Portrait of Shosha Kamal, photographed by Remon Elmarkiz.
“I am a designer who is very lucky to collaborate with design pathfinders who lived more than 4,000 years ago. Those groundbreaking innovators who made a piece and left it for future generations – for some reason, we connect and I continue what they’ve started,” explains Shosha Kamal. The Egyptian interior and product designer is best known for introducing her ancestors to the new millennium via contemporary pieces of furniture and interiors.
Kamal’s over-arching quest is to spread beauty around the world; however, she stands on no pedestal. The designer aims to deploy her work at the pursuit of ending darkness. “I am launching a lighting brand, Annure, which aims to illuminate Africa. A portion from each piece’s proceeds will be used to buy a solar unit, which is capable of lighting a home on the continent,” explains Kamal. Annure will be launched this month at the Giza Plateau in front of the pyramids.
Originally printed in the October 2018 issue of Vogue Arabia
Her brand is a vehicle to achieving a teenage dream – to change the world with the power of design. Annure will also include a digital platform where Egyptian designers can contribute their work. “Our main criteria are innovation as well as genuine and premium quality,” she says. Annure’s board will include a number of pioneers from the industry, such as product designer Amr Helmy, who will filter works ahead of production.
A firm believer in the importance of reviving Egyptian heritage, Kamal’s résumé is full of picturesque projects that take Egyptology from museums and plant it in residential and commercial venues around the world. Her achievements include the A’ Design Award, which she won three consecutive years in Milan, from 2014. Her most cherished design is her winged sofa, a tribute to the majestic wings of the pharaonic gods Horus and Isis. The brass piece received an honorable mention in the product design category at the 2015 International Design Awards in London.
Her latest prominent work of art is the Great Zayed Memorial at 57357 Children’s Cancer Hospital in Cairo. Through 75 carved pigeons, the designer celebrates the life of His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan in a genuine pharaonic method. “Every morning and sunset, high soaring pigeon sculptures come together to form his face in mid-air in order to portray how this man was born from both the greatness of the sun and the pigeons’ goodwill,” says the designer. Her determination to revive the glory of her predecessors is most evident at her workshop in the heart of Cairo, where she employs a team of local artisans and designers, who utilizes Egyptian brass and silver to bring her award-winning designs to a wide base of clients around the world.
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