Egypt

Artist: Mina Mikhail

* 1948 in Assuan, Egypt

1964 Degree as an interior designer at the Academy of Fine Arts, Cairo

1974 Degree as a designer at the Academy of Fine Arts

Exhibitions at the Alexandria Biennale and the Museum of Modern Egyptian Art, to name a few. He dedicates most of his time to artistic interior design, mural painting and individual painting.

Interpretation

I have designed my bear with globally famous symbols and figures – with the works of the Pharaohs, showing their particular beauty. Are there more beautiful forms than those of the pyramids, the obelisks or the temples? Is there greater beauty than the beauty of Nofretete or Tutankhamen – besides, of course, the Sphinx?

No other culture has ever existed that was as mysterious, as fascinating and rich as the ancient Egyptian culture.

The bear’s waist shows the graveyard of King Sethos I., picturing the sun barque and the king with the ram head, accompanied by various divinities. The snakes at the bow represent the goddesses Isis and Nephthys and beneath them is Atum, fighting the Apophis-snake, the enemy, the sun.

I have chosen the colour gold as a symbol of wealth and noblesse. Blue stands for the Egyptian sky; turquoise for the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea and the Nile. The colour green is reminiscent of Egyptian landscapes with their palm trees, orchards and fields. The colour ochre is a symbol of the desert.

On both sides of the bear, you can see hunting- and fishing scenes from ancient Egypt: Sovereigns, princes and princesses in boats on the Nile, hunting ducks and birds – together with small children, spending their time fishing and playing.

Mina Mikhael

Sponsor: Embassy of Egypt