Mohamed Banaway, mosaic

Pavilion of Egypt

55th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia

Mohamed Banawy, Khaled Zaki

Treasuries of Knowledge (Tesori di Conoscenza)

Commissioner: Ministero della Cultura
Curator: Khaled Zaki

Venue: Padiglione ai Giardini di Castello, Venice Italy

Khaled Zaki and Mohamed Banawy will represent the Egypt Pavilion at this year’s Venice Biennale. Treasuries of Knowledge begins with Zaki’s flowing sculptures and Banaway’s abstract mosaics but ultimately intends to touch on much bigger issues. Inspired by this year’s Biennale theme ‘The Encyclopaedic Palace’, Zaki, in his double capacity as curator and sculptor, wanted to represent the human cycle on earth, one that is marked, beginning to end, by the thirst for knowledge and the search for the truth, looking to unveil the secret powers of the universe - ‘the good and the evil’. For Banawy, mosaics represent evolution and change, a map and a destiny where one can carve their own path, metamorphose, or destroy. He replaces smooth stones with scratchy ones, much like one can plant a tree or start a demonstration. Behind the clay hides creation, and behind the mud hides mankind - making the artist an extension of his Egyptian Heritage, and the universe that surrounds him.

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