With a romantic scene of a marriage proposal, whose heroes are two Down-Syndrome partners, Rafek Fady constituted his graduation project from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Minia University.
The idea that included two statues, the male taking a knee, holding a marriage ring and gently holding the hand of a lady, the other statue, who happily stood in a beautiful dress and a wedding crown, went viral in social media outlets as Fady’s sculpted art highlighted the ability of humans born with Down Syndrome to have a quite normal life where they could marry, work and not have their life stopped because of an “extra chromosome”.
Inspired by the love of simplicity and beauty of Down Syndrome people, Fady said that he grasped the idea of his graduation project which he sculpted in a very short duration and was in a rush to finish it within 20 days to stick to the pre-set deadlines by his faculty.
Fady: I wanted to make it clear that people with Down Syndrome have the right to live a normal life just like healthy people
“Through the usage of simple carving tools I wanted to make it clear that people with Down Syndrome have the right to live a normal life just like healthy people”, Fady said. The 170m high statues were met with unexpected reaction from the public on the social media.
Fady: It was rewarding to have my work recognized by the first Down Syndrome TV anchor, Rahma Khaled
Positive feedbacks from Social media users as well as recognition from public figures represented the reward awaiting Fady to celebrate his hard work and sleepless nights. “It was rewarding to have my work recognized by the first Down Syndrome TV anchor, Rahma Khaled who liked the idea and reshaped it on her social media platform”.
Fady: My initial dream was for the statues to be featured in the Administrative Capital
“My initial dream was for the statues to be featured in the Administrative Capital to represent Egypt’s appreciation and openness to provide equal chances for all citizen”, Fady said.