Wael Shawky: Crusades and Other Stories

Wael Shawky produces spectacular film series based on literature and historical narratives, using a visual language that mixes fictional storytelling and documentary styles. The exhibition presents two newly completed film trilogies, each inspired by stories and scripts of literature; Cabaret Crusades (2010-2014) draws on Amin Maalouf’s novel The Crusades through Arab Eyes (1983) while Al Araba Al Madfuna (2012-2015) collages the stories of Mohamed Mustagab with the artists experience living in Upper Egypt. Over fifty ceramic and glass marionettes from the Cabaret Crusades, and drawings from both series share insight on the making of the films.

The architecture and scenography produced for Mathaf creates an original atmosphere that combine the artist’s references of history, literature, and cinema, through which other stories are imagined. A large vitrine of glass marionettes and drawings from Cabaret Crusades sets this stage, leading to the six films screening across the ground floor galleries. This process of telling stories and fictionalizing history through these layers creates a new story of the fight for power that is still present today.