In 1964, Egypt bestowed its highest praise to Abdel-Hadi El-Jazzar’s ‘High Dam’ painting, which depicts a mechanical giant standing in front of the ten-year-long construction site (1960 – 1970) of what would become the Aswan Dam, an endeavor that had a huge impact on Egypt’s culture and economy. The painting became a symbol for the Egyptian government during the dam’s construction.  In that same year, Jazzar went on to win the Order of the Republic for Sciences and Arts and the State Incentive Award.

In 1964, Egypt bestowed its highest praise to Abdel-Hadi El-Jazzar’s ‘High Dam’ painting, which depicts a mechanical giant standing in front of the ten-year-long construction site (1960 – 1970) of what would become the Aswan Dam, an endeavor that had a huge impact on Egypt’s culture and economy. The painting became a symbol for the Egyptian government during the dam’s construction.  In that same year, Jazzar went on to win the Order of the Republic for Sciences and Arts and the State Incentive Award.

The Alexandrian artist began his career with an interest in embodying popular heritage and reflecting on the lives of the poor. A human-like mechanical giant symbolized the aspirations of Egyptians at that time and the projects of President Naser. This identification emerged in the similarity between the giant’s face and the late Egyptian president’s features without his famous mustache.

I remember when and where I saw it

When I spoke with Leila Effat, Jazzar’s widow, she asked me spontaneously, “Have you found it?”

Effat said she sold the paintings to the state a year after Jazzar’s death to be displayed and made available for art students and all Egyptians.

“We were told that the painting is in the Ministry of Irrigation’s stores in Aswan, southern Egypt,” she said, but she added that she recalls it was at the Museum of Modern Art where she saw it when participating in a symposium organized by the museum in 2012, on the occasion of the anniversary of her late husband’s birthday.

In his book ‘Abdul Hadi Jazzar: Myths, Artist and Space Scientist’ published in 1966, the late critic Subhi Sharoni wrote that ‘High Dam’ belonged to the Museum of Modern Art. Yet in this same year, the museum’s holdings witnessed two transfers to two temporary places: Ismail Pasha Abu Fotouh’s villa in Dokki, which contained the Egyptian artwork and Jazeera Museum of Art which contained the foreign artwork. The Ministry of Culture’s Fine Arts Sector confirmed that the painting was part of its belongings and was presented as a gift to the Socialist Union in 1967 when the sole political party organized an art gallery in its building’s lobby, overlooking the Nile in Cairo. Thus began the maze of bureaucracy and mystery behind a culturally iconic painting that has gone missing.

Impact of politics

One result of Egypt’s transition from the single-party to the multi-party political system in the late 1970s was the dominance of the National Party over all the other parties and, thus, the ‘High Dam’ was owned by the party for more than thirty years. This painting remained inside its building for more than 50 years, but it was burned in January 28, 2011, as supposed by the late critic Subhi Sharon who wrote for the Masaa newspaper in March 2012 that the painting was burned during the events.

When I visited this place, I discovered the headquarters of a construction company. Recently, however, the government decided to demolish the building, a process that will last four months.

Initially, the military controlled the building, under the pretext of securing the adjacent Egyptian Museum and used it as a store for military equipment and tanks. Then, Cairo Governorate began negotiating with several ministries about the fate of the building and it was proposed to return it to the Egyptian Museum. Another proposal was to maintain the burnt building since it is characterized by a unique style designed by Egyptian architect Mahmoud Riad in the late 1950s, or to establish a new museum to commemorate the 2011 revolution. The Cairo Governate staff, however, could not provide any information about the painting.

Jazzar’s family does not believe that the painting was burned in the revolution, as several people interested in art claim to have seen it elswhere. Critic and artist Izziddin Najib, for example, said that he saw the painting in Banha Palace of Culture (the center of the Egyptian Delta) in the 1980s. Claire Davis, contemporary art historian, also said she saw it in a gallery organized by the Museum of Modern Art in 2012, the same event in which Jazzar’s widow participated. As such, the story of the ‘High Dam’ seemed like a story related to a specter.

Doubts

Try entering the Museum of Modern Art and you will notice the presence of security men – someone will invariably try to stop you because the museum is closed.

Despite the presence of more than 18,000 works of art within its collection, the museum is only opened to the public four hours a day from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Visitors are only allowed to enter the main lobby while the remaining halls of the three floors are closed and empty. The museum is like a secret large art storage facility.

Since its founding in 1927, the contents of the museum have been transferred several times to several different places up until the late 1990s. These procedures involved extremely lenient lending and gift giving, but this policy is no longer followed, according to the Head of the new Museum of Art, Doha Ahmed.

“Lending of paintings is permanently followed-up and the disclosure of the loaned paintings to any entity is highly efficient,” said Ahmed. “There is great emphasis placed on not taking out or lending any painting to any entity without the consent of the Minister of Culture, she said.  But with ‘The High Dam’ things were different.

“In the late 1970s, the painting was presented as a gift to the Socialist Union, which was a mistake committed by the previous staff,” argued Ahmed. “Why does everyone insist that I should take responsibility?” How will I find the painting while documents confirm that it has not been within the property of the museum or the ministry since 1967?”

Ahmed believes that the search for the painting is an adventure that requires an inspection of specific places. She has some doubts that the ‘High Dam’ painting is hidden in these secret places. “I asked to be allowed to enter these places to look for the painting, but I was denied such permission,” she said.

Although the museum director claims to be unable to move about a maze of bureaucracy, a missing by the late artist Ingi Aflattoon, turned up in her very museum. Was this recovered painting simply another example of the state hiding art? The story of how it got lost suggests foul play.

Aflattoon’s will and testament

In the late 1980s, Ingi Aflattoon (1924-1989) wrote in her final will to have all of her works delivered to the state in order to establish her own museum. This legacy included 248 watercolor paintings, 432 canvas, 220 sketches and other private holdings along with 17 boxes of drawing tools and remained in May 15 Arts Complex in Helwan.

When Aflattoon’s heirs demanded the implementation of her will, a small museum featuring some of her art was established in Amir Taz Palace, Sayeda Zeinab in 2010. During this period, a few paintings dating back to the late 1950s until mid-1960s were traded in Hall Christie in France, when the artist used to visit Europe. ‘Composition Surréaliste’ (1965) was sold in 2010 for 20,000 euros.

“Implementation of the will was difficult. What Aflattoon left needed a space equal to one and a half of the Museum of Art’s space to display only the paintings,” said Mai Essam, Head of the Museum of Ingi Aflattoon.

The small museum started its activities in 2011, then a year later, the family sued the ministry and reacquired the rest of the collection. The ministry retained the ownership of the work displayed in Taz, but there was another disaster awaiting the heirs – a collection of 71 pieces of Aflatoon’s art disappeared and only one painting has since been found.

The family is still waiting for the lost work to reappear, but the will was never carried out and the ministry’s negligence contributed to the amendment of the will without the consent of Aflatoon’s heirs. Her art is now distributed to holdings in Europe and Taz museum, exhibits that were sold by the heirs in bid halls and as new gifts for the Museum of Modern Art and the Library of Alexandria.

Maze of Modern Art

The story of Aflattoons will dissuaded artist Izziddin Najib from selling new work to the state. “The artist accepts to sell his portrait for a quarter of its value and justifies to himself that it is the right of future generations to see artwork in state museums,” said Najib. “But these museums are dominated by a lack of interest and devastating storage,” he said.

Najib has sold 35 works to the Museum of Modern Art over the years and, a year ago, began a search tour for his artwork.

He discovered the disappearance of 15 works and knew at the time that they were lent to undisclosed entities. The stored pieces were victims of negligence of another kind – paintings were left with no ventilation and their colours were distorted as a result of storage defects. The museum does not store paintings at suitable temperatures or neglects other procedures such as proper packaging. “The paintings have become distorted and ugly,” Najib said. “Lending allows for ventilation,” he said sarcastically. “It is better than storage and its serious effects.”

Factory of the future

Since the 1950s and 1960s, the Ministry of Culture has determined a budget for artwork acquisition whereby a government commission buys some art from public exhibitions and other official activities for the ministry, but this system is no longer viable. “As long as there is no structure that protects these works of art or insurance or archiving system that values art, the idea of state acquisition is not realistic under the current circumstances,” said artist and assistant professor at the Department of Art of the American University in Cairo, Shadi Nashawkati.

Nashawkati did not give state museums any of his work as he believes that the only available space open at a museum like Modern Art is miserable. “There is no display lighting or knowledge, but only paintings hanging without regard to aesthetic foundations. All this reflects the state’s ignorance of art,” he explained.

Nashawkati also referred to the absence of museum insurance policies, recalling what happened with Vincent Van Gogh’s stolen ‘Vase with Red Poppies’ (1886), which was stolen from the art museum of Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil and his wife on August 21, 2010 and has yet to be found.

Investigations revealed that the painting worth $55 million disappeared during the departure of employees on their way to Friday prayers –  surveillance cameras were not working. The ministry then decided to close the museum to develop the surveillance system secure exhibits.

Nashawkati believes that the increased sales of Egyptian paintings, especially those of prominent artists like Hamed Nada, Abdul Hadi Jazzar and others, in auctions at Christie’s may be a motivation for the ongoing disappearance of paintings. “Closing museums is better under such circumstances,” he said sarcastically.

He also stressed that the availability of an artist’s work in the market does not protect it especially since prices always vary. However, he did not deny the role of museum. “Museums are not merely a storing place or a way to learn about the past. They are places that formulate the future of art through organizing programs, courses and meetings,” he explained.

Finding ghosts

Hidden paintings do not usually appear in the art market, but tales about them continue. The latest tale about ‘High Dam’ is that it is available at the VIP lounge in Cairo’s airport.

Mai Essam, Head of Ingi Aflattoon’s permanent exhibition, believes that at any given moment, official search campaigns will end at a mysterious point imposed by governmental paperwork. “These paintings were loaned to third parties that no longer exist, such as the Socialist Union, which means that the Ministry of Culture is not responsible for finding these paintings,” she said.

 “This requires the intervention of several ministries and the cooperation of the government’s head and even Abdel Fattah al-Sisi himself to search in this bureaucratic maze for new and conclusive stories about the fate of these vanished paintings as if they were ghosts.”