Barakat Contemporary is holding "Al Araba Al Madfuna", an exhibition of works by contemporary Egyptian artist Wael Shawky, from November 29, 2019 to January 31, 2020.One of the most important contemporary artists in the Middle East, Shawky has presented works with narratives where fact and fiction intermingle through a variety of media including drawings, paintings,and installations, with a focus on films. Reinterpreting existing historical narratives, the artist hasaddressed concepts regarding artistic, religious, and transnational identities based on extensiveresearch and investigation on history and mythology.Along with the film Al Araba Al Madfuna III, this exhibition showcases Shawky's latest drawings and paintings. A trilogy, Al Araba Al Madfuna is a film inspired by the artist's visit to Al Araba Al Madfuna, atown that possesses ancient ruins and used to be the capital of a dynasty in Upper (southern) Egypt.Having witnessed the locals dig the ground in search of hidden treasures and seek to unearth theirancestors' secrets through alchemy and spiritual activities, Shawky overlays this mysterious experiencewith the contents of "Sunflowers" from Tales from Dayrut, a short story collection by Egyptian prose fiction writer Mohamed Mustagab, to reconstruct the narrative as a dreamlike film.Shawky's films turn a broad range of themes and abstruse issues into fascinating epic poems. In addition to providing profound reflections on history and tradition, the lyrical visual language that he uses servesto translate the history of the Arabs and the Middle East, which have become fixed through a Westernperspective, into contemporary narratives. However, the message conveyed by the artist is not based ona perspective biased toward any one world but points in the direction of healing that encompasses bothworlds. Requiems that console the present through his works, narratives of historical contradictions andpain are prayers wishing for a new beginning for the human race in the present and the future alike andhave the power of declarations.Through the history of the Middle East and the mysterious tales originating from the region, Shawky has posed sharp questions regarding existing historical descriptions and continued provocative explorations.Such action on the artists part prepares a new path for overcoming national and regional boundaries andidentities, which contemporary art has ceaselessly challenged, and creates room for imagining storiesafter that transcendence.