Fokus.
Hamed Abdalla

The Egyptian artist Hamed Abdalla (1917-1985) was a pioneer of Egyptian modernism. He lived in Europe from the 1950s onwards. This exhibition is the first to be dedicated to him in Switzerland. He worked intensively with Paul Klee and experimented with various techniques.

Arabic calligraphy was a central starting point. As an artist of the Hurufiyya movement, which developed new artistic possibilities from the Arabic alphabet, he invented his own "creative words" in which he mixed abstraction and human forms.

The focus room comprises 50 works by Hamed Abdalla in various, partly experimental, techniques, plus archival materials that illustrate his engagement with Klee's work.

Curators: Zamân Books & Curating: Morad Montazami, Madeleine de Colnet