Cruising through Cairo
Dear art seekers,
We thought we were living in a technology heavy world until the pandemic hit and we were suddenly transported into a virtual world. It became hard to see people, to travel and even to experience art the way we used to. But artists have long broken out of the traditional forms of fine art, especially by diving into the world of digital art. Its power of transporting us to a different space is fascinating.
This week’s newsletter will carry us to the beautifully littened up Egypt, through the work of the Egyptian artist Ahmed Saad who goes by Saad - سعد. Saad was kind enough to agree to an informal interview with me about his practice, experience and Cairo.
From Ismailia, a city in north-eastern Egypt, Saad (35) is a comic, graffiti and digital artist based in Cairo. His interest in art developed from a young age when he dreamed of having his own art exhibition. He didn’t fully realize his dream until he decided to quit his university field to pursue the arts. For the past 12 years, he has been working as a professional artist. In his work, Saad creates short animated videos that depict certain moments of tranquility in the busy city of Cairo. What distinguishes Saad’s work is his easy and minimally detailed approach in both his comics and animation.
After having an instinctually bad reaction to Photoshop (which I can relate with), he started out as a graffiti and street artist. Yet, he returned to Photoshop later on realizing that practicing digital art would open up more options and effects and grew more fond of it.
In an attempt to escape a difficult period in his life, he began recalling peaceful moments he lived in Cairo and turned them to animation. He sought art to find calmness, while creating his own peaceful haven. “Surprisingly it went viral and I got tons of DMs thanking me that my latest animation project gave them what we all need..inner peace and calm”, he says.
When discussing the accessibility of digital art in comparison with other traditional forms of fine art, Saad admitted that if it weren’t for his web comics, he wouldn’t be where he is now. Thanks to social media, it brought his work into the light and gave it the exposure he needed to keep producing more.
One of my favorite things to ask an artist is what and who inspires them because maybe that will inspire me in return. Saad’s approach to inspiration depends on what he is working on. If it’s web comics he looks for local insights (news, trends..etc). However, if he’s working on a script, he looks for research by reading other scripts and watching them. But of course, his environment is what takes precedent; “I spent so many hours back in the day in my favorite local coffee shop observing and that gave me inspiration, so bottom line the streets inspire me.”
He draws his inspiration from street artists such as; Sheaprd Fairey, SEEN, COPE2, Invader, Banksy and comic artist Frank Miller.
Despite not having been in Egypt yet, Saad’s work succeeds in giving me a glimpse of what Egypt’s air and streets feel like. It reflects its essence in its nooks and crannies in a way that articles and photographs fail to.
Currently, Saad is working as a screenwriter by day and comic artist by night. He mentions in an interview with Egypt Today that he is working on a TV series called ‘Helwa El Donia Sokar’ (Life Is Sweet Like Sugar). In light of the progression of his work, he aspires to create an animation series and hopes to begin working on a graphic novel.
Since Substack does not support attached Instagram videos, please check out Saad’s work on his Instagram @ims3d and Behance!
Yours truly,
Rebecca