A green oasis surrounded by the barren expanse of Egypt’s Western Desert, Siwa is a precious unicum, a world of bubbling springs, date palms and olives, a place where Arab and Berber cultures meet and entwine. In the spring of 2020, locked down in Egypt, Louis Barthélemy travelled here and discovered a world of traditional craftsmanhip utterly distinct from Cairo’s.

Among the projects he embarked on with the help of local artisans was a series of sculptures in locally quarried limestone. Closely connected with the sun, the moon, and the cycles of nature, the deities of the Egyptian pantheon are here reduced to their essence, simple, archaic yet also compellingly contemporary.


 

ANUKET, 40 x 30 cm  

HATHOR, 40 x 40 cm

GAZELLE, 74 x 42 cm

SPHINX, 40 x 40 cm

BÉLIER, 35 x 34 cm

BASTET, 55 x 34 cm

BABI, 60 x 30 cm