Ashraf Hanna: Shararah
About the Exhibition
Ashraf Hanna is an artist who works with ceramics.
He was born in 1967 in the country Egypt.
He has lived in the country Great Britain for many years.
He first designed his installation Shararah in 2021.
It was for the Victoria & Albert Museum in the
city of London.
An installation is an art project that fills a whole room.
Shararah is Arabic and means spark.
A spark can start a fire.
The Arab Spring was a political revolution.
It also took place in Egypt.
In Egypt, it started on 25 January 2011 in Tahir Square.
That is a place in the capital city Cairo.
Many people protested against the government. Then this government had to give up power.
It is called: the Egyptian Revolution.
The installation consists of 25 ceramic jars.
They have the colours red-brown and black.
These jars are a symbol for the 25 January 2011.
On that day demonstrators shouted:
Bread, freedom and social justice.
These words are carved into the jars as a pattern.
Ashraf Hanna was inspired by old ceramics from the city of Asyut in Egypt.
These ceramics have carvings in them and they are shiny because they were polished.
Today they are in many museums,
for example in the Victoria & Albert Museum
in London.
These ceramics only existed in Asyut.
150 years ago, tourists that visited Asyut really liked them.
In 2019, Ashraf Hanna himself travelled to Asyut.
He was born near there.
He visited the potters, to learn about the material and the technique for these ceramics.
With his installation, Ashraf Hanna
wants to remember the old art of ceramics.
And he shows that he feels connected to Egypt.
But in fact he wanted to say:
I think of the people who made the Arab Spring possible.
The name Shararah also means:
A souvenir from the past becomes a political sign.
The exhibition is from 6 July to 24 September 2023.
Thanks go to Duke Franz of Bavaria.
He lent us the installation for our exhibition.
And we also thank Duke Franz of Bavaria
for supporting and promoting
Die Neue Sammlung – The Design Museum.
