Al Tatawwur

Al Tatawwur was started by a radical leftist group called Art et Liberté or al fann wa al hurriyya (Arts and Freedom in English) in 1940, and the first issue appeared in January that year.[1][2] The founder of the group was Kamel Telmissany which supported the revolutionary imagination and social freedom and had an anti-colonial stance.[2] Al Tatawwur was the successor of another magazine entitled Al Majalla Al Jadida which was established by Salama Moussa and published between 1929 and 1944.[2][3] The editor of Al Tatawwur was a surrealist intellectual, Anwar Kamel.[4] He declared the goals of the magazine in the first issue as follows: "to defend the freedom of art and culture, to spread modern literary works, and to Egyptian youth with international literary, artistic, and social movements."[3] The first issue also featured Arabic translations of the poems by the French surrealist Paul Éluard.[5]

During its short lifetime Al Tatawwur frequently covered topics such as prostitution, sex and women's sexual freedom.[2] The articles on women's sexual freedom were mostly written by Abdul Hamid Al Hadadi.[2] Other contributor was Faisal Abdul Rahman Shahbander.[2] Ramses Younan, a painter and writer, published art critics in the magazine.[6]

Al Tatawwur was published on a monthly basis until July 1940 when it folded after producing seven issues.[4] The magazine was closed down by the Egyptian authorities.[3] Following the closure of Al Tatawwur its editor Anwar Kamel was jailed due to his writings published in the magazine.[7]

• List of avant-garde magazines