Contemporary Myths II

Wael Shawky (born Alexandria, 1971) is currently exhibiting Contemporary Myths II, a mixed media exhibition that centers around Wael Shawky’s epic marionette animation film “Cabaret Crusades: The Horror Show File”. In a retelling of the first crusades from the years 1096-1099, Shawky has made highly intricate film starring 200 year-old marionettes from the Italian Lupi Collection

Shawky’s film examines the causes and effects of religious war and its impact on European and Arab relations while laying bare the question of who pulls the strings of history.

With this dynamic interplay of film, installation, drawing, sculpture and photography, Shawky opens up the texture of history and confronts this faraway time in vivid focus and tactile intensity.