By: Aliaa Elsherbini
Art Hub Aranzad partnered for the summer with the Egyptian brand RKT, which makes handmade wooden rackets, and launched a limited edition collection with drawings and doodles by over 20 young Egyptian artists.
The creative rackets have earned their place and apart from being displayed online, they were displayed at Art D’Egypt’s exhibition in Almaza Bay as part of an art tour that invited its guests to experience the art as well as the beautiful location of the Almaza Bay Symposium. Then once the exhibition was over the pieces moved to The CookeryCo. in Almaza for Eid Al Adha until they find their forever homes—hopefully somewhere by the beach where they belong.
Rackets are essential by the beach as they are fun to play with, easy to use and can include a few players, so RKT and Aranzad gave the 20 young artists a chance to use these essential accessories in expressing and translating what summer means to them in their own way through art. The result was the creation of more than 40 rackets with a wide range of designs and vivid colors all inspired by the theme “summer”. Some had the beach drawn all over them, some had the blue waves, boats, sports, and some even had Fayrouz and Abdel Halim Hafez painted on them for their strong connection to summer as their music played and still plays during breezy chill summer nights.
Both partners are not just brands, they are initiatives as RKT’s sales help fund the athletic recruiting platform Pas-sport Athlete which helps athletes in the MENA region pursue sports scholarships or academic an sports programs in the US. While ARANZAD is a hub that supports young talents and creative calibers. And Aranzad’s sales go to support young and rising Egyptian artists through their platform/hub and to help fund those rising artists’ future artistic endeavors.
The artistic collaboration was presented in an equally artistic way in a photoshoot by art director and Celebrity Stylist, Maissa Azab, and hair and beauty professionals at Mohamed Al Sagheer Salon. Then the partnership came to life in a retro mini video titled “Lumiere”, featuring the rackets in an upbeat beach atmosphere which was shot at the beautiful Lumiere Beach North Coast by M Squared Development.
Superstar Asser Yassin described the joyful video as a chance to celebrate and take the initiative a step further, and praised the project efforts emphasizing the importance of racket design variety as they are “an essential summer accessory to one of the beach’s most popular sport; beach rackets”.
You can now have the funky colored rackets for a limited time through an online auction https://airauctioneer.com/rkt
And you can find RKT’s original blue and orange rackets on their Instagram page.
Check them out and play on the beach with fun and original paddles!
