Heba Abu El Ella is an Egyptian visual artist and light designer.

Through a practice based on the imagery of the boat, Heba Abu El Ella investigates her roots and the environment she has developed around herself.

Her work is intrinsically linked to African History and Egypt’s Pharaonic heritage. The boat recalls the traditions of trade and transportation on the Nile, the hearth of ancient civilization, which has been held up to the ancient people as the source of all life in Egypt.

The vessel also reflects the Ancient Egyptians’ afterlife beliefs, having been the means for shipping the dead for burial, and thus becoming the symbolic means of transition to a different realm and state of being.