Mohamed Abla Egyptian, b. 1953

Biography

Mohamed Abla was born in 1953 in Belqas in the Egyptian Nile Delta. After studying fine arts in Alexandria, he moved to Europe, where he studied sculpture and printmaking in Vienna and Zurich and finally found a second home in Walsrode in Lower Saxony.

 

His first solo exhibition was held in 1979 at the Hohmann Gallery in Walsrode, followed by exhibitions at, to name a few, the Ewat Gallery in Leeuwarden, Netherlands in 1989, the Art Hall in Örebro, Sweden in 1991 and the Egyptian Academy in Rome. In 1994 he won the first prize of the Kuwait Biennial and in 1997 the Grand Prix of the Alexandria Biennial in Egypt. This was followed by other international exhibitions, including the Havana Biennial, the British Museum in London and the Kunstmuseum Bonn.

 

Teaching at a variety of international institutions led him to found the Fayoum Art Center in 2007. Today it is an establishment where young artists from all over the world live and work together. In 2009, he opened the first caricature museum in the Middle East and North Africa. After the 2011 revolution, Mohamed Abla was elected to the Committee of 50 that wrote Egypt’s new constitution.

 

EDUCATION

1985-87,  Awarded a scholarship to study in Basel, Switzerland
1980-82, Studied Graphics and Sculpture in Switzerland and Austria and opened a studio in Zurich for painting therapy 

1978, Beginning of Art and Scholastic trip in Europe
1973, Graduated From The Faculty of Fine Arts in Alexandria (Painting)

Exhibitions