Amal Kandeel: Turning (Economic) Theory Into (Artistic) Action

By Janet McMahon

If Egyptian economist Amal Kandeel were the standard, the stereotype of the ivory-towered academic would be smashed to smithereens. Not only do the former Cairo University instructor’s books—one on the effect of the Middle East conflict since 1948 on Jordan and an upcoming one on the economy and people of Iraq throughout the Iran-Iraq and Gulf wars and subsequent U.N. sanctions—attest to her interest in the real world, and the real people living in it, but her involvement with these issues extends beyond the written word. Kandeel organized disaster relief for Egyptian flood victims, volunteered in a hospital treating cancer patients and amputees, and recently organized a small exhibition at the Egyptian Embassy in Washington, DC to showcase scenic handweavings from Egyptian villages. As she summed it up, “There’s more to life than just economic theory.”

Kandeel moved to the U.S. in July 1999, after earning her master’s degree at the American University in Cairo the previous year. Having traveled throughout the Mediterranean region—to Jordan, Turkey, Cyprus, and Malta—and as far away as Thailand, she was struck each time she returned to Egypt, she said, by the fact that her own country produced crafts of the same quality and authenticity as she had seen abroad. Perhaps because the world associates Egypt with the pyramids and pharaonic tombs, however, these modern-day Egyptian handicrafts were little known.

Kandeel’s purpose in organizing the exhibit was twofold: to build an awareness of handweaving in Egypt and, by so doing, to help the weavers build self-reliance—which she finds preferable to “dispensing relief.” The works on display at the embassy included Bedouin saddlebags as well as scenic handweavings from Egyptian villages, where the weavers, whom Kandeel described as “very poor people,” are unschooled and use simple tools and a horizontal loom.

Kandeel credits Hazem Khairat, then counsellor at the Embassy of Egypt, for making her idea a reality. When she proposed the exhibit to him last October, she said, Khairat didn’t hesitate. “He’s very intelligent,” she noted, “and knows a good idea when he sees it!”

Despite the fact that he was returning to Egypt shortly after the exhibit opened, Khairat made himself available to its dedicated organizer, and made sure that everything, including the May 1 opening reception, went smoothly.

As Kandeel was assembling the works and meeting the village artisans, she was inspired to visually depict scenes of village life herself. Like the weavers, the trained economist is a self-taught artist, and several of her paintings were included in the exhibition as well. Although of a different medium, they are pleasing complements to the weavings.

Those who were fortunate enough to see the exhibit responded with enthusiasm. Nor were the viewers limited to art-lovers and gallery-goers. Egyptian Ambassador Nabil Fahmy held several meetings in the temporary exhibition space, exposing a wide variety of people to the work of his countrymen.

For her part, Amal Kandeel seems to have found the perfect combination of artistic expression and social commitment on which to apply her many talents and considerable energy. One suspects that much more lies ahead.

Janet McMahon is the managing editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.