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Shadi Abdel Salam
Artist

About Shadi Abdel Salam

Shadi Abdel Salam (15 March 1930 - 8 October 1986) was an acclaimed artist among Egyptian, Arab, and international filmmakers. He was a creative designer of set decorations and costume, a screen writer and a director with a unique vision that embraced ancient Egyptian culture as well as Egypt's Islamic and Christian heritages.

He believed that only by bridging the broken link with their distant past, could modern Egyptians gather the vision and inspiration necessary to launch them on a new path. He chose the cinema as a mean to convey his thoughts and ideas to the world.

Shadi Abdel Salam was born in Alexandria on 15 March 1930 and earned a degree in architecture from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Cairo University, in 1955. After graduation he worked as an assistant to the directors Salah Abou-Seif, Barakat and Helmy Halim. Between 1960 and 1967 he designed costumes and set decorations for ten historical Egyptian films. He also participated in designing the sets and costumes of some foreign films such as Cleopatra, Pharaoh and La Lotta dell'Uomo per la Sua Sopravvivenza.

Apart from costume and set design, Shadi Abdel Salam himself directed several films:

Al-Mumia (The Night of Counting The Years), 1969
Shakawa Al-Fellah Al-Faseeh (Tale of the Eloquent Peasant), 1970
Afaak (Horizons), a documentary, 1972
Goyoush Al-Shams (Armies of the Sun), 1974
Korsi Tutankhamun (Tutankhamen's Chair), 1982
Al-Ahram Wa Ma Kablo (The Pyramids and Before Them), 1984
Ramsis Al-Thani (Ramsis II), 1986
Moreover, he co-directed the film Onshodat Weda (Farewell Hymn) and started three film projects that were never finished:
Al-Hisn (The Fortress), 1979
Al-Dandararweya, which he started shooting in 1980
Akhenaton (The Tragedy of the Great House), Abdel Salam was responsible for the script, costume and set design.

Unfortunately he died 8 October 1986 before he could fulfill his last dreams.

Part of the Museum

Shadi Abdel Salam Collection

Bibliotheca Alexandrina acquired Shadi Abdel Salam's complete library collection from his sister Mohiba in 2002. This collection contains 1808 books, sketches for costume and screen set designs, and some of his personal belongings. The book collection mainly consists of historical works focused on his interests in history. Other topics include literature, fine arts, religion, philosophy, psychology, and the social sciences.

Search the Collection

Patrons can search the Shadi Abdel Salam Collection using the BA Catalog by setting a search filter before searching. To set the filter, follow these steps:

Within the BA Catalog, select Set Search Filters.
Under Location Filters select Shadi Abdel Salam - B1.
Click the save button to continue searching within the Shadi Abdel Salam Collection (Filters In Use will appear under the search box to denote the location filter's activity).

To remove filter, select Set Search Filters and click the Clear button.

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