This Just In: New acquisition

In 2025, Egyptian artist Yasmine El Meleegy made 'Farmer, Port of Alexandria’ out of porcelain ‘sherds’ from a factory founded by Egyptian sculptor Fathy Mahmoud in 1948. Mahmoud is renowned for his monumental scenes of factory workers, fruit pickers and fishermen. Today, El Meleegy pays homage to the ways Mahmoud’s work shaped Egyptian identity and made beautiful ceramics accessible to everyone. The V&A has lots of historic Egyptian pottery but little made after 1900 so this acquisition importantly adds to our collection of Middle Eastern contemporary art.


Written by: Rachel Dedman, Jameel Curator of Contemporary Art from the Middle East, V&A

Published: February 2026

Collecting Stories