Bahaa Amer Born in Cairo in 1977, Bahaa Amer earned his BA in Art Education from Helwan University in 2000, followed by an MA in Painting Restoration from Cairo University in 2009. He later pursued further studies in Artistic Criticism at the Academy of Arts in Cairo. Amer has worked as an instructor in conservation at the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) and the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). His extensive knowledge of Egyptian history, Prehistoric, Pharaonic, Coptic, Islamic, and Modern art along with his familiarity with ancient techniques, deeply informs his artistic practice. Amer’s oeuvre is distinctly expressive and poetic, often verging on surrealism. His expressive style initially developed as a means to address socio-political concerns, articulated through what has been described as a “metaphysical” pictorial language that merges human and animal figures within unconventional compositions. Through his work, Amer evokes the colours, scents, and emotional landscapes of his imagination and dreams, depicting mythical creatures that roam freely beyond the boundaries of earth and sky. Provocative, unsettling, and richly imaginative, his paintings inhabit a liminal space between reality and fiction. Amer has exhibited widely in solo and group exhibitions in Egypt and internationally, and his works are included in several international collections. He lives and works in Cairo.