Al-Aragouz (An Egyptian Puppet) is one of the most important Egyptian folk traditions that inhabit the hearts of children and adults, as it has been living in everyone’s heart since their early childhood. It is an authentic partner in Egyptian drama, especially theatrical drama, whether it targets children or adults. Since ancient times he has been called the “mouthpiece of the people” because he utters what people feared to mention before their rulers. He is a stinging opponent, or as they say about him, the "poor" cinema because it is a free entertainment outlet for the simple and marginalized people.
The puppet was traditionally made out of light wood and cloth. Its hands and head, which bear harsh sarcastic features, are made of wood, with a red dress embroidered in yellow, and a tartur (pointed hat) made of cloth with the same color. The puppeteer controls the Aragouz's head with his index finger and moves its hands with his middle finger and thumb. The image of the Aragouz puppet has not changed in modern times, although it is now made of plastic instead of wood.
The art of Al-Aragouz, which was created by folk artists, later led to the puppet theater and preceded the art of cartoons and motion pictures that we see today on television. Despite this, the Aragouz segment is still the favorite part of any party for children and adults.
The Man Behind Admission ‘Aragouz’ to UNESCO’s list
As part of the efforts seeking to preserve “Al-Aragouz” as an authentic folk art, the Supreme Council of Culture released a series of films in a digital documentation project for Egyptian Aragouz art which was carried out by Dr. Nabil Bahgat, Director of the Beit Al-Suhaimi Creativity Center and Professor of Theater at Helwan University. It is the first work of its kind that presents the Al-Aragouz Folk Theater in motion pictures, based on the live performances of seven artists of Al-Aragouz in their usual playhouses.
Dr. Bahgat is a passionate Aragouz fan and gave the distinguished art a chance of revival, by fighting for it until it was admitted to the UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List at the end of November 2019, at the 13th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Mauritius.
Dr. Bahgat made many efforts, including the founding of the Wamda Band, with its motto that "We have something that can express us," after noticing that everything is changing as Egypt "gets out of itself," as he described it at the time. He added to the band many Aragouz artists in Egypt.
In an interview with Majalla, Dr. Bahgat shared his life journey with Al-Aragouz, the details of making Egypt’s application to UNESCO, and his future plans to help spread it across the Egyptian society, the transcript for which is below, lightly edited for clarity.
About the reason why he adopted the Aragouz cause, Dr. Bahgat said, "Searching for meaning and restoring models is what prompted me to adopt the Al-Aragouz as a vehicle with which to defend our culture and to prove that we possess the means to present ourselves as a nation that has innovators and arts which we have produced over centuries." He added that "Civilization is a cumulative act. We have a present and no future. Al-Aragouz is part of the vocabulary of my cultural project, which I built on restoring the prototype and focusing on it. This project included restoring Al- Aragouz, Shadow Fiction, and the works of a large number of poets and creative artists that have shaped the Arab conscience since the beginning of the twentieth century but had been forgotten. This was achieved through my studies and various writings, whether in theater, poetry, or documentary projects".
When asked about what distinguishes Al-Aragouz from any other artistic heritage, he said, "Al-Aragouz is distinguished from other theatrical forms by its ease of implementation, flexibility, precision, ease, pleasure, and connection with reality in the topics it presents and the ability to continually dazzle."
Al-Aragouz case submitted to UNESCO
“I prepared the Al-Aragouz case as a personal initiative and with self-financing; the UNESCO application required answers to a set of questions about defining and describing this art, proving its authenticity, its Egyptianness, the need of local communities for it, and its ability to continue and withstand modern pressures,” he said.
“In addition, we had to show the methods of popular and official participation in preserving the art form from the risks it faces, as well as the support required by the proposed project. The submission included a documentary film by my director entitled “The Egyptian Aragouz,” he added.
With regard to the Ministry of Culture’s support for him: “The form of support that came from the Ministry was by allowing Al-Suhaimi House to present Al-Aragouz and Shadow Fiction shows on a weekly basis. This step was an official recognition of these arts, and it was also important for the survival and continuation of this art,” Dr. Bahgat said.
Wamda Band
"Wamda means sparkle in the dark or the key to making hope. This is the meaning I meant. We must always be good at making hope and Wamda is a model for hope and possibility," Dr. Bahgat said.
He continued, "Wamda was and still is a message and an idea that was established to be a practical model for benefiting from our heritage by standing with one foot in heritage and the other in reality."
He added also that "We rushed to the fine arts brought in by scholarship students and neglected our original arts, so we were keen for Wamda to be a practical model for the possibility of restoring heritage. Wamda detailed a program for its performances based on Al- Aragouz and Shadow Fiction as a primary language that sometimes mixes the narrator with folk singing and folk dance in order to take advantage of the possibilities of popular spectacle to achieve an Egyptian theatrical status.”
The Turnout for Al-Aragouz Shows
“The public turnout is great for the Band’s performances, and perhaps the explanation for this is that people see themselves and their experiences in this theater. Certainly, traditional tales are no longer appropriate. That is why we released “The Aragouz’s New Performances” book, in which we presented a number of modern ideas in the second Egyptian Al-Aragouz Festival. This big turnout was not only here in Egypt, but I found it in all the countries in which we presented our New Performances, whether Arab or foreign.”
Regarding his ambitions and future plans, he said, "My ambition is for my experience with Al-Aragouz to inspire Arab artists and researchers to invest in heritage, restore it and turn it into an economical resource using the same approach. In fact, I hope that young artists and researchers will pay attention to our cultural capabilities, transform our reality and take advantage of what we have for self-advancement."
He concluded his statements by saying, “I hope that we will have hundreds of experiences such as the Wamda experience. As for Al-Aragouz, I hope to implement the project submitted to UNESCO on a scientific and methodical basis, which will develop into a school for Al-Aragouz and folk puppetry in which young narrators are trained. Thus we will have mobile theaters everywhere for this art and a real investment in it as a form of knowledge which would contribute to increasing the individual and general income of the artists.”
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