Firefly Tunnels partook in an eclectic mix of art display at Cairo's L'Atelier this past Sunday, March 13, 2011. The evening kicked off with a two hour opening showcasing a double-room variety of American and Egyptian cartoonists. A separate room held the fruit of Fayoum Art Center's six-week Winter Academy, presenting mostly mono-prints, a few paintings, and one sculpture. A TV screen was also set up to run a 104 picture slideshow of images taken by the different Artists during their time at the first annual Winter Academy.

Street performances planned for Saturday, March 12 and Sunday, March 13 were cancelled due to concerns over security after violence erupted in Cairo on Wednesday & Thurday.

Eye-witness accounts say that a gang of thugs crept up behind a group of demonstrators standing near tanks in Tahrir, then attacked. The military reacted, attempting to clear the space by firing tear gas and some live ammunition. Caught between the cross-fire, civilians misunderstood the shots as being aimed at them, and attacked the military, wreaking havoc throughout the square on Wednesday afternoon, March 9. Midan Tahrir was officially closed off to protestors the following day, March 10, so that no tents, signs, banners, or people remain. Some fear this will mean an end to the Egyptian people's voice.

Wednesday's incident occured less than 24 hours after a new Parlimentary law was passed to make inciting riots punishable by death. Demonstrations were being held for many reasons, including as response to the burning of a historic Church on Monday, which killed 13.

Given the order to avoid contentious politics, then, Firefly Artists opted out of the previous idea to dress their puppet up as a Revolutionary symbol of Martyrdom. There were many debates ending on the note that it would look bad, or might be misunderstood, if Americans were leading a "Unify Egypt" campaign throughout Cairo.

"It is better for us to focus on abstraction anyway," one Artist confirmed, "we can say more without being overtly political."
Artists took on the non-verbal challenge by conducting a very successful jam session at Windsor Hotel on Friday, then visiting the L'Atelier Gallery on Saturday to acquaint themselves with the performance space. After agreeing on the stage setting, a lovely nighttime boat ride down the Nile in a traditional Faluka helped clear everyone's head for Sunday's show. 

As interest in the Cartoon/Fayoum Art Center Exhibit died down, people began enjoying tea & coffee in L'Atelier's outdoor plaza. Director Tavia La Follette addressed the murmuring crowd with the quaint ring of a bell, and a one hour performance by Firefly Artists ensued. Dressing in all black to improve aesthetic appreciation for form, the Artists had agreed upon a whole series of rules earlier that day during rehearsal. These groundrules were focused on helping the audience understand performance & installation art as a process. 

Several bouts of applause throughout the hour-long performance calmed Artists' previous concerns that this kind of artwork would be non-translatable to a predominately traditional art scene in Egypt. 

"We have turned our work into a discipline," one Artist smiled, commenting on the achievement. "It will be interesting to see where it takes us next."

Today, Firefly Tunnel Artists packed it up and headed back to Cairo in preparation for their show on Sunday, March 13.

The last two days have been spent exploring the desert oasis through performance & installation art, while after dinner discussions have revolved around ideas of philosophical identity, theory & nationalism, and the malleable nature of revolution.

Wednesday's workshop featured a "street jam" in Fayoum, where Artists began using their new skills to perform inpromtu installations on their way to the town-side oasis lakefront, while Thursday took them a step further into the dramatic desert planes.

Several Artists were daunted by the desert's overpowering scale, commenting on the difficulties of attempting to harness something so grand. After some guidance from Executive Director Tavia La Follette, Artists found a rythm and learned how to become a part of the scenery- something that will definately benefit them as they look to perform throughout Cairo- a city of over 26 million people- in the coming days.

Incorporating the results from a previous puppeteering workshop as part of her teaching residency at Fayoumg Art Center, Tavia La Follette and her multinatinoal gang of Artists have spent the past week constructing a 5' x 2.5' ft mask and 2' x 2' hand out of paper mache. After several in-depth conversations, the group believes it is important to reinforce the idea of unity during Egypt's trying times through performance.

"If there is one thing that the people need right now, it is for everyone to understand that we are all Egyptian," one Egyptian Artist asserted, requesting that the group exhibit the puppet with only one hand to drive home the message of unity.

On the back of the puppet's shall will be written all the names of Egypt's 365 Revolutionary martyrs, while the mask's forehead will read "Nahdet Masr", Egypt's symbol for the 1950's Revolution which freed the country from an English-Turkish regime. 

Hoping to finish the tent-structure for three people to hide and operate the puppet by tomorrow, the puppet will tour around Cairo eleciting responses from the community on its way to the final exhibit.

The troup of 12 artists will spend tonight completing a "jam session" at Downtown Cairo's Windsor hotel in preparation as part of "Caricatures of the Revolution". The show starts 9:00 PM at Cairo's Atelier.

For more information about the show click HERE.

Firefly Tunnels kicked off its second Egyptian-based workshop for the Project yesterday, March 7, 2011. The workshop is part of Tavia La Follette’s two week teaching residency at Fayoum Art Center’s six week Winter Academy Program.

With 14 Egyptian artists missing due to concerns over security during the country’s Revolutionary transition period, 6 American artists (including a few visiting professors) were included to help build the final number of participation to 12.

The group was welcomed by Fayoum Art Center’s founder, Mohamed Abla. Abla explained how the Center was merely a dream ten years ago, “And like most things,” he said, “I had an idea, so I began to work towards making it happen.” 

In 1978, Abla was the youngest founding member of the Egyptian National Arts Syndicate, which acts as a kind of Union to the Ministry of Culture. Since its inception, Abla helped build the Syndicate to hold over 5,000 major entities, representing all walks of art in Egypt along the way.

“But it was not easy,” he said, “there is a reason for this revolution.” The Ministry had a strangle-hold on development, receiving kick-backs and embezzling funds to prevent young leaders from attaining maturity in their craft. The Syndicate fell into this powers structure, isolating visionaries like Abla from building a real national sensibility for the arts.

For instance, Abla is currently working to implement a new Board of Directors that will draft a new constitution to expunge old laws, like requiring at least 13 years of professional experience (including an MFA) to be invited onto the Syndicate.

“This does not represent art in Egypt,” Abla stated firmly. “There were lots of people not doing what they were supposed to, but we finally have the courage to make our country great again.”

The Fayoum Art Center was founded in 2005 after Abla was able to secure finances through his career as a political cartoonist. The Center was opened a year later, operating internationally since 2007. Recently, Abla opened the Middle East’s only Cartoon Museum featuring his very own personal collection. Abla’s final words, “We don’t need to be perfect because we learn from each other,” encapsulated his vision for the Center, which acted as the perfect introduction to the Firefly Tunnel workshop.

The afternoon was charged with excitement thanks to acknowledgement of the Egyptian Revolution, which Tavia La Follette hopes will inspire Americans to become more active in their governmental process. “What an incredible time to be working with Egyptian artists,” Tavia expressed, “we are honored to have this opportunity to work alongside of you at such a poignant moment in time.”

In six hours the artists were lead through a series of 7 mini-exercises that built ideas of trust and community over creativity, altogether helping expunge preconceptions about “the other” and revealing an inner attitude of universal language.

Artists will spend the next two days practicing their newfound skills in making performance & installation art in preparation for a live street demonstration in Tahrir Square, Friday, March 11.

Artwork made during this workshop and demonstration will be included in a dual exhibition at Atelier, a small studio/gallery in downtown Cairo. The show opens Sunday, March 13, 2011.

For more information about the Exhibit, see the event’s Facebook page HERE.