By Maryam Raafat
As world attention focuses on Egyptian civilisation since the opening of Sphinxes Avenue in Luxor, artist Ahmed Farid is participating in a cultural event, which is the first of its kind in Houston, Texas.
Farid’s painting The Golden Secret of Ramses was on display for the opening of the Ramses gold collectibles exhibition, hosted by the Houston Museum of Natural History and Science.
The exhibition, which opened on November 18, will run for six months, showcasing 180 artifacts that tell the history of the Egyptian king.
“I was chosen by the Egyptian Consulate in Houston to present a distinguished artwork that expresses Egyptian originality and modernity, keeping pace with contemporary artistic trends,” Farid said.
The exhibition is considered one of the most important cultural events and the first of Egyptian antiquities exhibitions abroad for more than ten years.
Farid is staying in Texas, where he displays his paintings in Houston, Austin and Dallas.
“I thought of an artwork to receive visitors to the Ramses Hall and called it The Golden Secret of Ramses, which includes symbols inspired by the collection that I am currently working on,” Farid told the Egyptian Mail.
“The painting is 160 cm x 160 cm. I used acrylics and pure gold sheets, and it was inspired by the face of King Ramses,”
“In the illustration of the artwork there are a pyramid, circles and horizontal and vertical lines in the middle.
“We see the face of King Ramses in the middle of the painting coming out of the pyramid shape as if he is coming back to life and looking at the world from the window of the pyramid that radiates light around him,” Farid said.
Farid said the bird symbolises freedom and peace and carries the rose, which is a symbol of life and hope, as if King Ramses is returning to give the world freedom, peace and life.
On the upper side to the left of the work, we see light that represents the soul, as if the spirit of King Ramses lights up the world.
The balance between the two squares, which has the bird on one side and the light on the other indicate the balance between the soul, freedom and hope, and the two circles are the sun and the moon.
In the intersection of the two circles is the face of King Ramses in the middle, as if he comes from the conjoining of the sun and the moon.
Farid is also an actor and a television presenter. He has a PhD and was a professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Alexandria University.
He began his career in art in 1991, when he represented Egypt in Switzerland at an international children’s exhibition, for which he won the Award of Merit.
