Fann À Porter is delighted to present our second solo exhibition with Egyptian artist, Hady Boraey, Migrants to the North, a series of new works by the artist that delve into themes of memory, nostalgia, and childhood. The artist’s inherently sculptural portrait style is ever-present in the works. Inspired by ancient Egyptian and Coptic art, Boraey heavily depends on metaphors, taking his audience on a dramatic journey filled with poetic nuances, to coax them into new territory beyond their comfort zones, where new horizons await.
In the eighties of the last century, my childhood was in a spacious valley in the Nile Delta. The Nile passed in front of my house. The color green covered every spot my eyes saw in this large ocean. In the house there was a huge library that belonged to my father. It was a white library with vast shelves stacked with old and modern books, illustrated magazines, and everything that could stimulate the imagination of a simple child. As I was searching for the edges of existence, my hands fell upon a collection of stories dedicated to children under the title My Grandmother Told Me. This imaginary collection formed part of my childhood conscience. It was full of myths and vast imagination, simple texts accompanied by precise illustrations. I saw it as a miracle. I believed its stories as if they were facts and events from history. I believed it and dreamed that I was its hero too. More than any other story, the stories of sailors and immigrants took me to distant lands in the north. Where I searched for the beloved and the lands of snow and forests. As I grew up and the days went by, sediments of these tales and legendary stories remained in my mind.
In this exhibition I see people with wings like angels. They have supernatural powers. They are peaceful and love life. I see them in the traditional studio position. They stand and stare into the vast space. I see a family, a horse and a plant. You meet all of these on your great path of migration. In your day you see them and touch their feelings. They search for the desired dream land. They travel miles through lands that are colored with the colors of mountains, deserts and valleys.
In my journey from childhood to maturity, I was affected and dreamed a lot of another distant land to live in. There is nothing in it but a rock, a horse, a tree and a lake. A pure, simple dream. Here, in some of these paintings, I tried to convey my childhood dream in paintings that carry many of the feelings of Hady the child, whose life took him far from his home in the Delta. He still dreams of the legends of his grandmother’s old tales.
-- Hady Boraey, 2025
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فى ثمانينيات القرن المنصرم. كانت طفولتي فى وادي فسيح فى دلتا مصر . النيل كان يمر من امام منزلي . و اللون الاخضر يكسو كل بقعه تراها عينايا فى هذا المحيط الكبير . كان فى المنزل مكتبه ضخمه تخص أبي مكتبه بيضاء برفوف شاسعه تتكدس بها الكتب العتيقه و الحديثه و المجلات المصورة و كل ما يمكنه ان يداعب خيال طفل بسيط . و انا اتلمس أطراف الوجود وقعت يداي علي مجموعه قصصيه مخصصه للاطفال تحت عنوان ( حكت لى جدتي ) شكلت هذه المجموعه الخياليه جزءا من وجدان طفولتي . حيث كانت تعج بالاساطير و الخيال الفسيح . نصوص بسيطه يصاحبها رسوم توضيحيه محكمه . كنت اري فيها معجزة . و كنت اصدق قصصها و كانها حقائق وأحداث من التاريخ. اصدقها و احلم انني بطلها ايضا. دون غيرها من القصص كانت تأخذني قصص البحاره و المهاجرون الي أراضي بعيده فى الشمال . حيث البحث عن المحبوبه و اراضي الثلج و الغابات . كبرت و دارت بي الأيام . و لازال فى عقلي رواسب من هذه الحواديت و الحكايات الاسطوريه.
فى هذا المعرض اري بشرا باجنحه و كانهم ملائكه . لهم قدرات خارقة. مسالمون يحبون الحياه . اراهم بوضعيه الاستديو التقليديه . يقفون و يحدقون فى الفضاء الكبير.
اري عائله و حصان و نبات . تقابل كل هذا فى طريق هجرتك الكبيره. فى يومك تراهم و تلمس مشاعرهم . يبحثون عن أرض الاحلام المنشوده . يقطعون اميالا فى اراضي تتلون بلون الجبال و الصحاري و الوديان.
فى رحلتي من الطفوله الي النضوج . تأثرت و حلمت كثيرا بأرض اخري بعيده أسكنها . ليس فيها سوا صخره و حصان و شجره و بحيره . حلم صافي بسيط. حاولت هنا فى بعض هذه اللوحات ان أنقل حلمي الطفولي فى لوحات تحمل كثيرا من مشاعر هادي الطفل ، الذي سارت به الحياه بعيدا عن منزله فى الدلتا . و لازال يحلم باساطير حكايا الجده القديمه.