The sculptor Abdu Selim makes the journey from a village boy in the North Delta to art professor in Kafr al-Sheikh University
The sculptor Abdu Selim makes the journey from a village boy in the North Delta to art professor in Kafr al-Sheikh University
For his innovative, brilliant works, the Egyptian sculptor al-Sayed Abdu Selim has been among the winners of the State Incentive Award in the fine arts.
Selim was born in the small Delta village of Ebshan in Kafr al-Sheikh in the north Delta. He grew up in a rural climate, one that continued throughout his life to act as a huge inspiration. From early childhood Selim, like many other children, would play with mud and form figures and shapes. But unlike many other children, he never abandoned this creative urge.
Although life was hard in his small village and he was forced to study by gas lamp, Selim loved drawing and grew adept at reproducing nature on paper. He hung his work on the walls of the small room his family called home.
Talented student
Selim told Watani that his farmer father taught him to love the land. “When I grew up and became a successful artist, I bought a large area of desert land which I reclaimed and turned into a paradise of greenery,” he said. “As a child I used to make my toys with my own hands from mud or any readily available material. Drawing was my favourite activity in school, and I was so good at it that the teachers would ask me to draw the illustrations they needed for the lessons. Mr Edward, my art teacher in secondary school, played an enormous role in polishing my gift. He advised me to go on to study at art school.”
His father wanted him to join the Police Academy or study medicine, but Selim went to the Faculty of Fine Arts in Alexandria, from where he graduated in 1976. Today he is a professor at Kafr al-Sheikh University in the North Delta.
Since his graduation Selim has concentrated on sculpture, using his skill with pottery and copper to form shapes and statues. One look at Selim’s sculptures readily shows the influence of Ebshan, his birthplace.
Working with copper
Selim set up his art studio in Ebshan, with the purpose of promoting the artistic taste and talents of dozens of young villagers, who turned from mere fans of his work into skilled sculptors, especially using copper as a material for expression.
Selim told Watani that Ebshan had now made a name for itself in sculpting copper. “The young sculptors have become very good at creating lovely, spontaneous shapes inspired by nature, calligraphy and Islamic art,” he said.
“I see an art studio outside Cairo, in a small village like Ebshan, as a great achievement,” Selim said.
“With those skilled young villagers I am dreaming of breaking the barriers and spreading the ideas and inspirations of my vision outside our region and out to the whole world.”