Egyptian artist Sara Tantawy’s first exhibition in the UAE embodies a language that she discovered when she was dealing with trauma, which led her to experiment with dance and movement therapy a few years back.
This experience resulted in Survivors, a series of 12 realism paintings of women in dance poses that is now hanging at Fann A Porter gallery in Dubai until February 10. It is the artist’s second body of work in her exploration of the ancient roots of communal belly dancing and movement as a vehicle to express grief, resilience and euphoria.
“I began researching this subject after I attended a dance and movement therapy course to deal with my own trauma and past experiences,” says the artist, 29, who graduated in fine arts from Helwan University in Egypt in 2017. "I found that dance has been used for centuries as therapy and expression and I wanted to specifically look at its roots in Egyptian culture.
“Dance has always been ritualistic and communal, and has been used for every occasion throughout history — to honour, to celebrate and to mourn.”
Tantawy learnt about the culture of belly dancing, which originated from travelling dancers in ancient Egypt. She wanted to understand the significance of shapes, colours, clothing, nature and moods on a dancer’s movements and attempts to capture the spiritual quality of dance in her paintings.
“The paintings show dance as a medium to explore your feelings. You can show your pain, your happiness, your anger and your contentment without saying anything at all,” she says.
For example, in the Dancer At Silver Centre series of three oil paintings, the artist chose circular canvases to depict eternity. Draped in a white dress and golden waistbelt that Tantawy handmade, the subject, the artist’s friend, poses with open hair and arms swaying in the paintings.
“I chose the canvas depending on the movement of the body. The circle means no end or beginning. It represents the Moon, Sun and Earth and she occupies all of space. This circular movement of the body also represents the planetary motion around the sun.”
In Heirloom, a wide square canvas, her subjects are draped in the same costume, expressing passion and desire. The artist blends hieroglyphs and Egyptian tombstone symbols in the background and adds a sculptural character to the women’s skin using the impasto painting technique.
Another two stretched canvases depict dancers draped in a royal blue full-length dress, the motifs and brush technique repeated in these paintings.
“Colours hold a lot of meaning in dance. I researched about its symbolism in Egyptian culture and contemporary movements. White, for example, represents glory and peace, while blue is from the Nile River, which was an important water body in ancient Egypt.”
Salvation, meanwhile, has two women posing on a boat, blades of tall grass rising in the background and water flowing underneath. The women in the painting are looking towards the sky in anticipation of fortune.
“The boat symbolises survival and the girls are hoping for a miracle. The grass acts like a shield to protect them while the waves below move them along,” explains Tantawy.
Tantawy, who lives in Cairo, has previously presented at various group and large-scale exhibitions, including the Beijing International Art Biennale in 2019, the Luxor International Painting Symposium in 2020, the Dafen International Oil Painting Biennale, where she received an award in 2021, and the Asian Art Biennale Bangladesh last year.
It was at the Egypt International Art Fair, after Tantawy had hosted her first solo exhibition, Silent Weeping, that she caught the attention of Ghada Kunash, founder of Fann A Porter.
Kunash says they are always looking for young Egyptian artists such as Tantawy, who are driven by personal experiences and bring intention into their pieces, and so she reached out to her on Instagram to commission her first UAE exhibition.
“We loved what Sara was producing and contacted her to create this exhibition for our space. Her work is not just academic but you can see that a lot of research has gone into her paintings. The contrasts, the positions of her subjects on the canvas, the historical references with the motifs, everything has a purpose and a story,” says Kunash.
“We can tell that Sara has a keen eye and will go a long way in her career.”
Tantawy’s next body of work will steer away from dance but will continue to highlight Egyptian culture.
“I’ve started looking into Nubia, which is one of the oldest civilisations of the world and originated in Egypt. I want to know more about the Nubian culture and apply that in my work.”
Survivors is on show at Fann A Porter in The Workshop Dubai until February 10. More information is at www.fannaporter.com
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
RESULTS
1.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,400m
Winner: Dirilis Ertugrul, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Ismail Mohammed (trainer)
2.15pm: Handicap Dh90,000 1,400m
Winner: Kidd Malibu, Sandro Paiva, Musabah Al Muhairi
2.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,000m
Winner: Raakezz, Tadhg O’Shea, Nicholas Bachalard
3.15pm: Handicap Dh105,000 1,200m
Winner: Au Couer, Sean Kirrane, Satish Seemar
3.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,600m
Winner: Rayig, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
4.15pm: Handicap Dh105,000 1,600m
Winner: Chiefdom, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
4.45pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,800m
Winner: King’s Shadow, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
BLACK%20ADAM
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Jaume%20Collet-Serra%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dwayne%20Johnson%2C%20Sarah%20Shahi%2C%20Viola%20Davis%2C%20Pierce%20Brosnan%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Arrogate's winning run
1. Maiden Special Weight, Santa Anita Park, June 5, 2016
2. Allowance Optional Claiming, Santa Anita Park, June 24, 2016
3. Allowance Optional Claiming, Del Mar, August 4, 2016
4. Travers Stakes, Saratoga, August 27, 2016
5. Breeders' Cup Classic, Santa Anita Park, November 5, 2016
6. Pegasus World Cup, Gulfstream Park, January 28, 2017
7. Dubai World Cup, Meydan Racecourse, March 25, 2017
Match info
Huddersfield Town 0
Chelsea 3
Kante (34'), Jorginho (45' pen), Pedro (80')
The specs
Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 575bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh554,000
On sale: now
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Mobile phone packages comparison
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
%3Cp%3EMATA%0D%3Cbr%3EArtist%3A%20M.I.A%0D%3Cbr%3ELabel%3A%20Island%0D%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Scoreline
Saudi Arabia 1-0 Japan
Saudi Arabia Al Muwallad 63’
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
More from Aya Iskandarani
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
ENGLAND SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Jack Butland, Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope
Defenders: John Stones, Harry Maguire, Phil Jones, Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier, Gary Cahill, Ashley Young, Danny Rose, Trent Alexander-Arnold
Midfielders: Eric Dier, Jordan Henderson, Dele Alli, Jesse Lingard, Raheem Sterling, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Fabian Delph
Forwards: Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Marcus Rashford, Danny Welbeck
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
It
Director: Andres Muschietti
Starring: Bill Skarsgard, Jaeden Lieberher, Sophia Lillis, Chosen Jacobs, Jeremy Ray Taylor
Three stars
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
