San Carlo, is located in Milan, Italy.

In Hafez’s opinion, there are countless benefits to having a gallery represent artists. “With a gallery you have a scheduled show every two years, you have a manager who promotes your work and sends you revenue. I make 1,000–2,000 a month now.”

The biggest benefit the San Carlo gallery provides Hafez is promoting his name. Through the gallery’s day-to-day activities, collectors become aware of his style and paintings. The gallery takes Hafez’s work to art fairs and prints a catalogues for his solo exhibitions, which consist of 20 or so paintings and are held every 18 months or two years.

A large painting will normally go for LE 48,000 at the San Carlo gallery. On the opening day of the exhibition, if four or five pieces sell then everybody goes home happy. With four paintings sold, Hafez’s expenses are more than covered, even with the gallery taking 50% of the revenue.

Yet even the internationally successful artist has his day job. The father of two boys, Hafez, who lives in Nasr City, still needs a guaranteed source of income, so he teaches communication and negotiation skills for a management consulting company, training employees at many privately owned companies in Egypt and Dubai. His services do not come cheap: His pay for a two-day training course in Dubai is LE 6,000.

With his sons Yehia and Youssef in mind, Hafez has struck a balance between being an artist passionate about his craft and a man responsible for putting food on the table. Hafez has managed to enroll both his sons in a well-known French school and hopes to give them an upbringing that encourages freedom and choice. He comments on his own early need to step away from his family’s expectations: “The moment I managed to break the social control circle represented by my parents’ expectations, I became the artist I wanted to be.”

Art isn’t only about the artist, but also the community that supports it. Mohamed Talaat is the director of the Palace of Art, the biggest governmental exhibiting space in Egypt. While 32-year-old Talaat is a contemporary artist himself, he began his career at the Palace of Art among a group of young artists who received training in exhibition management. Today, he is one of the most well-known names in Egypt’s elite art community.

Talaat is a sort of artistic jack-of-all-trades: a government official who manages a private gallery on the side, an artist who sells his work, a business manager for other artists and a consultant for collectors. To promote local young artists, Talaat invited business representatives to attend Saloon El-Shaba (Youth Salon), an art salon organized by the government.

“Mohamed Khamis from Oriental Weavers [one of the largest textile companies in Egypt] came and bought some pieces,” Talaat recalls. “He paid LE 165,000 and he presented the same amount of money as a prize to support the artists participating.”

Talaat is quick to defend the government’s efforts to support young artists. He says that in previous years the Ministry of Culture has bought LE 2 million worth of work from young artists annually. While the Ministry of Finance has reduced the 2008 budget to LE 1 million for art purchases, monthly stipends of LE 1,000–4,000 for select artists remain.

Some feel the government should be doing more. Maurizio Bolognini, an innovative Italian media artist who sat as a juror on the International Media Art Forum for Youth at the Palace of Art, believes that the state should be more concerned with art and assist in supporting struggling artists, adding that financial support should be greater for artists that are working in new genres.

“As for any new medium of art, it needs some financial support from the public institutions,” Bolognini says, “and the new media art requires more funds as it is expensive in terms of equipment and devices.”

Amr Mounib, an American with roots in Egypt, started his career as a commercial photographer to support himself before focusing on more artistic work. He does not see much difference in the availability of state support here and in the United States. According to Mounib, funds are available in both the US and Egypt, but here it takes at least two years just to finish the paperwork. “I never succeeded in getting funding for my projects; they want to discourage you from depending on them,” he explain, “but what I do is get enough money from my commercial work to support my art.”

While finances will always remain a concern, the growing interest in Arab art is encouraging young artists to innovate and be courageous in their representations and work. Egyptian artists are embracing their unique position in the world and creating art that expresses their thoughts about society, their roots and struggles with their modern identity and a mix of Eastern tradition and Western influence.

As the government continues to support artists and the private sector expands, one can’t help but look to other Arab countries as an example. In Dubai, a city known primarily for financial development, purchasing art for business spaces is gaining popularity. Organizations such as the Dubai International Financial Center are devoting walls to exhibiting artwork for the public.

In the private sector in Egypt, businessmen are still trapped in the private art-collecting phase. For artists, adopting a commission model or receiving advance funding would give them the financial freedom they need, while the business gets a chance to bolster its corporate social responsibility programs.

On the government side, the Ministry of Culture, currently headed by contemporary artist Farouk Hosny, has started a new project to bring in young, talented candidates to run its exhibition spaces. However, more cooperation and new initiatives are needed between the ministry and the private sector. The most important initiative the ministry might endorse is taking art from exhibitions into public spaces. This will help expose the public to art while at the same time allowing the artists’ message to reach new audiences.

In the end it all comes down to the artist. “Art is not a bohemian style of living. It is a way of living but you have to be very disciplined,” Mounib says. “You have to get up in the morning, brush your teeth, drink your coffee and think about what you are going to produce, because without producing you are going to starve. If you work hard and you’re a go-getter you will make a living out of it. If you take every job, yes you can make money.” et

Collecting art is a blend of business and pleasure, and for those who partake, it can be a consuming passion.

Nadim Elias is the chairman and CEO of Sahara Printing Company — a printing and publishing company that carries on a long family tradition in the business. He is also one of the biggest art collectors in Egypt. Elias was first introduced to art by his mother, who bought him books on Picasso and other well-known contemporary artists, and art remains an integral part of his life. “If I’m not working, then I will spend my free time at art galleries,” he says. “When I travel abroad, I spend most of my time visiting galleries and museums.”

Elias started collecting art in the early 1990s, after Sahara Printing Company’s success meant he could afford to purchase works. He has since spent the last 18 years collecting pieces by Egyptian artists but feels he entered late into the collecting game. “I missed many opportunities because I was consumed in my work. I witnessed a day when Abdel Hadi El-Gazar’s paintings were sold for LE 5,000 in 1987. Now they are sold for LE 1.5 million, at least.”

Art is never about getting a return on your money, according to Elias — he feels the worth of art stems from the owner’s appreciation. “There is a feeling [that] emanates from you that increases the value of the piece for others.” Elias’ passion for art has culminated in a collection of over 250 pieces, each of them special to him. Sometimes he becomes entranced with the work of a particular artist; for example, he owns 18 pieces by the renowned painter Samir Rafea. Elias has yet to sell any of his private collection.

His collection contains both paintings and sculptures, including pieces from Mahmoud Mokhtar and Adam Henin, two of the most widely admired Egyptian sculptors. Elias also owns paintings from Gazbia Sirry, Adel El-Siwi and Mohamed Abla, as well as up-and-coming names like Shady El Noshokay.

Elias feels it is important to know the artist behind the work. He insists that each artist shows a sort of continuity between pieces and should be an active and productive member of the art scene. It is an artist’s evolution over the years, entering into different phases and experimenting with their work, that interests this collector.

Caring for artwork is a long, meticulous process. When the works are not on display, Elias keeps them carefully wrapped to protect them from dust and fading. The ones on view are kept clean and out of direct sunlight to preserve their original colors.

No matter how cautious the owner is, an artwork may need professional maintenance. Elias feels that no one can care for a piece of art like the artists themselves. He cultivates relationships with the artists whose pieces he’s purchased and prefers to have them touch up and maintain their works themselves.

Elias is ready to move beyond just being a collector and hopes to have Sahara start collaborating with certain artists in an effort to have his company subsidize art. “We are working in printing and this is very much related to beauty and art,” he notes, “so there should be a tight relation between the company and art.”

Though the project is still in the planning stages, Elias says, “I’m studying now about how we can use this for the benefit of art, for the benefit of the artist and for the benefit of the company.”