Al Araba Al Madfuna III, 2016

The literary works of the Egyptian author Mohamed Mustagab serve as inspiration for the artist and lend the film a mythical touch through their unique narrative structure. The parables tell stories of ever-shifting zeal towards false idols and of man’s faith in what is fictional and ephemeral rather than what is true and everlasting. Al Araba Al Madfuna III (2016) was filmed in the ruins of the ancient temple of Pharaoh Seti and tells a parable on society’s relationship with nature. The film is projected in a darkened space with glimmering walls providing a dream like setting, inviting the viewer to navigate through the gallery as those in search of ancient myths and relics. The film itself is shot in inverted illumination and color further emphasizing the mystique surrounding Egypt’s Pharaonic past, a past so extraordinary that Egyptians still live under the weight of this immense historical period. Modern day Egypt struggles to embrace yet emancipate itself from its history in order to move forward. We see this further represented in the actors in the film who are all children playing adult roles and dubbed with adult male voices, as if reflecting on the stymied maturity of the nation.

The Cave, 2004 - 2006

The Cave is a surah in the Qur'an containing more than seven different stories, which share the theme of the special relationship between knowledge and power. The central story is called "The Seven Sleepers," a story that is part of the Christian tradition, with slight variances in numbers. According to Islamic tradition, seven religious villagers ("people of the cave") are plotting to escape from their disbelieving clansmen in the village. When their clansmen discover this plot, they resolve to kill the group of young men, and the men their dog seek refuge in a cave, praying to God for help and mercy. To protect them, God puts them to sleep for 309 years (in the Christian version it is about 210 years). They are woken up to find vast changes in the world, most significantly that Christianity has emerged. When the people of the newly-Christian village hear their story, the miracle inspires many more people to believe in God and his works. The seven sleepers themselves did not stay alive long afterwards, for the mIn purpose of their re-emergence is to prove God's power over mankind and his ability to bringing them to life after death.

According to more of the Islamic scholars, the purpose of revelation for "The Cave" surah is to celebrate the migration from Mecca to Medina in order to gain more power and knowledge. Shawky's choice to memorize and recite this chapter in a supermarket - the space being an evident metaphor for new capitalism - is a commentary on hybrid cultures. The audience may initially consider the 12-minute film as a sociological translation of self-portrait, but it is more importantly a meeting point of two systems that have nothing to do with each other on the surface, a supermarket and a recitation that does in fact exist between the two, It is a relationship based on power and knowledge, further augmented by the audience's inability to gauge the performer's political or ideological position. In that sense Shawky's memorization and delivery of the text mimics a news report: the neutrality enhances the gap between the two systems. Concurrently the speech acts as a protagonist in opposition to the dominance of Western media.