CAIRO - 11 July 2017: It took me some time to pronounce the name of the gallery correctly, let alone understand it. The word is Swahili and means “I am because what we all are.” Nelson Mandela used ‘Ubuntu’ in his discourses to advocate reconciliation with the white minority in South Africa. He argued that since we are all the same, we can forgive the sins of the past and we can live together in peace and prosper.
Proceeding from this concept Ahmed el-Dabaa started his Gallery advocating “reconciliation with those artists with talent, past and present.” To understand the Gallery, we need to know its visionary godfather. Dabaa’s reputation in the Antique business strikes deep roots as it is a family business that he went into after finishing a degree in political science.
In addition to the inherited experience from his father’s business, he studied in London and got a Master’s Degree in History of Arts, Decoration of Arts, Chinese Ceramics and Islamic Arts. Developing artistic taste took Dabaa a couple of years of dedicated visits to every museum in Egypt from Alexandria to Aswan. Then came the gallery with the intent of presenting good art no matter who the artist is. Art, not the business of art, was the purpose.
The choice of artists depended on their work, reputation, potential, originality, use of different mediums, rather their name in the market. “When an artist believes in his or her work, the product is certainly distinguished,” says Dabaa.
The target artists are the young who have talent and who are thriving to improve themselves; those who have built their artistic name, but did not get the fame they deserve with the audience. Many of them did not have exhibitions in private galleries before; they had their exhibitions in the state’s museums, public venues, but never in
private galleries due to the idea that their work will not sell. Dabaa insisted on his principles, good art has nothing to do with selling or famous names. With these standards, Dabaa started the gallery located in Zamalek in 2014 named ‘Ubuntu.’
In the eyes of local Egyptian artists, “Ahmed was seen as an adventurous gallery owner, not a money maker. Some were even reluctant to get involved in his exhibitions. But, he was not let down by the audience, they came through and the exhibits became a success. Every season seven or eight new artists were added to the list.”
It is argued that despite the abundance of artists, Egypt has no respectable venues to exhibit their work to the point that Dubai and Abu Dhabi art galleries exhibit the work of Egyptian artists. The answer was his gallery ’Ubuntu.’ The reputation of ‘Ubuntu’ gallery made big names thrive to make their exhibitions there, but the principle stays the same, art for the sake of art not business. The season remains for talent only even if the names are unknown.
The wild adventurous spirit in Dabaa made him look beyond the local art life of Egypt. He went for the big Apple, New York this past May, whereby, he sent the artists’ work to the committee of Pier 94, which is a prominent art hub in New York. The work was approved and he shipped it to the exhibit, a task that cost a lot and got the artists a real boost to improve themselves. He is already preparing for next year.
“Participating in Pier 94 by itself increased the prices of the artists whose work were shown,” stated Dabaa. The gallery now has a role in international interaction and showcases Egyptian art internationally.
Every year Ubuntu makes a revisited exhibition that lasts for the whole summer. It is the work that remained from the exhibitions organized through the year. “It gives a chance for more exposure to the work, more sales and more recognition to the artists.”
“Art can be a great source of income for Egypt, but this needs awareness and purposeful planning on the part of many entities, galleries and government together,” pointed out Dabaa.
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