Vogue Arabia January 2023 turns its focus to the late Adam Henein, one of the most prominent Egyptian artists of his time.

In an act of pure coincidence, AOC finds Henein’s obituary in The Art Newspaper to be a positive reflection for our times. If only . . .

Heinen was born in March 1929 into a Coptic Christian family of gold metalworkers originally from Asyut. His primary education mixed Qur'anic school and Sunday church visits, but when he met Afaf el Dib in 1961, the sculptor converted to Islam.

At a very young age, Heinen was certain that he would become an artist. “As a teen he loved accompanying his father to the Jewish district of Cairo, where his family had a shop, to watch the craftsmen working,” writes curator and friend of the artist Rose Issa. “The powerful experiences Henein had during a school visit to the Egyptian Antiquities Museum and subsequent revisits developed the aesthetic values that became his touchstone.”

From AOC’s perspective, such a story as this one that touches all three Abrahamic religions in the artist’s youth is reason to pause and reflect on life as it could be.

It’s a poignant reminder of the vessel of cultural and intellectual vibrancy and harmony that can propel an artist forwards into what became a brilliant artistic career from all reports. Henein was an Egyptian as his most important identity, freeing him to channel a rich and accomplished ancient history that preceeded the creation of the Abrahamic religions.

Egyptian Artist Adam Henein

Egyptian Artist and sculptor Adam Henein

Yes, Egypt had been a British colony and was in its final days when Henein graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts of Cairo in 1953. In 1952 a coup overthrew the Egyptian monarchy, establishing the modern Republic of Egypt. The last British troops left Egypt in June 1956 as per the 1954 Anglo-Egyptian Agreement, returning briefly during the Suez crisis.

Against this major global history backdrop, in 1954 Heinen won the Luxor prize for sculptors and he began showing his work in foreign cultural centres in Alexandria and Cairo as well as Egyptian cultural centres in Europe.

Rose Issa writes that Henein lived “ in search of materials that inspired and "talked" to him, which was mostly granites and other stones—the materials that built Pharaonic Egypt’s monuments and sculptures.”

Among his many accomplishments, Adam Henein devoted a decade of his life to restoring the Great Sphinx. The spirit of the artist was most certainly present when Dior Men’s held their indescribably beautiful and emotionally moving pre-fall collection show in front of the Pyramids of Giza on December 3.

To further expand the backdrop of human history and civilization, model Adhar Abiem who graces the museum . . . left South Sudan as a refugee, arriving in Egypt in 2014.

Abiem is photographed in the self-funded Adam Henein Museum, which opened its doors in Cairo in 2014, with all the artist’s work donated for the collection. You will be greeted in Arabic but Google translator works effectively.

I am pleased to read that the artist chose to present himself by emphasizing the the very confluence of lifestyle inputs that I stressed in my overview. That text and insights do not come from Vogue Arabia. I was inspired to dig deeper, because I still tremble when I recall the December 2022 Dior Men’s show in Cairo.

Model Adhar Abiem is styled by Yasmine Eissa in images by Amina Zaher [IG]. / Makeup and hair by Agneszka Hoscilo

Read Vogue Arabia for all the product credits, which tap many local designers.