On December 22, 1938, a group of young artists, writers, and intellectuals in Cairo published a radical manifesto titled "Long Live Degenerate Art!" Written in response to the rise of fascism in Europe and the conservative academic style taught in local schools, this manifesto marked the official birth of the Art and Liberty Group (Jama’at al-Fann wa al-Hurriyyah)—one of the most vibrant Surrealist movements outside of Europe.
Led by the intellectual writer Georges Henein, and featuring painters like Ramses Younan, Kamel el-Telmissany, and Fouad Kamel, the group used Surrealist techniques to address local concerns. They rejected the romantic portrayal of rural life, instead painting disturbing, fragmented figures that captured the psychological anxiety of the World War II era, poverty, and political unrest.
"Surrealism was not an escape from reality for Cairo’s rebels; it was a violent tool to tear open the facade of academic and political complacency."
Distorted Realities & Social Critique
For painters like Kamel el-Telmissany, Surrealism offered a way to represent social suffering directly. His paintings from the early 1940s feature distorted bodies, melting clocks, and burning landscapes, capturing the raw tension of Cairo's working-class quarters during the war years. Similarly, Ramses Younan’s work explored abstract, cosmic landscapes populated by ancient symbols, hinting at a deeper mythological struggle.
The group was also unique in its dedication to publishing. They printed bilingual journals, held independent salons that challenged national galleries, and maintained active correspondence with André Breton and Surrealist groups in Paris, London, and Mexico City.
Archiving the Ephemera
Because the Art and Liberty Group faced censorship and political pressure, many of their publications were printed in limited numbers on fragile newsprint. Our digitizing department is currently preserving and indexing surviving copies of their journal, Don Quichotte, alongside private letters that discuss the group's dissolution in the late 1940s.