Gazbia Sirry and Egyptian artists in the Nasserite State, 1950s-1960s
‘In this lecture, I focus on the work of Gazbia Sirry (1924-2019), to illustrate how leading modernist artists were, in the wake of the 1952 Free Officers Revolution, swayed by Gamal Abdel Nasser’s charisma, putting their art in the service of his brand of Egyptian nationalism and Pan-Arabist ideology. But how did Sirry respond to Nasser’s increasingly strongman regime and the devastating outcome of 1967 War? We follow the formal and tonal shifts in Sirry’s work as it responded to, and was shaped by Nasser’s and post-revolutionary Egypt’s political fortunes.’
Date:
25 January 2023, 17:00 (Wednesday, 2nd week, Hilary 2023)
Venue:
Examination Schools, 75-81 High Street OX1 4BG
Speaker:
Chika Okeke-Agulu
Organising department:
Department of History of Art
Organiser contact email address:
vrc@hoa.ox.ac.uk
Part of:
Slade Lectures 2023: African Artists in the Age of the Big Man
Booking required?:
Not required
Audience:
Public
Editor:
AB Siegenthaler
