Adel Siwi

Born Beheira, Egypt, 1952

Prior to becoming an artist, El-Siwi studied medicine at Cairo University, 1970–6. He then travelled in Europe and America and selftrained as a painter before returning to Cairo in 1990. His first major show was at the Cairo Atelier in 1985, a deliberate choice by the artist to avoid association with the cultural establishment. Since then he has had solo exhibitions in Egypt, Germany, Lebanon and Italy. He has participated in group exhibitions around the world, including the 1997 Venice Biennale. In addition to painting, he has experimented with virtual work projections on buildings and worked as an art director on films. He has also translated Leonardo da Vinci's Treatise on Painting into Arabic and initiated community arts projects in Old Cairo. He lives and works in Cairo.