Hekaya

2008

In the installation Hekaya (Arabic for story), a swing hangs in a darkened

room. While it remains still, a video projected on the wall behind shows

the swing in motion, swaying to a soundtrack of creaking hinges and the

muffled noises of children playing.

The playground swing is a symbol of innocence, security, and a limitless

sense of possibility—who can forget the exhilaration as a child of swinging

higher and higher through the air, on top of the world and high above

everyone else. But here in Hekaya, the swing is contained in a claustro-phobic space, chained to the ceiling of a small room, and offers no means

of escape. Instead, slightly oversize and roughly constructed out of rusted

metal, it begins to resemble a cage.

In previous works, artist Ayman Ramadan brought the Cairo street into

the gallery, turning broken-down cars into sculpture and re-imagining a working-class Iftar through the lens of art history. Hekaya continues this interest while expanding Ramadan's themes to speak to a broader audience

— as stories of children in peril and dashed dreams are sadly universal.