"Monument X: An Installation by Tarek Zaki"
2007-04-01 until 2007-05-29
Townhouse Gallery / Factory Space
Cairo, , EG Egypt

Tarek Zaki describes his work as dealing with the monument as a symbol, an iconic emblem of political and historical information. A monument is usually a statue or building that commemorates heroes and immortalizes important events and turning points in our lives. We gradually forget about those heroes and events, but in spite of this, the monuments remain as a symbolic status and physical presence. "‘Monument X’* is dismantled pieces. Sections of columns, plinths, arches and sculpted body parts made of plaster and cement are deliberately cut and grouped. Viewing the monument, it is not clear if the monument is being restored or deconstructed. How the whole monument should look like or what it represents stays ambiguous. Some parts are even missing and it is left to the viewers’ imagination to complete the whole picture", Tarek Zaki.

Tarek Zaki, born in 1975, graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Helwan University, Cairo with a BA in Graphics, in 1998. As well as his solo exhibitions Tarek has participated in several group exhibitions and residencies both in Egypt and abroad, Switzerland, New York, Amsterdam to name a few.

Zaki creates objects that are not specific to any certain age. "By sculpting objects of the everyday life, he positions the spectator as an archaeologist from the future, looking at remains of the present." He transforms records of the present into found objects of the future.

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