Egyptian group of Surrealist writers, artists and intellectuals founded on 9 January 1939 by the poet Georges Hunain (1914–73). The group included the Egyptian painters Ramsis Yunan (1914–66), Fu’ad Kamil (1919–73) and Kamil al-Talamsani (1917–72). Inspired by the work of André Breton, whom Hunain met in Paris in 1936, the aim of the group was to defend freedom in art by stressing the liberating role of the individual imagination. On 22 December 1938 Hunain and his colleagues signed a manifesto entitled ‘Vive l’Art Dégénéré’, which protested against Fascism, particularly Hitler’s claim that modern art was degenerate. The manifesto was followed by further writings, conferences and debates. Artists from the group exhibited work in June 1939 at the premises of Art and Freedom at 28 Shari` al-Madabigh in Cairo. In January 1940 the magazine al-Tatawwur was launched, which presented ideas behind modern art to an Egyptian audience. This was followed in February 1940 by the first Exposition de l’Art Indépendant in Cairo, which provoked lively polemics from the press. A second exhibition was held in March 1941, and further exhibitions were held in the following years. The activities of the Art and Freedom group were responsible for reviving cultural life in Egypt in the late 1930s and early 1940s, especially by challenging pictorial and literary academicism. Although Surrealism continued to inspire Egyptian artists in the following decades, with the founding of the Contemporary Art Group in 1946 many artists turned to examine the heritage of Egyptian folklore.

• Art and Freedom
  • Egypt, §III: Painting and sculpture
  • Said, Mahmud