Mo Salah expresses admiration for Mai Abdallah’s statues

CAIRO - 7 November 2018: Mohamed Salah told sculptor Mai Abdalla in a phone call on Nov.7 that she is a good artist, and expressed his admiration for the works he saw on her Facebook page encouraging her to continue.

Abdalla said in a Facebook post that Salah advised her not to pay attention to negative comments saying she would be a well known artist on a global scale. He also asked her to make him a statute to put in his home.


Sculptor Mai Abdalla next to Mohamed Salah statue in 2018 World Youth Forum (WYF) - Facebook photo


Abdalla was subject to criticism as the photo of a statue she sculpted for the footballer went viral on social media. The statute was put in the venue of the 2018 World Youth Forum (WYF).

Abdalla responded by saying that the statue is originally made of pottery, and that its look became unsatisfactory after the WYF organizers plated it in bronze. The artist - who is originally from Minya - has unique designs that tend to be humorous and small in size. Abdalla will display her works in an exhibition later this month.

Abdalla revealed earlier this week that she sculpted 22 statues for actors and actresses in the same manner. They are mostly Egyptian movie stars including Abdel Fatah al-Kasry, Mary Monib, Hassan Fayek, Mahmoud Abdel Aziz in the look of his character Sheikh Hosny in Kitkat movie, and Yehya al-Fakharany. That is in addition to singer Mohamed Mounir dubbed The King.