Telling the story through color and line
The Creativity of the Word and the Radiance of Painting
Egyptian artist Sanaa El Bisi documents her journey with 90 paintings combining the beauty and the word
Cairo
The exhibition “The Creativity of the Word and the Radiance of Painting” by the renowned writer, journalist, and artist Sanaa El Bisi, inaugurated by Eng. Abdelsadek El Shorbagy, Chairman of the National Press Authority, on the evening of Saturday, April 19, 2025, tells a long-standing story of creativity where the strokes of a brush intersect with the brilliance of the word. The exhibition offers a visual and emotional experience that reflects El Bisi’s journey between the radiance of journalism and the aesthetics of art, guiding the audience through realms of color and thought, from the pulse of the word to the whisper of shadow.
Hosted at Picasso East Gallery in New Cairo’s Fifth Settlement, the exhibition features 90 paintings documenting various stages of El Bisi’s artistic journey in the field of visual arts. The works vary between contemplative and realistic styles, reflecting the richness of her creative experience and the diversity of her inspirations—ranging from the visual memory of place to the pulse of daily life, along with meditations on the self and humanity.
In every painting, Sanaa El Bisi tells a new story through color and line, just as she has done for years through her journalism—affirming once again that true creativity knows no boundaries between the different forms of art.
The works on display vary in size, technique, and artistic school, with a clear predominance of oil on canvas. The subject matter includes flowers, women, and horses, in addition to powerful human scenes such as “The Return,” which depicts Palestinian crowds returning to northern Gaza. The pieces largely bear a symbolic and contemplative character, while some works display a leaning toward abstract, suggestive lines.
Running through May 8, 2025, at Villa 39, Al-Nargis, South 90th Street, Fifth Settlement, New Cairo, the exhibition offers a rare opportunity to reflect on a holistic journalistic and artistic experience—demonstrating how the word can transform into color, and how art can become a parallel medium for expressing issues of humanity, identity, and society.
Sanaa El Bisi—the wife of late painter Mounir Kenaan—is one of the most distinguished cultural figures with multifaceted talents. A pioneering media personality, she blended the beauty of the brush with the brilliance of the word. Her writings were painted narratives, and her art told stories with the ink of creativity and sincerity of emotion, where the boundaries between art and language dissolve, and meaning is born from the shadows of color and the glow of expression.
The distinguished journalist and artist Sanaa El Bisi held her first art exhibition in 1972, followed by several other solo and group exhibitions, both in Egypt and abroad.
The opening ceremony of “The Creativity of the Word and the Radiance of Painting” was graced by prominent figures from the cultural, media, and artistic spheres, including Dr. Mohamed Fayez Farahat, Chairman of Al-Ahram Institution, journalist Magid Mounir, Editor-in-Chief of Al-Ahram newspaper, and several notable public figures such as renowned intellectual and politician Dr. Mostafa El Feki, writer and novelist Mohamed Salmawy, former Al-Ahram Chairman Dr. Abdel Moneim Said, strategic expert General Dr. Samir Farag, Editor-in-Chief of Al-Ahram Gate and Al-Ahram Al-Massaei Mohamed Ibrahim El Dessouky, Editor-in-Chief of Al-Bayt and Nisf El-Dunya magazines Sawsan Murad, journalist Abdellatif El Menawy, and Mrs. Hedayet Teymour, wife of the late prominent journalist Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, in addition to a group of artists, critics, media professionals, and visual art enthusiasts.
Published under the International Cooperation Protocol with Middle East Business | Life Magazine, Abu Dhabi
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