EGYPT: ART AND LITERATURE

Ancient Egyptian art is one of the oldest art forms in the world and one of the most distinctive.  The art is drawn on a two-dimensional scale, and the people and objects tend to be drawn in profile.  There’s very little shading or any acknowledgement of depth.  They also utilized what’s called tiered space: where objects that are supposedly in the distance are placed higher than objects in the forefront. Sometimes people are drawn with the heads of animals that symbolize gods. 

In other arts, gold is a very important material that was used. The ancient Egyptians believed gold was a gift from the gods and that it was virtually indestructible for that reason.  However, at that time, payment for goods and services were done on the barter system – you got paid in food and clothes, so gold didn’t have much of a monetary value at all.  It was used for a variety of projects, from jewelry to sculptures, and masks.  Gold was either mined from surface mines, which are considered state monopolies in Egypt, or was panned from the river.  Actually, Egypt really didn’t produce that much gold, probably around one ton, and most of it went to the royalty.

Because of the influences from the Arab world, there are many Arab-inspired and Islam-inspired buildings throughout the country.  These buildings also tend to be geometrically and mathematically designed. The arts scene now reflects many of the arts movements throughout the world, and you can find Egyptian artists of all mediums, from painting and sculpture to modern techniques using digital arts and other contemporary styles. Egyptians are very tech savvy and use the Internet and social media to promote their art as well. 

The ancient Egyptians were the first people to develop paper from papyrus, thus giving us the book.  Their writing system, hieroglyphics, is one of the first alphabets to emerge.  Some of the more well-known books from this early period are Story of Sihune, Westcar Papyrus, and the Book of the Dead.  Early Egyptian literature usually fell into three categories: autobiographies, informative literature, and myths/stories. Many of the Coptic works were also held in libraries in Alexandria. By the eighth century, Muslim Arabs had taken control of the area and Arabic became the language most written in. They borrowed Egyptian folk tales and many of them were included in One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights).

By the time the 19^th and 20^th centuries came along, Egypt went through a sort of Renaissance movement that hit all of the arts, not just literature. One of the most important writers to emerge from this time is Naguib Mahfouz. Mahfouz has published 34 novels and over 350 short stories, and his works often delve into existentialism. He was also the first Egyptian to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. (And I think his photo makes him look a little like Jack Nicholson.)  The novel that is often considered as the first Egyptian novel and Islamic novel is Zaynab, written by Muhammad Husayn Haykal in 1914.  It not only dealt with issues such as the relationships between men and women, but also with the relationships between laborers and plantation owners and was set entirely in Egypt. The novel was also the basis of Egypt’s first silent film of the same name that was produced in 1925. 

Naguib Mahfouz

Jack Nicholson

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COLOMBIA: ART AND LITERATURE

As far as pre-Colombian art goes, there are always the usual mediums: pottery and stonework. And there’s one addition here: goldwork. There were such extensive goldwork pieces found – large pieces, small pieces – that it’s no doubt this was the basis for the El Dorado myths. However, the vast majority of the pieces that have been found were mostly for religious purposes, as well as for jewelry and adornment. The thing that makes gold so coveted and valuable is that it doesn’t rust, and it’s quite malleable when heated, making it easy to shape. One of the Muisca chiefs would cover himself with gold dust for special ceremonies and was therefore called El Dorado. However, most people thought El Dorado, or “The Lost City of Gold” was an actual place, leading numerous Spanish conquistadores to travel to this area in search for this infamous place, all for naught. Many of these gold pieces are housed in the Museo del Oro (Museum of Gold) in Bogotá, Colombia.

From cave paintings to abstract art, painting is also an important facet of Colombian art. The earliest colonial paintings were mostly religious-based in nature and included both canvas paintings and mural paintings. It later gave way to the rococo style, for which one popular form of painting was the portrait. Practically everyone had one. It was sort of the thing. One of the most prominent painters at this time was Joaquín Guttiérrez.

Botero's version of the Mona Lisa. 

After independence and with the subsequent European influences, many of the art styles and movements of Europe were also carried on in Colombia. Modern art is generally embraced and found as public art throughout the country. One of the most famous artists is the still life artist Fernando Botero. One thing I noticed about his signature style of painting is that the people he paints are always depicted as plump, overweight, chunky. They often show the absurdity, irony, and realism of the moment. His style is called boterismo, named after himself. 

Juan de Castellanos

Early literature in Colombia mostly consisted of poetry – mostly religious in nature – and historical accounts. Actually, the longest poem ever written in the Spanish language is called Elegías de Varones Ilustres de Indias by Juan de Castellanos. Following independence, the trend in literature was to follow the Romantic genre taking dominance in Europe. Like other areas in the Americas and Europe, the trend in literature towards the end of the 19^th century and early 20^th century was to write about peasant life, lifestyles of the working class, and the daily struggles they felt. Of course, they were also critical of the government and its response to these issues. This movement in Colombia was called costumbrismo.

As the 20^th century rolled on, various smaller literary movements and variations came and went. Probably the most famous Colombian author is Gabriel García Márquez. Winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982, he’s most famous for One Hundred Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera, both of which are on my massive reading list, but I haven’t got to yet. Along with Márquez, many writers in Colombia, like Álvaro Cepeda Samudio, Eduardo Caballero Calderón, and Manuel Mejía Vallejo also worked as journalists.

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