Notes

Huda Lutfi utilizes iconic imagery from Egyptian cinema and pop culture to critique or comment on social and political matters in Egyptian society with subtlety and humour. The three images selected here for use, collaged repeatedly across the work, reference their use in the period after the events of the Egyptian Arab Spring by Egyptians on social media. Circulated widely on Facebook and Twitter, each iconic pop culture image represented a gesture of frustration, humour or anger in reaction to social events and developments as the country was forming a new government, putting matters to referendums and voting, and experiencing uncertainty in the wake of the recent events. Using pop culture motifs and their use for widely-circulated memes, Lutfi comments on the power of imagery's ability to be rehashed with new meaning and circulated repeatedly; in addition, this work comments on the power of social media in inciting revolution in Egyptian, social changes in the country and the public's ability to engage with, comment and critique politics in a way that had never been done before by Egyptians.

Huda Lutfi formed part of a cohort of artists shortlisted for the Norval Sovereign African Art Prize 2023.

Huda Lufti, from Cairo, Egypt, is a self-taught multimedia artist and historian. She holds a PhD from McGill University in Montreal, Canada in Islamic Culture and History and is Professor Emerita of History at the American University, Cairo. Her art comprises collage, assemblage, painting, photography, sculpture, installation, and video. Her art, like her academic subject matter, references history, culture, gender, and identity in the contemporary world and political climate. She utilises symbols and imagery from a diversity of cultures – Pharaonic, Coptic, Arab, Mediterranean, Indian, and African.

Lufti has exhibited her works since the 1990s, including in Egypt, the USA, the UK, and the UAE. Her works are found in public collections such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in California, USA; The British Museum in London, UK; Museum of Modern Art in The Hague, Netherlands; Jean-Jacques et Michele de Fleurs Collection in Paris, France; and The World Bank in Cairo.

Provenance

Tintera Photographic Art Consultancy, Cairo, 2023.