School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Presents 'Histories Of Now: Six Artists From Cairo' (PHOTOS)

History inherently has a sort of distance to it. When learning about events that occurred far away, long ago, it is easy to think of history as a sort of fictional narrative. Yet a new exhibition on the current climate of Cairo tells its story with powerful images as well as words, culminating in an immediate and intimate experience, a history of now.

One year after the first protests shook up Tahrir Square, SMFA brings you 'Histories of Now: Six Artists From Cairo' a look at the city from those who live, breathe and fight for Cairo. Six of the most influential multimedia artists of Egypt bring you a colorful and raw view of a country at a critical juncture of its being. The artists shape Cairo in their own ways while presenting the shaping of the nation at this difficult in-between point in history. There's no time like the present, they say.

One artist captures the whirlwind of passion in Cairo through the spinning skirts of the mesmerizing Whirling Dervishes, while another presents a scared yet hopeful look upward from a young boy as he scratches his head. One video is a tribute to the Cairo street life while another focuses on stammering and the difficulty in translating from emotion into language. The aesthetic techniques contribute to the pictures of Egypt's current socio-economic climate, which is in flux. The artworks are not just recording history, they are changing it.

'Histories of Now: Six Artists from Cairo' features work from Mohamed Abla, Ahmed Basiony, Hala Elkoussy, Shady El Noshokaty, Sabah Naim and Moataz Nasr. It will exhibit at Boston's School of The Museum of Fine Arts until March 17.