Today, I reopen a file of significant importance some two-and-a-half years on first opening it in Watani in August 2020. The file, titled “Intellectual pioneers on trial”, involves a number of high calibre opinion writers of singular and innovative thought, who had over the years contributed their opinion to Watani. Realising that their contribution constituted a veritable wealth, we decided to renew contact with them, reaching out for in-depth interviews that surpass standard talks and reveal their backgrounds, upbringing, formation, intellect, and thought be that provocative or controversial. The purpose is to provoke them into explaining and defending their most controversial views.
It was no surprise that we should start our “Intellectuals on trials” with Murad Wahba, the contemporary philosopher famous for his superior intellect and elegant writing. Watani met Dr Wahba in March 2020; the visit yielded a talk rich with his eminently interesting views, thoughts, experiences, and the intellectual battles he went through. But the Covid pandemic erupted and wreaked havoc with all our lives and activities; the outcome was that the interview with Dr Wahba did not get into print till August 2020. We promised our readers we would be shortly printing other trials but, for reasons out of our hands, weeks and months passed and we could not keep good on our promise. One of the reasons was that, with the change of times, many of our prominent opinion writers who had constituted our list of candidates for the trials, declined to give interviews. This prompted us to broaden the circle of interviewees; we waded out into a wide space that stretched beyond our regular opinion writers to include other figures of prominent stature on Egypt’s intellectual, literary, and artistic scene.
Today, we resume our “Intellectuals on trial” with an interview conducted by our Samia Ayad, who is sponsoring the trials, with artist George Bahgouri (Bahjouri), famous as Picasso of the Orient. Mr Bahgouri hails from the depth of Egypt’s south which formed his passion for art; he later journeyed to Paris, the city of light which launched him to international stature, then back to his homeland. The journey was replete with ups and downs which elevated Mr Bahgouri to philosophical heights and made him into who he is now.
In his trial, Mr Bahgouri talks of his home village of Bahjoura, some 570km south of Cairo, which he says constitutes his “roots and childhood growing up in the simple, peaceful beauty of life among kind folks, sugar cane fields, and the expansive greenery on the Nile bank.” He later moved to Cairo, its famous Downtown forming the pivot over which he revolved; its cafes the oases which gathered friends, intellectuals, and artists.
“I did paintings, then moved on to caricature. It was a genre that brought smiles to faces; it offered a wide space to express scepticism, views, and political opinions. I remember doing a caricature of President Gamal Abdel-Nasser (president in 1954 – 1970) holding the Muslim Brotherhood by the neck while they held President Anwar al-Sadat (president in 1970 – 1981) by the neck.
“I went to Paris in search of freedom of thought and opinion. There, I was born again! I painted freely and my work was well received. I was inspired a lot by Pablo Picasso; I developed a style for which I became known as ‘Picasso of the Orient’.
“While in Paris I was never, not even for a moment, separated from my Egyptian roots. I never stopped my paintings about Egypt which is indeed the cradle of civilisation.”
I hope you enjoy the talk with George Bahgouri, and look forward to other talks in an uninterrupted series of the trials we have resumed.
Watani International
16 June 2023