http://www.svma.org/exhibitions
The Sonoma Valley Museum of Art exhibits more than 25 tapestries woven by artists at the Ramses Wissa Wassef Art Centre in Giza, Egypt. The tapestries in “An Accomplishment in Creativity: The Egyptian Children’s Tapestries” were collected by David Williams in 1970s & 80s and comprise the largest exhibition of Wissa Wassef artworks in the USA since the Smithsonian traveling exhibit in 1974. The exhibit includes work from masters such as Fawzi Mohamed, Karima Ali, Garya Mahmoud, Faika Nicolas and Ali Seleim.
The town of Sonoma is an hour’s drive from San Francisco and Oakland and 90 minutes from Sacramento. The Museum is open Wednesday-Sunday, 11am to 5pm. See www.svma.org for more details.
Weekday Lecture by David Williams : Wednesday, October 7, 2015. 6 PM
Collector David Williams has been travelling to Egypt for decades and visiting the famed weaving studio’s established by Ramses Wissa Wassef in the village of Harrania located between the Nile and the great Pyramids. Williams will discuss his first encounters with the tapestries and the artists and reveal the fascinating story behind this art form that is at once traditional and uniquely innovative.
The Ramses Wissa Wassef Art Centre
Renown Egyptian architect Ramses Wissa Wassef founded the Centre in 1952 to explore the creativity of Egyptian children in the media of weaving. Without the assistance of adults, the children invented a new form of tapestry reflecting the environment around them. Today 32 adult individuals artists continue the tradition. Mr. Wissa Wassef designed the Art Centre in Giza which was awarded the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1983. Online visit www.wissawassef.com or pinterest.com/wasseftapestry for more information.