full essay - Contemporary Practices

102 EssayMahmoud Saïd, Le Nil vers Béni Hassan, oil on canvas, 80.5x100cm., 1951. Dr. Hussam Rashwan Collection, Alexandria.preparatory work the same year. When comparing thelatter with the final painting, it becomes obvious thatlight was an essential element in his oeuvre and evenmore so for these spiritual subject matters, enabling himto express the ritual’s holiness. The ‘zikr’ oil sketch issuperbly built up with impressionistic and spontaneousyet meticulous brushstrokes of thick impasto. The brightpigments and the repetition of white highlighted in themen’s caps culminate in the central figure, wearing awhite gown, to create an overall vibrant composition.Saïd painted a preparatory work most probably to castand stage his characters in the pictorial space, beforetransposing them onto a larger canvas. There are severaltypes of ‘zikr’ that can be performed in private or public,yet the one represented in both works seems to be themost common group ceremony known as ‘hadra’, thatusually takes place in a public space as suggested by thehouses in the background. ‘Zikr’ is best translated fromArabic into English as ‘remembrance’ or ‘invocation’.It is associated with liturgical readings, prayers, songand Qu’ranic recitals as a means to remember God.Musically, the celebrants recite repetitively on the sametone the Names of God whilst a soloist performs aseparate song on top. In his paintings, he portrayed the