Dreams of Films - Films of Dreams
99 years ago, Layla was made: the first Egyptian feature film. It marked the beginning of a film culture that would grow into one of the most beloved and shared languages in the Arab world. Films did not just tell stories; they also brought dreams, desires, and ideas about love, identity, and a shared future to life.
The exhibition Dreams of Films - Films of Dreams, a collaboration between the Van Eesteren Museum and Moataz Rageb, brings the visual world of Arab cinema from the past into the present. Featuring original film posters, hand-painted facade banners, and illustrated placards created by illustrators, calligraphers, and printers who often remained anonymous. This reveals how the dreams of cinema traveled further: from the silver screen to the streets, cinema facades, and living rooms.
The material comes from the previously unseen collection of Moataz Rageb, better known as Disco Arabesquo. The Amsterdam-based DJ and sociologist lives and works in Nieuw-West and has been collecting Arabic vinyl records, cassettes, and film memorabilia for years.
Sound and music also play an important role in his collection and in the exhibition. Film music was inextricably linked to Egyptian cinema and gained a new life on cassette tapes after the cinema screening. In this way, melodies and memories traveled from the theater to the street, and from the street to the living room.
With his musical universe, Rageb is putting the Egyptian disco and cassette culture of the 70s and 80s on the international map, and he is interested in how closely image and sound are connected.
From cinema facade to cassette tape: Dreams of Films - Films of Dreams is about the stories and images that remain after a film is over, and about the dreams that continue to live on within them. The exhibition shows how a film, an image, or a song gains meaning because people take them with them, pass them on, relive them, and remember them together.
The exhibition is curated by Rasha Dakkak.
Made possible by the Creative Industries Fund NL and the Mondriaan Fund.
