#mogamma

[artblg2000]

Julie Mehretu

Mogamma (A Painting in Four Parts) Part 4

2012

Ink and acrylic on canvas

[bauzeitgeist]

A pair of somewhat surreptitious early-morning shots of Al-Mogamma (the complex”) the infamous landmark of Egypt’s sclerotic state bureaucracy, a 14-story Kafkaesque labyrinth of government offices where identity paperwork is obtained, permits are sought, documents are processed, authorizations are stamped and filed, connections are leaned on, bribes are paid. 

Built in the early 1950s in the last days of the old monarchy, in the decades hence it has only become more Byzantine, stuffing as many as 30,000 bureaucrats in a building meant for a fraction that much, its role symbolizing ordinary Egyptians relationship with their government has been portrayed in Egyptian film. There is near-constant rumor and speculation about its closure, dispersing the state’s administration to various, probably distant suburban facilities—indeed a New Cairo capital city is under construction 40kms east of the city center, but year after year Egyptian citizens are made to return to the same, huge old edifice to try to get through “the process.” Muhammad Kamal Ismail & Fahmy Momen, architects, completes 1951. Photos March 2020 Bauzeitgeist.

[jacobrowanstudios]

Thursday Thoughts: Looking at Julie Mehretu's "Mogamma II"

Thursday Thoughts: Looking at Julie Mehretu’s “Mogamma II”

Mogamma II, Julie Mehretu, 2012, 180″x144″ (Be sure to click on image and scroll through the amazing complexity of the marks) The above image is the second of Julie Mehretu’s Mogamma, A Painting in Four Parts. These four paintings were created around the time of the Arab Spring and consist of a complex web of gestural marks and vector lines overlaying technical wireframe drawings of Al-Mogamma (a…

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[eleanormackenzie]

The life of an illegal immigrant

The life of an illegal immigrant

Hello, all! 

Sorry for the silence, I’ve been away and busy and quite honestly too lazy to write but today was exceptional so here you go, yet another story about Egypt’s beautiful bureaucratic system.

Essentially, when we last renewed our visas we were given a 3 month single entry visa, which means if you leave the country, it stops being valid. It does not say this on the actual visa and no one…

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[zood-board]

Mogamma (A Painting in Four Parts): Part 2 (2012) by Julie Mehretu

[nickkahler]

Julie Mehretu, Mogamma, A Painting in Four Parts: Parts 1-4, 2012 (via liminal)

[highartfriend]

Conversations With Contemporary Artists | Julie Mehretu, April 21, 7PM

Monday, April 21, 7PM: MacArthur Foundation Award-winning artist Julie Mehretu and Michael Rooks at the Alliance Theater

Join MacArthur Foundation Award-winning artist Julie Mehretu as she discusses her career and work, including the High Museum of Art’s recent acquisition Mogamma (A Painting in Four Parts): Part II (2012). In this painting, the architecture of the public square serves as a point of departure for Mehretu’s exploration of social and political change embodied by the Arab Spring through dynamic, multi-layered imagery. The High is honored to bring Mehretu to Atlanta for this special event. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from the artist and learn about her work.   

Support for this lecture provided by the WISH Foundation Fund of the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, and Jane and Clay Jackson and The Willett Group.

Julie Mehretu, Mogamma (A Painting in Four Parts): Part II (2012)

Purchase with funds from Alfred Austell Thornton in memory of Leila Austell Thornton and Albert Edward Thornton, Sr., and Sarah Miller Venable and William Hoyt Venable, David C. Driskell African American Art Acquisition Fund, Dr. Lurton Massie Jr. Endowment for Contemporary Art, The Blonder Family Acquisition Endowment Fund, Robert O. Breitling, Jr. Acquisition Endowment Fund, WISH Foundation Fund of The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta and through prior acquisition

[ragnarweilandt]

The Mogamma Experience

Das Gebäude, in dem Asterix und Obelix den Passierschein A38 besorgen müssen ohne verrückt zu werden, existiert wirklich. Wer in Kairo lebt muss hin und wieder im Mogamma – dem Symbol und Zentrum ägyptischer Bürokratie – sein Visum verlängern. Das Innere des riesigen Betonklotzes am Tahrir Platz erinnert an die Londoner Tube während der Rushhour – unglaublich viele Menschen auf unglaublich wenigen Quadratmetern. Es dauert eine Weile bis man herausfindet wo man hin muss, wie man dort hinkommt und bis man dort ist. Dass englische und arabische Beschriftungen von Schildern oft nicht übereinstimmen, macht die Sache nicht einfacher. Und ausgerechnet in der Visastelle, wo die Chance auf Ausländer zu treffen naturgemäß besonders hoch ist, spricht kaum ein Sachbearbeiter Englisch.

An die Stelle gepflegten britischen Anstehens tritt das Recht des Stärkeren. Unter massivem Einsatz meiner Ellbogen erkämpfe ich mir einen Visumsverlängerungsantrag und bringe ihn ausgefüllt zu Schalter 13. Dort erklärt mir eine Sacharbeiterin, dass ich zunächst zum Schalter 44 gehen muss, um Visamarken zu kaufen, anschließend an Schalter 3 eine Gebühr von 15 Dollar bezahlen und dann Marken und Quittung zurück zu ihrem Schalter bringen muss. Schalter 3 gibt es aus unerfindlichen Gründen mehrfach. Schalter 44 ist zwar der einzige ohne längere Schlange, allerdings dauert es eine Weile bis die Sachbearbeiterin ihr angeregtes Gespräch mit der Kollegin von Schalter 43 unterbricht. Zurück am Schalter 13 werde ich gebeten, meinen Pass zwei Stunden später am Schalter 38 abzuholen.

Das Ganze dauert insgesamt rund sechs Stunden und erfordert ein hohes Maß an Geduld, Gelassenheit und Galgenhumor – Eigenschaften die das Leben in Kairo ganz allgemein erleichtern...