Profile 5


Stills from Drama 1882 (2024), 4K video, sound, colour, VFX, arabic with English subtitles, Dolby surround 5:1, 45 minutes, courtesy of the artist and Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Lisson Gallery, Lia Rumma, and Barakat Contemporary


Still from Cabaret Crusades: The Horror Show File (2010), HD video, colour, sound, 31 minutes 49 seconds, courtesy of the artist and Sfeir-Semler Gallery Beirut/Hamburg


masked performers. Basically, all these characters were partially made in order not to have any dramatic expressions and not to depend on the acting skills of any performer, including the children. Te children do not know the history: I just tell them to do one thing or another and they remain very innocent. Tey are talking about something they do not even know as I make them memorise a very complex text in classical Arabic. Tey do not know the meaning of the text, but they know how to pronounce it. Whenever I try to explain the way


I proceed, I always emphasise that my motivation is to kill drama in my work. I do not want to have drama in my films. When people look at the final piece, I want them to be connected through the topic, the music, the script, but not through the acting skills as I do not want to rely on the skills of an actor. I obeyed these rules until the Venice Biennale. With the film being made in Egypt – as well as in my hometown Alexandria, which meant a lot to me – I was determined to do something truly different to the degree that I wanted to challenge myself. I therefore decided that I would also be working with adults this time, ultimately calling the piece Drama 1882. By the time I was working on the


piece, I had started to learn more from the marionettes and their movements. I thought it would be wonderful if we could use these movements together with this idea of hypnotised performers. Looking at all the performers, you feel that they are hypnotised – not manipulated by strings or anything of that kind, but they are hypnotised by movements. Tat was the idea behind the film, and I am very happy by this shift and transition, and the way it turned out. As an artist, I believe you always must challenge yourself, doing things against or even beyond what you know.


AAN: Would you say that working with puppets or marionettes is a closed chapter, which is now behind you? WS: No, not at this stage. Honestly, I love the idea of working with marionettes, not only with marionettes, but also with objects and animals. I like to try to explore new figures because, in my opinion, as humans, it makes it more straightforward for us to project ourselves. I often had the impression that it was easier for the audience to


Still from Cabaret Crusades: The Path to Cairo (2012), HD video, colour, sound, 59 minutes, courtesy of the artist and Sfeir-Semler Gallery Beirut/Hamburg


identify with a puppet instead of identifying with a superstar actor. Tis is an interesting aspect for me to deal with, not only to create a new visual language, but also towards a different analysis of history. In this sense, the story does not always revolve around this figure that we know in history as being evil. Tings are open for change and when looking at this figure as a puppet, it triggers a different kind of judgement, which depends on the story itself and not on what we know about the character.


AAN: You frequently said that different types of media all have their own limitations. Would you tend to say that film has the least limitations of all? WS: Over time, I have come to realise that film is the medium with the most limitations! I say this based on all the parameters that come together, be this the dimension of music, the dimension of time, etc. I always try to compare the making of a film with the making of a drawing, both mediums relying on a process that I love. Drawing is unquestionably the most direct and spontaneous, as well as the most physically connected to the product: it is as if you are immediately and without thinking brought it from your subconscious to the paper. It is impossible to achieve this in films as there are layers and layers that need to come together: actors, filming, post-production, lighting, and music. Terefore, and I say this not only for me, but for many filmmakers: the most incredible thing about making a successful film is when nobody notices the difficulty behind it and when none of these elements are visible to the audience. Of course, the ideal scenario is when everything ends up coming together naturally. In addition, and even though it is complicated, I try as much as possible to give my films this sense of spontaneity even though everything is well calculated. Tis is why I keep saying that


film is at the exact opposite of making a drawing that is completely spontaneous and surreal. Te question I was facing was how to calculate everything in the film to the degree of making each scene not only look surreal, but also spontaneous? Tat is quite a challenge.


AAN: Are there any artists you admire because they met that challenge?


Still from Cabaret Crusades: The Secrets of Karbalaa (2015), HD video, colour, sound, 120 minutes, courtesy of the artist and Sfeir-Semler Gallery Beirut/Hamburg


abstract, making it feel spontaneous, but at the same time controlled? In my opinion, this man is a genius for truth.


Still from The Cave, Amsterdam (2005), video, colour, sound, 12 minutes 45 seconds, courtesy of the artist and Sfeir-Semler Gallery Beir/Hamburg


I have realised film is the


medium with the most


limitations


WS: Absolutely. For example, I am fascinated by Gerhard Richter, who I feel is incredible. Even though he is someone who relies on just one medium – painting – it is admirable how he can move between the extremes of photorealism and abstraction. How is it possible to accomplish that? How can one be


AAN: As to the production of new projects, how do you go about funding, which is a crucial parameter within film-making? WS: Sometimes, I put some of my own money towards part of the production, but I am fortunate to have gallery representation. In Venice, for example, I had four galleries involved, and every one of them supported the project to make it work. In that instance, we even managed to get support from Egypt, as well as from private collectors. On other occasions, I considered myself extremely lucky to be invited – as in the case of Pompeii, for example. I was approached to make a film there which ultimately resulted in a big production that the city was happy to support. As for Cabaret Crusades, there were large institutions interested in supporting this project. Interestingly, I made one production in Italy, one in France, and one in Germany, and they were the main forces behind the Crusades. It was just a fantastic outcome. Sometimes, museums support a project while being fully aware that they are supporting something meaningful that also has to do with their own history. And it is irrelevant if the project highlights the Arab point of view, as this intellectual discourse is extremely important to the institutions too, thus making things much easier.


AAN: You were appointed Artistic Director of the first edition of Art Basel Qatar (February 2026), entitled Becoming. What was your approach to making the event genuinely special, and not just another art fair that happened to take place in the Gulf? WS: My involvement with the fair was for this one time only. It will not be more than this as I cannot make the time. I made the first edition and, so far, it has been wonderful, as I learned a lot from the experience on a personal and artistic level. Of course, I was honoured to be part of this first edition, but it goes further than that as we also need to develop a professional market in the region. Being part of the launch of this new undertaking was something important for me, as I see it as a continuation of my involvement with the Fire Station in Doha – a former fire station converted into a contemporary art space supporting artists at the early stages of their career – where I am the artistic director. Terefore, my involvement is also about education, but on a more global scale: there can be many museums being built in the region, in Qatar or in Saudi, but one still needs a market. Without an existing market, how can I convince a Qatari student in Doha to drop everything and leave to become an artist? I am very happy with this fair and satisfied with the way I conceived it, even though it was only one edition and with 87 galleries limited in terms of size compared to some of the other fairs.


Exhibition view of Al Araba Al Madfuna (2018), courtesy of the artist and Sfeir-Semler Gallery Beirut/Hamburg. In 2004, Wael Shawky embarked on a research journey in search of historical, religious and philosophical peculiarities that shaped political and social life in Egypt, travelling from his native town of Alexandria via Cairo and the Nile along to southern Egypt


AAN: What made this fair different, not only to the collectors, but also to the artists? WS: Generally speaking, artists are not extremely fond of art fairs because they create the work, which is subsequently sent to the gallery, where it is taken out of its original context. Ten, the work is displayed at an art fair, again in a completely different setup, which has nothing to do with the artist. As a result, the work ultimately loses its narrative. It is therefore my belief that it is important to involve the artist more in this undertaking instead of the opposite. Until now, it seems that most artists are not involved in art fairs, either because they do not want to be, or because they do not like it as it is a commercial venue. As a result, we tried to make a statement with this edition, to make sure the art itself became part of the narrative.


ASIAN ART | MARCH 2026


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