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Huda Sha'arawi: A Fondness for Arab Art
Dr. Yasser Mongy
Egyptian art critic and historian
Some chroniclers of the Egyptian modern art believed that the artistic
taste of Muhammad Ali's family members was restricted to their fondness
for Western arts, especially those belonging to the classical schools based
primarily on figuration for merely decorative purposes.
However, the consideration of numerous facts from the history of many
members of the Royal Family, and the contemplation of their
masterpieces reveal the great exaggeration of this ill-founded opinion.
Despite their strong passion for the Western culture and arts, the
relationship between the Royal Family members and the Eastern culture
and arts was never tenuous.
In this study, there are indications on the close connection between
Muhammad Ali’s family and the Eastern arts (Prince Youssef Kamal and
Sultan Hussein) to such an extent that some of them preferred living in
palaces designed in a pure Eastern style, as the palace of Prince
Muhammad Ali Tawfiq (1875-1954) which still stands in Manial.
However, this trend was not limited to the members of this family. It was
almost common among the upper class of the Egyptian society then,
especially the elite strongly connected with the ruling family and
represented by the titleholders and high-ranking officials as the pashas
and beys, who were at the forefront of the economic, social and political
arenas at the time.
In this complex socio-cultural context, a leading Arab woman model is
recalled, Mrs. Huda Sha'arawi (1879-1947), pioneer of the Egyptian
feminist movement and one of the foremost women activists who
advocated for Egypt's independence during the first half of the twentieth
century.
In addition to the national feminist movement that made her well-known,
Huda Sha'arawi was one of the most important patrons of fine arts. She
was said to love collecting the masterpieces of Islamic art, especially
ceramics. She even founded a factory in Rawd Al-Farag for Islamic-style
ceramics, some of which she occasionally displayed in some international
exhibitions.
Huda Sha'arawi was so fond of the masterpieces of the Arab art; her
house was such a unique example of the combination of Eastern Arts that
some researchers in oriental disciplines have taken some items of her
collection as subjects for their lectures. Her house had remained in its
unique style at the end of Qasr El-Nil Street until it was demolished
during the eighties of the last century.
One of the articles written on the style of Huda Sha'arawi's house
Source: Al-Mussawar magazine, October 1936
For Huda Sha'arawi's deep-rooted passion for Arab art, the officials of the
Egyptian Women's Union, which she established in 1923 and presided
over until her death, found that the best way to mark the third anniversary
of her departure was to create a memorial museum, in collaboration with
the Ministry of Education. The museum housed a selection of her Eastern
collection in two rooms at the Museum of Egyptian Modern Art in Cairo.
An excerpt of an article on Huda Sha'arawi's memorial museum housing a selection
from her collection of the Arab art masterpieces.
It was published in Al-Mussawar magazine on December 15th, 1950.
This exhibition displays the two above-mentioned items of her collection:
a mother-of-pearl inlaid wooden armchair and wooden tiled table.
Huda Sha'arawi succeeded in combining engagement in social and
charitable work serving the national liberation of Egypt, and support of
arts and different artistic events. After the death of Mahmoud Mukhtar in
1934, she was at the forefront of those who called for the preservation
and collection of his works of art for their protection from loss. These
efforts reached a successful outcome; Mahmoud Mukhtar Museum and
Cemetery were built at the expense of the Ministry of Education in 1938.
She was also a member of the Friends of the Imagination Society
Committee, which included a number of authors, intellectuals, and figures
of the Egyptian society, among them were Al-Aqqad (1889-1964), Al-
Mazzini (1889-1949), Muhammad Hussein Heikal, May Ziadeh (1886-
1941), and Sheikh Mustafa Abdel Razeq (1885-1947).
A wooden armchair inlaid with mother-of-pearl and nail heads, 110 x 65 x 85 cm, Huda
Sha'arawi's collection
A wooden tiled table, 90 x 57 x 57 cm, the twentieth century, Huda Sha'arawi's
collection
Huda Sha'arawi was also a member of the first committee of women
interested in the fine arts and paintings. It was established in 1920 under
the leadership of Princess Samiha Hussein, daughter of Sultan Hussein
Kamel. The most prominent members were the wife of Wissa Bey
Wassef, speaker of the Egyptian Parliament in the reign of King Fouad,
and the sister of artist Mahmoud Said.
1
Some highly esteemed Egyptian art historians and critics have recognized
the role of Huda Sha'arawi in the arrangement of the first art exhibitions
through which most of our early pioneers emerged. The late critic Badr
El-Din Abou Ghazi wrote in a booklet entitled “Cairo Salon in Fifty
Years” on page 6: “This Salon, inaugurated on March 7th, 1924, was the
beginning of a continuous series of exhibitions. It was preceded by
attempts of the respectful lady Huda Sha'arawi and a group of Egyptian
women to hold exhibitions of Egyptian artists, whose talents were
manifested in our cultural life after the 1919 Revolution.”
Her influential role in this field was highlighted by El-Mallakh and
Iskandar on page 110 of their book, Fifty Years of Art, published by Dar
Al-Ma'aref in 1962: “In 1922, the exhibition was named "Cairo Salon". In
its catalog, it was mentioned that the exhibition was held at the expense
of the House of Egyptian Arts and Crafts owned by Fouad Abdel Malik
and Co. Some Egyptian women, most notably Huda Sha'arawi, lent
helping hands to the Society, vying with one another to donate for the
promotion of arts, providing great assistance to the Society.”
Basic References:
1-Mongy, Yasser: Features of an Era Are Reflected in Its Figures, a study
accompanying the exhibition “Features of An Era” (The artistic collection
of Muhammad Ali Dynasty), Fine Arts Sector, Ministry of Culture, 2019.
2-Mongy, Yasser: The Egyptian Art Museums: The Historical
Transformations and Documentation Problems, Museum Booklets Series,
issue no. 9, the Egyptian National Committee of the International Council
of Museums (ICOM Egypt), Cairo, 2018.
1 See Al-Jabakhanji, Muhammad Sidqi: History of the Artistic Movement in Egypt
until 1945, pp. 39-40.