Mural Cairo 2012 2012

Alaa Awad made this mural in Cairo in 2012, using what looks like a combo of paint and maybe some ink or dye. The palette is pretty earthy, lots of ochre and faded greens. I get the feeling Awad wasn’t too precious about the making; it’s more about getting the story down than being fussy with the details. There's this part with Anubis, the jackal-headed god, weighing a heart against a feather – it's an old story but looks so fresh. The texture is interesting, kind of dry and chalky, like it's been baked in the sun. You can almost feel the heat and dust of Cairo just looking at it! The lines are simple, almost like a kid’s drawing, but they carry so much weight. It reminds me a little of early Twentieth Century Mexican muralists like Diego Rivera, who also used public art to tell stories about history and revolution, but with a uniquely Egyptian twist. Art is always in conversation with itself, right?