Page 168 - Ahmed- Nawar
P. 168
conscience and mind were completely filled with the idea and
his preoccupied imagination ignited, so the work seemed to be a
physical realization of the mental image that had been completely
achieved.
In the first part of the work, Nawar draws the hell, where the faces
of human beings appear to be a staring, terrified black, permeated
with demons on their desired day. Each group of people lies sur-
rounded by its own cocoon and may be surrounded by the evils its
hands have presented in life. The middle of the first part is perme-
ated by a luminous space, but it is tremendous in which the bodies
are interpenetrating. In the middle lies the idea of the judgment
with its dramatic dimension and its frightening atmosphere. Where
is the escape? Everyone is now facing what his hands have made,
the fate is unknown, the looks and directions of the bodies are
scattered, not having any certainty about their fate; everyone is
forgetful, clinging to his sin, shackled by his sins, waiting for the
moment of judgment. A luminous throne is above the middle of the
work, emitting rays of light extending on the right to carry the good
to heaven while the left is occupied by a bundle of chains that lead
the wicked people to the depths of hell. In the third part, an imag-
ined scene of paradise full of light and the faces of children and the
dream of approaching the divine throne.
The ugly faces and the earthly weight disappear, and the bodies
appear luminous and transparent; the faces have calm features
like the buds of a plant reborn to a life of bliss. Here, the trilogy of
human existence and the thorny human journey are closed.
This work remains a jewel in Nawar's artistic history and a be-
ginning worthy of a brave artist. Nawar's artwork, "The Judg-
ment Day", was fatally linked to the defeat of 1967, when the
artist stopped working on it since issuing orders to stop studies
in schools and universities because of the war that shattered the
dreams of this generation and sent him back in terror to a painful
reality and threw him from dreams that linked him to the sky into
a real line of fire on the land that he has to cross. Here begins the
story of Nawar with the war.
The Story of the War
Nawar faced war for the first time in his village, "Youssef Bey Sher-
if" in Gharbia Governorate when the village security was threat-
ened by a dangerous criminal, nicknamed "Alkhit"; he imprisoned
the village's people in their homes at night for fear of his oppres-
sion, and the boy Nawar considered him as a war criminal. At this
time, Nawar had formed a scouting team in his school and was
chosen as its leader. He learned with the scouts how to discover
and achieve goals. He was able to make participation in the war
one of the scouts' goals. He went with his scout team to the police
to urge them to play their role in arresting "Alkhit." He also asked
his father in a family assemblage to give him a gun to kill him amid
mixed feelings of dread and appreciation from his family members
for his courage. The tragedy of the village continued with the crim-
166
his preoccupied imagination ignited, so the work seemed to be a
physical realization of the mental image that had been completely
achieved.
In the first part of the work, Nawar draws the hell, where the faces
of human beings appear to be a staring, terrified black, permeated
with demons on their desired day. Each group of people lies sur-
rounded by its own cocoon and may be surrounded by the evils its
hands have presented in life. The middle of the first part is perme-
ated by a luminous space, but it is tremendous in which the bodies
are interpenetrating. In the middle lies the idea of the judgment
with its dramatic dimension and its frightening atmosphere. Where
is the escape? Everyone is now facing what his hands have made,
the fate is unknown, the looks and directions of the bodies are
scattered, not having any certainty about their fate; everyone is
forgetful, clinging to his sin, shackled by his sins, waiting for the
moment of judgment. A luminous throne is above the middle of the
work, emitting rays of light extending on the right to carry the good
to heaven while the left is occupied by a bundle of chains that lead
the wicked people to the depths of hell. In the third part, an imag-
ined scene of paradise full of light and the faces of children and the
dream of approaching the divine throne.
The ugly faces and the earthly weight disappear, and the bodies
appear luminous and transparent; the faces have calm features
like the buds of a plant reborn to a life of bliss. Here, the trilogy of
human existence and the thorny human journey are closed.
This work remains a jewel in Nawar's artistic history and a be-
ginning worthy of a brave artist. Nawar's artwork, "The Judg-
ment Day", was fatally linked to the defeat of 1967, when the
artist stopped working on it since issuing orders to stop studies
in schools and universities because of the war that shattered the
dreams of this generation and sent him back in terror to a painful
reality and threw him from dreams that linked him to the sky into
a real line of fire on the land that he has to cross. Here begins the
story of Nawar with the war.
The Story of the War
Nawar faced war for the first time in his village, "Youssef Bey Sher-
if" in Gharbia Governorate when the village security was threat-
ened by a dangerous criminal, nicknamed "Alkhit"; he imprisoned
the village's people in their homes at night for fear of his oppres-
sion, and the boy Nawar considered him as a war criminal. At this
time, Nawar had formed a scouting team in his school and was
chosen as its leader. He learned with the scouts how to discover
and achieve goals. He was able to make participation in the war
one of the scouts' goals. He went with his scout team to the police
to urge them to play their role in arresting "Alkhit." He also asked
his father in a family assemblage to give him a gun to kill him amid
mixed feelings of dread and appreciation from his family members
for his courage. The tragedy of the village continued with the crim-
166
