On the Street (Street children paintings) April 2, 2007

“On the Street”, an exhibition of street children paintings.
These paintings were the result of artist Huda Lutfi’s work with street children at the drop-in center of the Egyptian Association for Societal Safety, a non-profit organization founded by Kamal Fahmy in 1997 to improve street children’s living conditions.

Huda Lutfi visited the drop-in center for the first time in 1999.
Moved by the children, she decided to teach them how to use paints and brushes. The painting sessions were held once a week for 6 hours with lunch breaks in the middle. The children that participated were between 12 and 19 years old.

Huda’s painting sessions continued for the next two years during which the children produced stunning and powerful works.

At that time, Huda and Kamal organized several exhibitions of the children’s work at the British Council, the Centre Francais de Culture et de Cooperation and the Townhouse Gallery.

The center was closed down in 2001 and all the paintings were lost. Shortly before this, Huda Lutfi and publisher Sherif Boraie scanned some of the paintings.

Today, these scanned images are the only remaining trace of the drop-in center.

On the opening day of the “On the Street”, the Townhouse Gallery will also launch a book of the work, published by Sherif Boraie of Zeitouna. The proceeds from the exhibition and the sales of the book will be donated to an Art Fund for street children, which will continue the amazing work that was done by the Egyptian Association for Societal Safety.

Official Website: http://www.thetownhousegallery.com