A Small Village — Sohail

Carefully weaving bead patterns onto textiles, the woman sits in the morning sunlight.  The step, the door, the shadows and the platter of beads hint at pattern and colour.  In the wall that surrounds the Nubian house, a transliteration of hieroglyphics to Arabian characters.  A language of invitation in a world of gates.

The village on the island features not only a kindergarten, an elementary school and a high school, it also features a sanded soccer field and a pharmacy.

The juxtaposition of cultures is evident at every doorway.  Satellite dishes, archival sailing ships and carved doorways punctuate every residence.

The high voltage poles carrying electricity from the Aswan Dam tower over the villages.  In the desert oasis of colour pale the sand.  The presence of the past is both a reminder and a promise.  Culture has a way of dwarfing progress no matter how powerful the towers.

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