Forever is now edition 4

ART D’ÉGYPTE

1

2

FOREVER IS NOW .04

This publication coincides with the

exhibition Forever Is Now .04, on view from

24 October 2024 at the Pyramids of Giza,

Cairo, Egypt.

Curator

Nadine A. Ghaffar

Art D'Égypte / Culturvator

Shahd Osman Laila Mansi

Hanya Elghamry Salma al Ashmawy

Alaa Elsayegh Esraa Elbeheary

Heidi Nasser

Farah Yehia

Amira Mostafa Malak Hassanein

Hend Tarrad

Nour El-Afifi

Eunok Son

Mahmoud Abdel Kader

Hossam Bahaa

Hala El Sherif

Toqa Ashraf

Sherifa Youssef

CONTENTS

6 CURATORIAL STATEMENT

11 THE ARTISTS & ARTWORKS

Book Design

Jorell Legaspi

Copyeditor

Nevine Henein

Project Manager

Nadine A. Ghaffar

Printed in Egypt by

our printing partner:

85

99

175

178

179

180

PARALLEL PROJECT

WRITINGS ON ART & HISTORY

CONTRIBUTORS

HONORARY CURATING BOARD

STEERING COMMITTEE

HONORARY ADVISORY BOARD

Cover image: Hassan Ragab, Identity Oblivious, from the

series 'We Are All Kings', August 2024.

182

186

PATRONS

INSTITUTIONAL PATRONS

www.saharaprinting.com

info@saharaprinting.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may

be reproduced in any manner without permission.

Unless otherwise specified, all images are © the artists,

reproduced with the kind permission of the artists and/or

their representatives.

187

188

189

EDUCATION PARTNER

GALLERY CIRCLE

DESIGNERS CIRCLE

©2024 Art D’Égypte, Cairo, Egypt.

Office 210, 2nd Floor, portal (A) building,

Sodic, Beverly Hills, Giza

+20237900115 / +201224706339

www.artdegypte.org

Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders

and to ensure that all the information presented is correct.

Some of the facts in this volume may be subject to debate

or dispute. If proper copyright acknowledgment has not

been made, or for clarifications and corrections, please

contact the publishers and we will correct the information

in future reprintings, if any.

190

198

205

213

SPONSORS

ART D'ÉGYPTE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ARTISTS’ ACCOMPLISHMENTS

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

Image: Hassan Ragab, Identity Oblivious (detail), from the series 'We Are All Kings', August 2024.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

CURATORIAL STATEMENT

FOREVER IS NOW .04

Nadine Abdel Ghaffar

The fourth edition of Forever Is Now (FIN.04) seeks to blur the lines

between past and present, tradition and innovation, creating dynamic

spaces where discovery is not a passive act but a participatory

experience. FIN.04 serves as a forum where artists and visitors become

modern-day archaeologists, wielding creativity as their tools. The use

of unconventional materials further reinforces the idea that art, like

archaeology, requires a keen eye for the unexpected and the ability to

celebrate the mundane. It invites viewers to reconsider the familiar,

elevating the ordinary and finding the treasures hidden in plain sight.

Forever Is Now is a contemporary art exhibition that brings together

local, regional, and international artists to contemplate the wonder of

Egypt’s ancient civilisation through the lens created by their artistic

practice. The annual exhibition takes place at the 4500-year-old

UNESCO world heritage site, the Pyramids of Giza and the surrounding

plateau. The exhibition is designed to trace the continuity of themes

that stretch from the storied past to the present day, echoing ancient

rituals, bustling civilisations, and the whispers of buried tales yet to be

discovered. It aims to emphasize that our understanding of the world is

an ever-evolving tapestry and to question the transformative power

of storytelling.

The overarching vision behind this annual exhibition is to build a culture

of interconnectivity, one where perspectives shift and interpretations

evolve. Bringing together people from around the world, the exhibition

promotes cross-cultural exchange with local communities, encouraging

a high level of engagement with different publics, not just visitors but

also craftspeople, students, and labourers, thus providing new ways of

accessing contemporary art for the uninitiated.

FIN.04 is not simply a revival of history, however, for the past can never

be complete in the present. Rather, it is a contribution to a contemporary

artistic legacy in a place of worldwide historical significance. This

exhibition is an ode to the enchantment of ancient Egypt’s cultural

heritage through contemporary installations that act as a testament to

the continual evolution of art. Taking place during tumultuous times

that see our present disturbed in myriad ways, the exhibition delves

into the themes of transcendence, hope, and faith anchored within the

ancient Egyptian worldview. It encourages dedicated exploration of the

past built on the unwavering belief that there is no conception of the

future without history. We look at the narrative of past achievements to

question, find inspiration, and understand the nature and purpose of

Rooted in the universal human impulse to uncover, understand, and

connect, the exhibition delves into the rich stories concealed beneath

the surface, whether in the layers of the earth or the corridors of

history. Set against the backdrop of arid expanses, shifting sands,

6

and monumental structures, this exhibition invites us to contemplate

successive generations.

the inexhaustible human quest for meaning. Through a myriad of

7

mediums, ranging from sculpture and installations to immersive digital

experiences, the artists dissect the known and the unknown, revealing

the narratives that shape our collective consciousness. The concept

embraces the paradox of excavation as both an intellectual pursuit and

an emotional journey, extracting meaning and history and encouraging

societal discourse.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

كلمة منسقة المعرض

الأبد هو الآن 4

نادين عبد الغفار

آثار من العصر الحديث،‏ وحاملين اإلبداع كأداتهم.‏ إن استخدام المواد غير

التقليدية يعزز أكثر فكرة أن الفن،‏ مثل علم اآلثار،‏ يتطلب عينًا ثاقبة لما هو غير

متوقع والقدرة على االحتفال باألمور الدنيوية،‏ فهو يدعو المشاهدين إلى إعادة

النظر فيما هو اعتيادي،‏ واالرتقاء بالمألوف والعثور على الكنوز المخفية على

مرأى من الجميع.‏

تتمثل الرؤية المهيمنة على هذا المعرض السنوي في بناء ثقافة الترابط،‏ والتي

تتغير من خاللها وجهات النظر وتتطور التأويالت.‏ يجمع المعرض بين أشخاص

من جميع أنحاء العالم،‏ ويعزز التبادل بين الثقافات مع المجتمعات المحلية،‏

مشجعا بذلك مستوى عالٍ‏ من المشاركة مع فئات الجماهير المختلفة،‏

ليس الزوار فحسب،‏ بل الحرفيين والطالب والعمال أيضا،‏ وبالتالي يتم إتاحة

طرق جديدة يصل بها عامة الناس من غير محترفي الفنون،‏ إلى التمتع بالفن

المعاصر.‏

الدورة الرابعة FIN.04 ليست مجرد إحياء للتاريخ على كل حال،‏ فال يمكن أن

‏"األبد هو اآلن"،‏ معرض فني معاصر يجمع ما بين فنانين محليين وإقليميين

يكتمل الماضي في الحاضر،‏ بل هي باألحرى مساهمة في إرث فني معاصر

وعالميين للتأمل في عجائب حضارة مصر القديمة من خالل العدسة التي

في مكان ذي أهمية تاريخية عالمية.‏ يعد هذا المعرض بمثابة قصيدة تتغنى

خلقتها ممارساتهم الفنية.‏ يقام المعرض السنوي في موقع التراث العالمي

بسحر التراث الثقافي لمصر القديمة من خالل التركيبات المعاصرة التي تمثل

لليونسكو الذي يصل عمره إلى 4500 عام،‏ في منطقة أهرامات الجيزة والهضبة

شهادة على التطور المستمر للفن.‏ يقام المعرض في أوقات عصيبة تشهد

المحيطة بها.‏ تم تصميم المعرض لتتبع استمرارية الموضوعات التي تمتد من

اضطراببًا لحاضرنا بطرق ال تعد وال تحصى،‏ ويتعمق في موضوعات مرتبطة

الماضي األسطوري إلى يومنا هذا،‏ مرددة صدى الطقوس القديمة،‏ والحضارات

بالسمو واألمل واإليمان والراسخة في نظرة الحضارة المصرية القديمة للعالم.‏

الحيوية،‏ وهمسات الحكايات المدفونة التي لم يتم اكتشافها بعد.‏ كما يهدف

كما يشجع على استكشاف للماضي المبني على اإليمان الراسخ بعدم وجود

إلى التأكيد على أن فهمنا للعالم هو نسيج دائم التطور ويحثنا على التساؤل

تصور للمستقبل بدون تاريخ.‏ نحن ننظر إلى سرد اإلنجازات الماضية لنتساءل ونجد

عن قدرة سرد القصص التحويلية بشكل إيجابي.‏

اإللهام ونفهم طبيعة وأهداف األجيال المتعاقبة.‏

يتجذر المعرض في رغبة البشر على المستوى الدولي لالكتشاف والفهم

والتواصل،‏ والتعمق في القصص الغنية المخبأة تحت السطح،‏ سواء في طبقات

األرض أو في أروقة التاريخ.‏ يقام هذا المعرض في خلفية تتكون من مساحات

قاحلة،‏ ورمال متحركة،‏ وهياكل ضخمة،‏ ويدعونا للتأمل في سعي اإلنسان

الذي ال ينضب إلى المعنى.‏ يقوم الفنانون،‏ من خالل عدد ال يحصى من الوسائط،‏

بدءً‏ ا من النحت والتركيبات إلى التجارب الرقمية الغامرة،‏ بتفحص المعلوم

والمجهول،‏ كاشفين عن الروايات التي تشكل وعينا الجمعي.‏ يتضمن المفهوم

8 9

مفارقة التنقيب باعتباره مسعى فكريًا ورحلة عاطفية في ذات الوقت،‏

الستخراج المعنى والتاريخ ودعم الخطاب المجتمعي.‏

تسعى الدورة الرابعة )FIN.04( من ‏"األبد هو اآلن"‏ إلى محاولة طمس الخطوط

الفاصلة بين الماضي والحاضر،‏ وبين التقاليد واالبتكار،‏ وإقامة بذلك مساحات

ديناميكية فيصبح االكتشاف تجربة تشاركية وليس عمالً‏ عابرا فحسب.‏ تعتبر

الدورة الرابعة FIN.04 بمثابة منتدى،‏ حيث يتحول الفنانون والزوار فيه إلى علماء

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

ة


Photo: Diego F. Parra on Pexels

10 11

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ال‏

و

THE ن ا ن ون

ARTISTS

&

ARTWORKS

ف

ال‏ ف ن ي‏

ART D’ÉGYPTE

CHRIS LEVINE

QUADRIVIUM

كريس ليڤين

كوادريفيوم

Limestone, granite, stainless steel, dichroic glass,

aluminium, copper, crystal

4824 x 3245 mm

2024

حجر جيري،‏ جرانيت،‏ فوالذ مقاوم للصدأ،‏ زجاج عشري،‏

ألومنيوم،‏ نحاس،‏ بلور

× 4824 3245 مم

2024

QUADRIVIUM is an exploration of the ancient study of

arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and sound – elements

believed to be essential to understanding the universe.

Inspired by the Great Pyramid of Khufu, Chris Levine's

artwork integrates sacred geometry and astronomical ratios,

reimagining these principles through contemporary art.

The sculpture consists of two dichroic glass discs and a

copper disc, sized according to the diameters of the Earth

and Moon. These elements, anchored by a steel pole, interact

with light to refract the sun’s rays, casting elliptical patterns

on the ground. The base, crafted from locally sourced granite

and limestone, echoes the materials of the Great Pyramid,

grounding the work in both history and place. A crystallised

water sphere and a copper coil enhance the piece's

connection to spiritual and etheric forces, emphasising the

interplay between physical and spiritual energies.

‏"كوادريفيوم"‏ ‏)العلوم األربعة(،‏ عبارة عن استقراء لدراسة قديمة

لعلوم الحساب والهندسة وعلم الفلك والصوت،‏ وهي عناصر

يٌعتقد أنها ضرورية لفهم الكون.‏ استوحى كريس ليڤين من هرم

خوفو األكبر دمج الهندسة المقدسة والنسب الفلكية في عمله

الفني،‏ حيث يعيد تخيّل هذه العلوم من خالل الفن المعاصر.‏ تتكون

المنحوتة من قرصين زجاجيين مزدوجي اللون وقرص نحاسي،‏

بحجم يتناسب مع قطري األرض والقمر.‏ تتفاعل هذه المكونات

المثبتة بواسطة عمود فوالذي،‏ مع الضوء لكسر أشعة الشمس

فيؤدي إلى ظهور أشكال بيضاوية على األرض.‏ صُ‏ نعت القاعدة من

الجرانيت والحجر الجيري من موارد محلية لتحاكي مواد الهرم

األكبر،‏ مما يرسخ فكرة العمل الفني في التاريخ والمكان.‏ تعمل كرة

الماء المتبلورة والملف النحاسي على تعزيز اتصال القطعة بالقوى

الروحية واألثيرية،‏ مع التركيز على التفاعل بين الطاقات الجسدية

QUADRIVIUM seeks to unite the spiritual and mathematical,

celebrating the profound wisdom of the ancient Egyptians.

12

Through this work, Levine's aim is to honour their mastery

and invite reflection on the universal truths encoded within

13

the Giza Plateau, one of the most sacred sites on Earth.

والروحية.‏

يسعى الفنان من خالل منحوتة كوادريفيوم إلى توحيد الروحاني

والحسابي،‏ واالحتفال بالحكمة العميقة للمصريين القدماء.‏ وقد

هدف ليڤين،‏ من خالل هذا العمل،‏ إلى تكريم إتقانهم واستجالب

التفكير في الحقائق العالمية المشفرة داخل هضبة الجيزة التي

تعتبر واحدة من أكثر المواقع المقدسة على وجه األرض.‏

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

CHRIS LEVINE

QUADRIVIUM

كريس ليڤين

كوادريفيوم

14 15

Image: MO4 Network

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

كريس ليڤين هو فنان إضاءة مقيم في المملكة المتحدة،‏ ويعمل

عبر مجموعة متنوعة من الوسائط سعيًا لتحقيق حالة موسعة

من اإلدراك والوعي.‏ يستخدم ليفين الضوء إلضفاء طابع روحي

وتأملي على عمله،‏ جاذبا المشاهد نحو السكون وحالة من الوعي

المتصاعد.‏ وقد أشاد ‏"جاليري البورتريهات الوطني"‏ بصورته الرائعة

للملكة إليزابيث الثانية،‏ ‏"خفة الوجود"‏ باعتبارها ‏"الصورة األكثر

تعبيرا عما هو ملكي من قبل أي فنان"،‏ وقد تم االعتراف بها اليوم

كأيقونة للقرن الحادي والعشرين.‏ في عام 2015، كُ‏ للّف الفنان بعمل

صورة رسمية لعيد الميالد الثمانين لقداسة الداالي الما،‏ الذي نادرًا ما

يجلس اللتقاط صورة رسمية له.‏ أدى نهج ليڤين متعدد التخصصات

إلى العمل مع مجموعة متنوعة من المتعاونين بما في ذلك

ماسيف أتّاك ومجوهرات آسبري وشواروفسكي.‏ عُ‏ رضت أعماله في

مؤسسات مرموقة بما في ذلك متحف فيكتوريا وألبرت،‏ وقصر

كنسنغتون،‏ ومتحف الفنون والتصميم في نيويورك،‏ ومؤسسة

Chris Levine is a UK-based light artist, who works across a variety

of mediums in pursuit of an expanded state of perception and

awareness. Levine uses light to imbue his work with a spiritual

and meditative edge, drawing the viewer towards stillness and

a heightened state of awareness. His seminal portrait of Queen

Elizabeth II, Lightness of Being, was hailed by the National Portrait

Gallery as ‘the most evocative image of a royal by any artist’ and

is recognised today as a 21st century icon. In 2015, the artist was

commissioned to create the official 80th birthday portrait of His

Holiness the Dalai Lama, who rarely sits for a formal portrait. Levine's

multi-disciplinary approach has led him to work with a diverse array

of collaborators including Massive Attack, Asprey Jewellers, and

Swarovski. His work has been exhibited in esteemed institutions

including the National Portrait Gallery, Victoria & Albert Museum,

Kensington Palace, the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, the

Annenberg Foundation in Los Angeles and the Mona in Tasmania to

16

name a few. In late 2021, Levine was invited by Lord Cholmondeley to

produce a solo exhibition, titled 528 Hz Love Frequency, at the historic

17

Houghton Hall in Norfolk, England, an honour previously bestowed

upon artists Anish Kapoor, James Turrell, Damien Hirst and the estate

of Henry Moore. In November 2023, the 25m-high light sculpture

Molecule of Light, first unveiled at Houghton Hall, was further

exhibited in the Wadi Namar Desert as part of Noor Riyadh.

أننبرغ في لوس أنجلوس،‏ ومونا في تسمانيا على سبيل المثال ال

الحصر.‏ في أواخر عام 2021، تمت دعوة ليڤين من قبل اللورد تشاملي

إلنتاج معرض فردي بعنوان ‏"تردد الحب 528 هرتز"،‏ في قاعة هوتون

التاريخية في نورفوك،‏ إنجلترا،‏ وهو شرف مُ‏ نح سابقً‏ ا للفنانين أنيش

كابور وجيمس توريل وداميان هيرست وورثة هنري مور.‏ وفي نوفمبر

2023، تم عرض التمثال الخفيف ‏"جزيء من الضوء"‏ الذي يبلغ ارتفاعه

25 مترً‏ ا،‏ والذي تم الكشف عنه ألول مرة في قاعة هوتون،‏ في

صحراء وادي نامار كجزء من معرض نور الرياض.‏

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

FEDERICA DI CARLO

I SEE, I SEE

فيديريكا دي كارلو

أنا أرى،‏ أنا أرى

Steel structure and optic lenses

600 x 258 cm

2024

هيكل صلب وعدسات بصرية

× 600 258 سم

2024

I See, I See is an installation that connects the desert sunlight and

echoes of Egyptian mythology like the Sun God from whose tears

originate human beings. A large eye of Horus/Ra, composed of

thousands of graduated optical lenses, will be placed between the

viewer and the landscape of the Pyramids of Giza, becoming an

outlook for unexpected visions. Gazing through the structure during

the day, the viewer will see the pyramids upside down. At two times

only during the day — the moments of sunrise and sunset – the

structure will become a kind of ritual device, gathering the desert

light and the solar sphere in each individual lens, marking the

appointment with the two forms of the sun as in ancient

Egyptian rituals.

‏"أنا أرى،‏ أنا أرى"،‏ عبارة عن عمل تركيبي مرتبط بأشعة الشمس في

الصحراء،‏ ويرجّ‏ ع صدى طقوس التقاليد المصرية القديمة المتعلقة

بآلهة النور.‏ ستوضع عين كبيرة لحورس/‏ رع،‏ مكونة من آالف

العدسات البصرية المتدرجة،‏ بين المشاهد ومنظر أهرامات الجيزة،‏

لتصبح بمثابة استشراف لرؤى غير متوقعة.‏ وعندما ينظر المشاهد

إلى العمل خالل النهار،‏ سيرى األهرامات مقلوبة رأسً‏ ا على عقب.‏ في

وقتين فقط،‏ - أثناء شروق الشمس وغروبها — يصبح العمل الفني

وكأنه وسيلة ألداء الطقوس،‏ حيث يجمع ضوء الصحراء والمجال

الشمسي في كل عدسة على حدى،‏ محددا بذلك موعدا مع شكلي

الشمس كما في الطقوس المصرية القديمة.‏

Special thanks to Enrico Motta and the Motta Collection. Supported by

the Italian Cultural Institute of Cairo.

شكر خاص إلنريكو موتّا ومجموعة موتا.‏ مدعوم من قبل المركز

الثقافي اإليطالي بالقاهرة.‏

18 19

‏:دعم فني / sponsor Technical

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

FEDERICA DI CARLO

I SEE, I SEE

فيديريكا دي كارلو

أنا أرى،‏ أنا أرى

20 21

Image: MO4 Network

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

© Giuliano Del Gatto

Federica Di Carlo investigates the relationship between human beings,

nature, boundaries, environment, power, and the unknown, measuring their

mutual connections and disconnections in poetic form. As an artist, she stands

with a vertical gaze in constant cross-reference between a more intimate human

dimension and its cosmic relevance. Her works are often presented as complex

systems characterised by a wide range of elements of nature, inanimate things,

physical phenomena, and technologies. Federica’s cycles of work on a theme can

last several years; they are conceived as interconnected worlds, where each work

is a continuation, implementation, implosion of the other. They are permeable

symbologies, sometimes contingent and often with some of the work entrusted to

the control of nature and not the artist.

فيديريكا دي كارلو تبحث في العالقة بين البشر،‏ والطبيعة،‏

والحدود،‏ والبيئة،‏ والقوة،‏ والمجهول،‏ وتقيس روابطهم المشتركة

وانفصالهم بشكل شعري.‏ كفنانة،‏ تحمل نظرة متعامدة في

إشارة مرجعية ثابتة بين البعد اإلنساني األكثر حميمية وأهميته

الكونية.‏ غالببًا ما يتم تقديم أعمالها على أنها أنظمة معقدة تتميز

بمجموعة واسعة من عناصر الطبيعة ومواد غير حية وظواهر

فيزيائية وتقنيات متنوعة.‏ يمكن أن تستمر دورات عمل فيديريكا

حول موضوع ما عدة سنوات،‏ ويتم تصورها على أنها عوالم

مترابطة،‏ حيث يكون كل عمل بمثابة استمرار،‏ وتنفيذ،‏ وانفجار

داخلي لآلخر.‏ وهذه األعمال بمثابة فن التعبير برموز قابلة لالختراق،‏

أحيانا بشكل عارض،‏ ولكن مع غالب األعمال تكون السيطرة منوطة

بالطبيعة وليس بالفنانة.‏

تم عرض أعمالها في المتاحف والمجموعات الوطنية والدولية.‏

غالببًا ما تتعاون مع علماء وفيزيائيين من مراكز بحثية مختلفة

حول العالم مثل معهد ماساتشوستس للتكنولوجيا،‏ والمنظمة

األوروبية لألبحاث النووية،‏ وغيرها.‏ في عام 2021، فازت بجائزة المجلس

اإليطالي عن مشروع ‏"سأشاهدك تحترق"،‏ والذي يتضمن التعاون

مع التجارب الدولية مثل المفاعل التجريبي النووي الحراري الدولي،‏

ومشروع ‏"إقامة شمس على األرض"‏ و"نجم دليل الليزر"‏ للبصريات

التكيفية أجراه المرصد األوروبي الجنوبي،‏ والمعهد الوطني للفيزياء

الفلكية،‏ ومعهد الفيزياء الفلكية في جزر الكناري حيث يقوم

العلماء بإنشاء نجم اصطناعي في السماء،‏ يسمى ‏"النجم المرشد".‏

Her works have been exhibited in national and international museums and

collections. She often collaborates with scientists and physicists from various

research centres around the world such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

(MIT), the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), and others. In 2021,

22

she won the Italian Council award for the project I Will Watch You Burn, which

involved collaborating with international experiments such as the International

23

Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), the creation of a Sun on Earth and

Laser Guide Star for Adaptive Optics (AO) conducted by the European Southern

Observatory (ESO), the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), and the Instituto

de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) where scientists are creating an artificial star in the

sky, called ‘Guide Star’.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

IK-JOONG KANG

FOUR TEMPLES

إيك-جونج كانج

أربعة معابد

Curated by Kyu Hyon Rhee

Mixed media (steel, foamex, paper)

11.5 x 11.5 x 5 m

2024

تنسيق كيو هيون ري

وسائط مختلطة ‏)صلب،‏ فومكس،‏ ورق(‏

× 11،5 11،5 × 5 م

2024

Four Temples explores the themes of the past (the pyramids) and the future

(dreams of people worldwide).

Inspired by his visit to Cairo in 2023, artist Ik-Joong Kang integrates architectural

elements of Egyptian temples into his envisioned artwork. The arrangement of four

structures, reminiscent of Egyptian temples, symbolises the belief that, despite

the divisions and conflicts on Earth, harmony and peace can be achieved through

communication and exchange.

The outer walls of the work feature the Korean folk song ‘Arirang’ written in Hangeul

(the Korean Alphabet), English, Arabic, and hieroglyphs, signifying the importance

of language in bridging the past, present, and future. Although Korea is divided

into North and South, ‘Arirang’ is sung by people in both regions. Kang often

incorporates the distinct themes of ‘harmony,’ ‘connectivity,’ ‘empathy,’ and ‘peace.’

Hangeul, his preferred subject, symbolises these themes as separate characters,

vowels, and consonants that come together to form complete words.

يستكشف العمل الفني ‏"أربعة معابد"‏ تيمات الماضي ‏)األهرامات(‏ والمستقبل ‏)أحالم

الناس في جميع أنحاء العالم(.‏

استلهم الفنان إيك-جونج كانج أثناء زيارته للقاهرة عام 2023، فكرة دمج العناصر

المعمارية للمعابد المصرية في أعماله الفنية التي يتخيلها.‏ ويرمز ترتيب الهياكل

األربعة،‏ الذي يذكرنا بالمعابد المصرية،‏ إلى االعتقاد بأنه على الرغم من االنقسامات

والصراعات على األرض،‏ يمكن تحقيق التناغم والسالم من خالل التواصل والتبادل.‏

تُحفر على الجدران الخارجية للعمل األغنية الشعبية الكورية ‏"أريرانج"‏ المكتوبة

بالهانجول ‏)األبجدية الكورية(‏ واإلنجليزية والعربية والهيروغليفية.‏ على الرغم من أن

كوريا مقسمة إلى شمال وجنوب،‏ إال أن الناس في كال المنطقتين يغنون أغنية ‏"أريرانج"،‏

وغالببًا ما يدمج كانج تيماته المميزة مثل ‏"االنسجام"‏ و"التواصل"‏ و"التعاطف"‏ و"السالم"‏

سويا.‏ ترمز الهانجول،‏ موضوعه المفضل،‏ إلى هذه التيمات كأحرف منفصلة،وأحرف

متحركة،‏ وحروف ساكنة تجتمع معً‏ ا لتشكل كلمات كاملة.‏ تتكون الجدران الداخلية

للعمل من رسومات ألشخاص من جميع أنحاء العالم،‏ وخاصة األطفال وأولئك الذين

يواجهون صعوبات سياسية واجتماعية،‏ حيث يأتي التعافي من خالل مشاركة أحالم

وتحديات الكثير من الناس.‏

The inner walls of the work are composed of drawings by people from around the

world, particularly children and those facing political and social difficulties.

24

By sharing the dreams and challenges of many, we find healing.

25

The work includes a participatory experience through excavation. The audience digs

through the sand to find two types of buried bookmarks with the words ‘love’ and

‘peace’ written in the four languages, which they can take away with them.

With special thanks to the YS Kim Foundation, the Peter Magnone Foundation,

Hyundai Rotem, Lee International, Margarette Lee, and ENART.

يتضمن العمل تجربة تشاركية من خالل التنقيب،‏ وذلك بأن يقوم الجمهور بالحفر

في الرمال للعثور كروت مدفونة،‏ والتي تتكون من كلمتا ‏"الحب"‏ و"السالم"،‏ مكتوبة

باللغات العربية واإلنجليزية والكورية والهيروغليفية.‏ وسوف يتمكن من يجدها

باالحتفاظ بها.‏

مع شكر خاص لمؤسسة واي إس كيم،‏ ومؤسسة بيتر ماجنون،‏ وهيونداي روتم،‏ ولي

إنترناشيونال،‏ ومارجريته لي،‏ وإينارت.‏

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

IK-JOONG KANG

FOUR TEMPLES

إيك-جونج كانج

أربعة معابد

26 27

Image: MO4 Network

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

إيك-جونج كانج ولد في كوريا عام 1960، واكتسب شهرة عالمية كفنان منذ

انتقاله إلى نيويورك عام 1984. وهو يبدع أعماال فنية تجسد موضوعات السالم

والوئام.‏ بدأ عام 1997، قبل عام من والدة ابنه،‏ بجمع رسومات رسمها أطفال.‏

يهدف مشروعه "100،000 حلم"‏ )2000-1999( إلى توحيد دولة كوريا المقسمة من

خالل أحالم األطفال،‏ حيث يعرض 60.000 رسمة من كوريا الجنوبية بالقرب من

حدود المنطقة المجردة من السالح.‏ عُ‏ رض مشروع ‏"عالم مندهش"‏ )2001-

2002(، في األمم المتحدة في نيويورك،‏ وضم 34.000 رسمة لألطفال من 149

دولة.‏ واليوم،‏ تضم مجموعته أكثر من مليون رسمة لألطفال - وهو إنجاز

تم تحقيقه بعد 25 عامً‏ ا.‏ حلم كانج التالي هو بناء جسر فوق نهر إيمجين

الذي يربط بين كوريا الشمالية والجنوبية.‏ وهو يعتقد أن الجسر سيكون بمثابة

شهادة على هذه الرحلة المستوحاة من الموضوع األساسي المتمثل في

‏"الترابط"‏ الذي أبرزه في مجموعته.‏

Ik-Joong Kang, born in Korea in 1960, has gained global recognition as an

artist since he moved to New York in 1984. He creates artworks embodying

themes of peace and harmony. In 1997, a year before his son's birth, he

began collecting drawings done by children. His project 100,000 Dreams

(1999–2000) aimed to unite the divided country of Korea through children's

dreams, displaying 60,000 drawings from South Korea near the DMZ border.

Amazed World (2001–2002), exhibited at the UN in New York, featured 34,000

children's drawings from 149 countries. Today, his collection includes more

than one million children's drawings – a milestone reached after 25 years.

Kang's next dream is to construct a bridge over the Imjin River connecting

North and South Korea. He believes the bridge will be a testament to this

journey inspired by the underlying theme of ‘interconnectedness’ he has

noticed in his collection.

تظهر أعمال كانج في مجموعات العديد من المؤسسات المرموقة مثل

متحف غوغنهايم،‏ والمتحف البريطاني،‏ والمتحف الوطني للفن الحديث

والمعاصر في كوريا.‏ لديه أيضً‏ ا تركيبات فنية عامة بارزة مثل ‏"األحالم الطافية"‏

التي تم عرضها في مهرجان التيمز 2016 في لندن والتركيب الدائم في مطار

سان فرانسيسكو الدولي ومحطة مترو أنفاق كوينز بنيويورك.‏ حصل على

درجة الماجستير في الفنون الجميلة من معهد برات في بروكلين،‏ نيويورك،‏

وشهادة البكالوريوس في الفنون الجميلة من جامعة هونغ إيك في سيول،‏

كوريا.‏ تشمل جوائزه وزماالته زمالة مؤسسة لويس كومفورت تيفاني وزمالة

مؤسسة جوان ميتشل.‏

Kang’s works are featured in the collections of numerous prestigious

institutions such as the Guggenheim Museum, the British Museum, and the

28

National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Korea. He also has

notable public art installations such as Floating Dreams showcased at the 2016

29

Thames Festival in London and permanent installation at the San Francisco

International Airport and the Queens, New York subway station. He received his

MFA from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York and his BFA from Hong-Ik

University in Seoul, Korea. His awards and fellowships include a Louis Comfort

Tiffany Foundation Fellowship and Joan Mitchell Foundation Fellowship.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

JAKE MICHAEL SINGER

WE WILL MEET AGAIN

IN THE SKY

Steel

5 x 3. 5 m

2024

چيك مايكل سينغر

سنلتقي مرة أخرى

في السماء

صلب

× 5 3،5 م

2024

We Will Meet Again in the Sky is a sculpture installation that

intricately intertwines with the essence of ancient Egyptian mythology

and the sacred landscape of the Giza Plateau. Through the portrayal

of avian figures in a mesmerising swarm, Singer channels the

divine symbolism deeply rooted in Egyptian cosmology, where gods

and spirits are often depicted as anthropomorphic beings closely

connected to natural elements. In ancient Egyptian belief systems,

birds held profound significance as symbols of transcendence,

freedom, and divine communication. The choice of avian forms in

Singer's installation pays homage to this rich iconography and evokes

the spirit of ancient deities such as Bennu, associated with rebirth and

the sun. Just as Bennu was revered as a symbol of eternal renewal, so

too does Singer's artwork embody a timeless message of regeneration

and continuity. Moreover, the concept of murmuration, derived

from Sanskrit etymology and manifested through the synchronised

movement of birds in flight, echoes the harmonious balance between

individual autonomy and collective unity, a concept deeply ingrained

in ancient Egyptian philosophy. Through innovative use of materiality

and form, Singer revitalises these ancient symbols and invites viewers

30

to engage in a dialogue between past and present, between myth and

modernity in a poignant testament to the timeless wisdom encoded

31

within the cultural heritage of Egypt and its profound resonance with

the human experience.

‏"سنلتقي مرة أخرى في السماء"،‏ عبارة عن تركيب في الفراغ يتشابك بشكل

معقد مع جوهر األساطير المصرية القديمة والمناظر الطبيعية المقدسة

لهضبة الجيزة.‏ ينقل سينغر،‏ من خالل تصوير أشكال الطيور في سرب ساحر،‏

الرمزية اإللهية المتجذرة بعمق في علم الكونيات المصري،‏ حيث غالبًا ما

يتم تصوير اآللهة واألرواح على أنها كائنات مجسمة مرتبطة ارتباطً‏ ا وثيقً‏ ا

بالعناصر الطبيعية.‏ كانت للطيور،‏ في أنظمة المعتقدات المصرية القديمة،‏

أهمية عميقة كرموز للسمو والحرية والتواصل اإللهي،‏ وعليه فان اختيار

أشكال الطيور في تركيب سينغر ال يشيد بهذه األيقونية الغنية فحسب،‏

بل يستحضر أيضً‏ ا أرواح اآللهة القديمة مثل بنو،‏ المرتبط بالوالدة الجديدة

والشمس.‏ ومثلما كان بنو رمزً‏ ا للتجديد األبدي،‏ فإن أعمال سينغر الفنية تجسد

أيضً‏ ا رسالة خالدة للتجديد واالستمرارية.‏ عالوة على ذلك،‏ فإن مفهوم التمتمة،‏

المشتق من كلمة في اللغة السنسكريتية والذي يتجلى من خالل الحركة

المتزامنة للطيور أثناء الطيران،‏ يعكس صدى التوازن المتناغم بين االستقالل

الفردي والوحدة الجماعية،‏ وهو مفهوم متأصل بعمق في الفلسفة المصرية

القديمة.‏ يُظهر هذا السلوك الجماعي الترابط بين جميع الكائنات الحية،‏ مما

يعكس النظام اإللهي الذي يعتقد المصريون القدماء أنه يحكم العالم

الطبيعي.‏ يقيم سينغر،‏ من خالل وضع المنحوتة داخل المناطق المقدسة في

هضبة الجيزة،‏ صلة مباشرة بين رؤيته الفنية واإلرث الدائم للحضارة المصرية

القديمة.‏ ال يعيد سينغر،‏ من خالل االستخدام المبتكر للمادة والشكل،‏ إحياء

الرموز القديمة فحسب،‏ بل يدعو المشاهدين أيضً‏ ا إلى االنخراط في حوار بين

الماضي والحاضر،‏ بين األسطورة والحداثة.‏ وبهذه الطريقة،‏ يعد العمل الفني

‏"سنلتقي مرة أخرى في السماء"‏ بمثابة شهادة مؤثرة على الحكمة الخالدة

المضمّ‏ نة في التراث الثقافي لمصر وصداها العميق في التجربة اإلنسانية.‏

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

JAKE MICHAEL SINGER

WE WILL MEET AGAIN

IN THE SKY

چيك مايكل سينغر

سنلتقي مرة أخرى

في السماء

32 33

Image: MO4 Network

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

جيك مايكل سينغر )1991، جوهانسبرج(‏ هو فنان متعدد التخصصات يجمع

بين النحت والتصوير الفوتوغرافي والرسم.‏ يهتم في ممارسته الفنية في

المقام األول بالمادية واألسطورة والتطهير.‏ بدأ سينغر عام 2019، في استكشاف

الشكل النحتي الذي يسميه ‏“التمتمة”،‏ ويعود أصل ترجمتها اإلنجليزية إلى

الكلمة السنسكريتية ‏"مرمرة"،‏ والتي تشير إلى صوت حفيف الرياح عبر أوراق

األشجار أو تدفق المياه.‏ يصف المصطلح ظاهرة الطيران عندما تتجمع الطيور

معً‏ ا وكأنها تؤدي عرض من باليه سماوي.‏ ويظهر هذا النوع من السلوك في

أسراب األسماك،‏ والبشر الذين يركضون في حشود،‏ والشبكات العصبية،‏

ومجموعات النجوم.‏ يرى سينغر أن هذا السلوك هو بمثابة احتفال يؤكد

إنسانيتنا الجماعية.‏

Jake Michael Singer (1991, Johannesburg) is a transdisciplinary artist

coalescing sculpture, photography and painting. His practice is primarily

concerned with materiality, myth and catharsis. In 2019, Singer began to explore

the sculptural form which he calls ‘Murmurations’. The etymology originates from

the Sanskrit marmara, denoting the sound of wind rustling through the leaves

of trees or of water flowing. The term itself describes the avian phenomenon

when birds flock together performing a kind of miraculous sky ballet. This kind

of behaviour appears in schools of fish, humans running in crowds, neural

networks, and clusters of stars. Singer sees this as a life affirming celebration of

our collective humanity.

ركز سينغر اهتمامه،‏ خالل العامين الماضيين،‏ على تركيبات في الفراغ بأحجام

كبيرة في مبانٍ‏ ذات أهمية تاريخية في إسطنبول مثل ‏"عشرة آالف شيء"‏

في يدكول هيساري الموجود منذ 1600 عام أثناء بينالي إسطنبول 2022، و"بنو

ستاسيس"‏ في كوشوك حمام مصطفى باشا في عام 2021. وتشمل منحوتاته

العامة الدائمة ‏"تمتمة ميرزيجو"،‏ إسطنبول ‏)‏‎2022‎‏(؛ ‏"توويزم"،‏ مركز دبي المالي

العالمي ‏)‏‎2021‎‏(؛ و"جوقة الفجر"،‏ جوهانسبرج )2019(. حصل سينغر على شهادة من

كلية ميكايليس للفنون الجميلة بجامعة كيب تاون )2013(، ودرس في سنترال

سانت مارتينز بلندن.‏ حصل على منحة مؤسسة إدواردو فيال في عامي 2016 و‎2017‎

وأكمل إقاماته في إسطنبول وأمستردام وكمباال وكولونيا.‏ في عام 20 20 خالل

أزمة فيروس كورونا،‏ أسس سينغر جائزة إيمرجانس آرت مع بنك راند التجاري

لدعم الفنانين الناشئين في جنوب إفريقيا.‏ سيشارك سينغر هذا العام في

بينالي داكار 2024.

Over the past two years, Singer has focused his attention on large-scale, sitespecific

installations in historically significant edifices of Istanbul such as Ten

Thousand Things at the 1,600-year-old Yedikule Hisarı during the 2022 Istanbul

Biennale and The Bennu Stasis at the Küçük Mustafa Paşa Hamamı in 2021. His

permanent public sculptures include Merzigo Murmur, Istanbul (2022); Twoism,

34

DIFC Dubai (2021); and Dawn Chorus in the RMB Think Precinct, Johannesburg

(2019). Singer holds a degree from Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of

35

Cape Town (2013) and has studied at Central Saint Martins, London. He was

the recipient of the Eduordo Vila Foundation Grant in 2016 and 2017 and has

completed residencies in Istanbul, Amsterdam, Kampala, and Cologne. In 2020

during COVID, Singer founded the Emergence Art Prize with Rand Merchant

Bank in support of emerging artists in South Africa. This coming year Singer will

participate in Dakar Biennale 2024.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

JEAN BOGHOSSIAN

DESERT WAVES

چان بوغوسيان

أمواج الصحراء

In collaboration with Gilles Libert

Corten steel

15 x 15 x 4 m

2024

بالتعاون مع چيل ليبر

صلب كورتن

× 15 15 × 4 م

2024

Desert Waves, a sculpture created by Jean Boghossian in collaboration with Gilles Libert,

embodies the theme of excavation while establishing an architectural and symbolic dialogue with

the surrounding landscape. Large steel sheets emerge from the desert in a pyramid-like structure

that creates a powerful visual connection with the ancient Pyramids of Giza. The burnt edges of the

metal sheets resonate with Jean's burnt books, exhibited in the Library of Alexandria, symbolising

the birth of history from its ashes. Jean’s artistic philosophy revolves around the interplay

between creation and destruction, and his use of burning techniques to transform materials into

art addresses themes of memory, transformation, and the ephemeral nature of existence.

‏"أمواج الصحراء"،‏ منحوتة أقامها چان بوغوسيان بالتعاون مع جيل ليبر،‏ تجسد موضوع التنقيب

بينما تقيم حوارًا معمارييًا ورمزيًا مع المناظر الطبيعية المحيطة.‏ تنبثق صفائح فوالذ كبيرة مقاومة

للتآكل من الصحراء بتشكيل عضوي،‏ مما يستحضر صورة اكتشاف أثري تم الكشف عنه بعد بحث

دقيق.‏ تتماثل الحواف المحترقة للصفائح المعدنية مع كتب جان المحترقة المعروضة في مكتبة

اإلسكندرية،‏ ويخلق بذلك رابطً‏ ا رمزيًا عميقً‏ ا.‏ تدور فلسفة چان الفنية حول التفاعل بين الخلق والتدمير،‏

مما يجعل مساهمته أساسية في نقل الرمزية العميقة لعملنا.‏ تتوافق قدرته على غرس معنى في

بقايا النار تمامم ًا مع رؤية منحوتتنا،‏ حيث تخرج أوراق الشجر المحترقة من األرض،‏ وترمز إلى والدة التاريخ

من رمادها.‏

The interplay between the mound and the industrial materiality of the steel creates a narrative

of endurance through a contemporary lens. This juxtaposition mirrors how the artefacts of the

pyramids themselves harmonise with the natural landscape of the desert.

Like a silent witness to the passage of time, the installation stands before the Pyramids of Giza,

bridging ancient history and modern artistic expression and offering an integrated immersive

experience by inviting viewers to navigate within its structure via a staircase leading to an

observation point atop the mound. Viewers can perceive the timeless surrounding landscape in a

new and engaging way, reflecting on the passage of time and the layers of history that lie beneath

their feet.

يرتفع التمثال من خالل تل ترابي في هيكل يشبه الهرم ويخلق اتصالًا بصريًا قوييًا بأهرامات الجيزة

القديمة.‏ كما يخلق التفاعل بين التلة والمادية الصناعية للفوالذ سردا عن التحمل من خالل عدسة

معاصرة.‏ يعكس هذا التجاور مدى انسجام القطع األثرية لألهرامات نفسها مع المناظر الطبيعية

36 37

A heartfelt thanks to Gilles Libert, with whom I collaborated on the concept and realisation of this

sculpture. I am deeply grateful to my wife Cathy, for her patience, love, and unwavering support,

and to the entire team at Studio Boghossian for their dedication. Special thanks to Lisa De Boeck,

Director of Studio Boghossian, for her tireless devotion, and to Garo Bardakjian, a promising

young talent I invested in years ago, who has played a pivotal role in advising and coordinating

this project.

للصحراء.‏

يتحول العمل الفني إلى تجربة غامرة،‏ يدعو المشاهدين إلى التنقل داخل هيكله عبر سلَم يؤدي إلى

نقطة مراقبة أعلى التل،‏ موفرا بذلك مساحة تُمكّ‏ ن المشاهدين من رؤية المناظر الطبيعية المحيطة

الخالدة بطريقة جديدة وجذابة،‏ عاكسا مرور الوقت وطبقات التاريخ التي تقع تحت أقدامهم.‏ ينتصب

هذا العمل الفني المركّ‏ ب في الفراغ كشاهد صامت على مرور الوقت،‏ وأمام أهرامات الجيزة،‏ رابطا

التاريخ القديم بالتعبير الفني الحديث ومقدما تجربة غامرة متكاملة.‏

شكرً‏ ا جزيالً‏ لچيل ليبر،‏ الذي تعاونت معه في مفهوم هذا التمثال وتحقيقه.‏ أنا في غاية االمتنان

لزوجتي كاثي،‏ على صبرها وحبها ودعمها الذي ال يتزعزع،‏ ولفريق ستوديو بوغوسيان بأكمله على

تفانيهم.‏ شكر خاص لليزا دي بويك،‏ مديرة ستوديو بوغوسيان،‏ على تفانيها الدؤوب،‏ ولغارو بارداكجيان،‏

الموهبة الشابة الواعدة التي استثمرت فيها منذ سنوات،‏ والتي لعبت دورًا محوريًا في تقديم المشورة

والتنسيق لهذا المشروع.‏

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

JEAN BOGHOSSIAN

DESERT WAVES

چان بوغوسيان

أمواج الصحراء

38 39

Image: MO4 Network

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

© Lisa De Boeck

Jean Boghossian is a multidisciplinary Belgian artist of Lebanese-Armenian

descent renowned for his innovative use of fire and smoke in his abstract

artworks. Born into a family of jewellers in Aleppo in 1949, Boghossian initially

worked in the family business while pursuing studies in economics and sociology

in Beirut. At the outbreak of the Lebanese civil war in 1975 he moved to Belgium,

where he deepened his engagement with art. His artistic practice underwent

a significant transformation in 1988 when he started experimenting with fire

as a medium. This technique, which involves controlled burning, became his

signature, representing a dynamic tension between destruction and renewal and

placing him in conversation with artists such as Burri, Fontana, Pollock, Klein,

and Kounellis.

چان بوغوسيان هو فنان بلجيكي متعدد التخصصات من أصل لبناني أرمني

معروف باستخدامه المبتكر للنار والدخان في أعماله الفنية التجريدية.‏ ولد

بوغوسيان في عائلة تعمل في مجال المجوهرات في حلب عام 1949، وعمل

في البداية في شركة العائلة بينما كان يتابع دراسته في االقتصاد وعلم

االجتماع في بيروت.‏ انتقل إلى بلجيكا عند اندالع الحرب األهلية اللبنانية عام

1975، حيث عمم ّق ارتباطه بالفن.‏ شهدت ممارسته الفنية تحولًا كبيرً‏ ا في عام

1988 عندما بدأ تجربة النار كوسيط.‏ أصبحت هذه التقنية،‏ التي تتضمن الحرق

المتحكم هي عالمته المميزة،‏ حيث تمثل التوتر الديناميكي بين التدمير

والتجديد،‏ وتضعه في حوار مع فنانين مثل بوري،‏ وفونتانا،‏ وبولوك،‏ وكالين،‏

وكونيليس.‏

وقد اكتسب نهج بوغوسيان الفريد اعترافً‏ ا دوليًا،‏ مما أدى إلى إقامة معارض

مهمة،‏ بما في ذلك تمثيل جناح جمهورية أرمينيا في بينالي البندقية السابع

والخمسين عام 2017 بعمل ‏"لهب ال يمكن االستغناء عنه"؛ ‏"اللهب الداخلي"‏ في

متحف وويانغ للفن المعاصر في جيونجو،‏ كوريا ‏)‏‎2019‎‏(؛ ‏"الحزن المعاصر"‏ في

البندقية،‏ و ‏"حوار في ماتنداران"‏ في يريفان،‏ أرمينيا،‏ و ‏"البحر أخضر"‏ في معرض

األوبرا في موناكو ‏)جميعها في عام ‎2022‎‏(؛ ‏"لغة النار – الخيال المشتعل"‏ في

بيناكوتيكا في فيال زيتو،‏ برعاية برونو كورا،‏ في باليرمو ‏)‏‎2023‎‏(؛ و"لهيب"‏ في

معرض أنيما في الدوحة،‏ قطر )2024(. باإلضافة إلى ذلك،‏ عُ‏ رضت أعماله في

معرض برافا للفنون ومعرض تيفاف في نفس العام.‏ ويتجلى التزامه بالفنون

أيضً‏ ا من خالل مشاركته في تأسيس مؤسسة بوغوسيان في فيال إمبان في

بروكسل عام 1992، جنبًا إلى جنب مع شقيقه ألبرت ووالده روبرت.‏

Boghossian’s unique approach has gained international recognition, leading

to significant exhibitions, including representing the Pavilion of the Republic

of Armenia at the 57th Venice Biennale in 2017 with Fiamma Inestinguibile;

Flamme Intérieure at the Wooyang Museum of Contemporary Art in Gyeongju,

40

Korea (2019); Melencolia Contemporanea in Venice, Dialogue at the Matenadaran

in Yerevan, Armenia, and The Sea is Green at SBM and Opera Gallery in Monaco

41

(all 2022); The Language of Fire – Flaming Imaginary at Villa Zito’s Pinacoteca,

curated by Bruno Corà, in Palermo (2023); and Flames at Anima Gallery in Doha,

Qatar (2024). Additionally, his works were on view at both the Brafa Art Fair and

Tefaf Fair in the same year. His commitment to the arts is further evidenced by the

co-founding of the Boghossian Foundation at Villa Empain in Brussels in 1992,

alongside his brother Albert and father Robert.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

JEAN-MARIE APPRIOU

VESSEL OF TIME

چان-ماري أبريو

سفينة الزمن

Bronze and Nile ochre clay

234 x 370 x 94 cm

2024

البرونز والطين األسواني

× 234 370 × 94 سم

2024

Vessel of Time, made on-site using Nile ochre clay, is inspired by the solar

barque of Khufu, discovered on the Giza Plateau, or, more broadly, by the

boats buried near royal tombs, serving as ritual vessels to transport the

resurrected deceased across the skies. The ‘boat’ theme is recurrent in the

artist's work and symbolises the transition from one state to another, from

one temporality to another. It has been elemental in the artist’s sculpture

groups since his early years, with the first one presented at the Vuitton

Foundation in 2018.

Here, Jean-Marie Appriou takes on the role of an archaeologist by floating

an ochre clay boat on the Giza Plateau, a vessel both inherited from the past

and looking towards the future. The choice of Nile clay is motivated by the

artist’s desire to see the artwork evolve day by day, as the clay cracks with the

passage of time.

‏"سفينة الزمن"‏ عمل فني صنع في الموقع من الطين األسواني،‏ مُ‏ ستلهما من

مركب خوفو الشمسي الذي تم اكتشافه على هضبة الجيزة،‏ أو على نطاق

أوسع،‏ من العديد من القوارب المدفونة بالقرب من المقابر الملكية،‏ والتي

تعمل كمراكب طقسية لنقل الموتى عبر السماوات بعد بعثهم.‏

يتكرر رمز القارب في أعمال الفنان ويرمز إلى االنتقال من حالة إلى أخرى،‏

ومن زمانية إلى أخرى.‏ يعتبر هذا الموضوع عنصرً‏ ا أساسيًا في مجموعات

النحت الخاصة بالفنان منذ سنواته األولى،‏ حيث تم تقديم أول مجموعة في

مؤسسة فيتون عام 2018.

هنا،‏ يقوم چان-ماري أبريو بدور عالم آثار من خالل تعويم قارب من الطين

األسواني على هضبة الجيزة،‏ وهو مركب موروث من الماضي ويتطلع إلى

المستقبل.‏ إن اختيار الفنان إلقامة عمله من طين النيل تشير إلى رغبته في

رؤية التطورات والتغيرات التي تحدث يومً‏ ا بعد يوم،‏ حيث يتشقق الطين مع

مرور الوقت.‏

A ‘child character’ accompanies the boat on this ‘eternal crossing’,

representing a universal figure looking toward the horizon to create a

dialogue between past, present, and future. These youthful and androgynous

figures, symbolising the quintessence of humanity, have also been a

recurring theme in his work since 2013. The allegory of this child carried by a

42

boat through time and age depicts them as a messenger, sowing the seeds of

43

a hopeful future.

Courtesy of the artist and Perrotin.

سترافق السفينة ‏"شخصية طفل"‏ في هذا ‏"الممر األبدي"،‏ وكأنها تمثل

شخصية كونية تتطلع نحو األفق لخلق حوار بين الماضي والحاضر والمستقبل.‏

كانت هذه الشخصيات الشبابية والتي تحمل صفات انثوية وذكرية في نفس

الوقت،‏ موضوعع ًا متكررًا في أعماله منذ عام 2013، تستعرض جوهر اإلنسانية

والمثل العليا التي تذكرنا بأصولنا.‏ كما ترمز قصة الطفل الذي يحمله قارب عبر

الزمن لتلك الشخصيات وكأنها مرسال،‏ تزرع بذور المستقبل المفعم باألمل.‏

بإذن من الفنان وبيروتان

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

JEAN-MARIE APPRIOU

VESSEL OF TIME

چان-ماري أبريو

سفينة الزمن

44 45

Image: MO4 Network

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

© Claire Dorn

چان-ماري أبريو ‏)المولود عام 1986 في بريست،‏ فرنسا(‏ يتعامل

مع المواد النحتية - األلومنيوم،‏ والبرونز،‏ والزجاج،‏ والطين،‏ والشمع

- بمهارات فنية رائعة في تصور عوالم خيالية تسكنها أشكال

بشرية وحيوانية ونباتية.‏ من خالل دقة المقاييس ، تفرض أعماله

المركبة نفسها على المشاهد،‏ إال أنها تحافظ على عالقة حميمية

معه برغم حجمها الضخم،‏ وكأنها تحاول توصيل غرابتها المزعجة

بشكل أفضل.‏ عُ‏ رضت أعمال أبريو في مؤسسة لويس فيتون بباريس؛

قصر طوكيو،‏ باريس؛ مبادرات مؤسسة الفاييت،‏ باريس؛ متحف

اللوفر،‏ باريس؛ مؤسسة فنسنت فان جوخ،‏ آرل؛ متحف ليز آباتوار،‏

تولوز؛ متحف الفن الحديث في مدينة باريس؛ متحف الكونسورتيوم،‏

ديجون؛ فيال ميديشي،‏ روما؛ بينالي ليون؛ ومشروع النحت الدولي

السابع لجينغآن،‏ شنغهاي.‏ تمت دعوته من قبل صندوق الفن العام

لتقديم مجموعة من المنحوتات في بالزا دوريس س.‏ فريدوم،‏ عند

المدخل الجنوبي الشرقي لسنترال بارك في نيويورك،‏ وفي شاتو دو

Jean-Marie Appriou (born in 1986 in Brest, France) takes control

of sculptural materials – aluminium, bronze, glass, clay, wax – with

remarkable technical skills to envisage fantastical worlds inhabited

by human, animal, and vegetal figures. Through their skilfully

constructed scale, his often-imposing works nevertheless maintain

an intimate relationship with the viewer, as if to better communicate

their disturbing strangeness. Appriou’s work has been exhibited at

the Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris; the Palais de Tokyo, Paris; the

Fondation Lafayette Anticipations, Paris; Musée du Louvre, Paris; the

Fondation Vincent van Gogh, Arles; the Musée des Abattoirs, Toulouse;

the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; the Consortium

Museum, Dijon; the Villa Medici, Roma; the Biennale de Lyon; and the

7th Jing'an International Sculpture Project, Shanghai. He was invited

by the Public Art Fund to present a group of sculptures at the Doris C.

Freedman Plaza at the southeast entrance to Central Park in New York,

at the Château de Versailles, and at the Vienna Biennale. In 2023, he

46

was chosen by Donatien Grau to engrave a copper plate and produce

an etching, La Constellation du Louvre (2023) that entered the Musée

47

du Louvre collection. Appriou’s upcoming shows include a solo

show at Perrotin Paris and a public exhibition of three monumental

sculptures for a year at Central Wharf Park in Boston. He lives and

works in Paris, France.

فرساي،‏ وفي بينالي فيينا.‏ كما تم اختياره في عام 2023، من قبل

دوناتيان غراو لنقش لوحة نحاسية وإنتاج نقش،‏ ‏"كوكبة اللوفر"‏

)2023( التي دخلت مجموعة متحف اللوفر.‏ تشمل عروض أبريو

القادمة عرضً‏ ا منفردً‏ ا في بيروتان باريس،‏ ومعرضً‏ ا لثالثة منحوتات

ضخمة لمدة عام في بوسطن وارف بارك.‏ يعيش ويعمل الفنان في

باريس،‏ فرنسا.‏

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

KHALED ZAKI

THE RACE

خالد زكي

السباق

Glossy stainless steel

Horses (2): 2.08 x 1.19 x 3.37 m; Wheel: 1.30 m (d) x 10 cm (thickness)

2024

فوالذ مقاوم للصدأ مصقول

حصانان:‏ × 2,08 1,19 × 3,37 م،‏ عجلة:‏ 1,30 م ‏)ق(‏ × 10 سم ‏)سمك(‏

2024

In The Race, Khaled Zaki resurrects an ancient scene by casting the viewer into

the path of unruly horses racing among wheels that recall those of ancient

Egyptian chariots. Between movement and stasis, advance and retreat, the

viewer sees two horses traversing the ground among six thrusting wheels in

the shifting sands of an excavation site.

Zaki visualises meaning beyond the function of chariots as modes of transport.

The Race becomes an expression of the power and fortitude of human

invention that led to the navigation of the seas, the discovery of unknown

lands, the conquest of the skies. It stems from Zaki’s ongoing exploration of

relationships between historical narratives and societal discourse in dialogue

with contemporary realties. Zaki expresses his belief that a vision of the

present can be captured: The chariot dismantled, buried, wheels scattered as

archaeological evidence pulsing to emerge, no longer connected to horses

once providing rapid locomotive power. It represents the shifting equilibrium

of contemporary systems of power where technology (characterised by

gleaming stainless steel) precedes its makers.

يعيد خالد زكي من خالل ‏"السباق"،‏ إحياء مشهد قديم من خالل إلقاء المتفرج في

مسار خيول جامحة تتسابق بين العجالت تذكرنا بعجالت العربات المصرية القديمة.‏

ويتمكن المتفرج من خالل الحركة والثبات،‏ والتقدم والتراجع،‏ من رؤية حصانين

يجتازان األرض بين ست عجالت تقتحم الرمال المتحركة لموقع تنقيب.‏

كانت عربات الرحالة القدماء تمثل ذروة التعلم التقني والتطور.‏ يقوم زكي في هذا

العمل،‏ حيث عع ُرف عنه إبداع أعمال نحتية تأملية،‏ بتخيل معنى يتجاوز وظيفة العربات

كوسيلة للنقل،‏ فهو يحدد ويكشف عن العناصر الفردية،‏ فيصبح ‏"السباق"‏ تعبير

عن اإلبداع البشري الذي أدى إلى المالحة في البحار،‏ واكتشاف أراضٍ‏ مجهولة،‏ وغزو

Humanity’s shared desire to uncover and understand enables the creation of

48

new tools, and consequently, many scientific endeavours are made possible.

Thus, technology produces even more resources, including ‘Artefacts of

49

Everyday Life’ that will comprise the trail of humanity’s new narrative where

technology will continue to solve archaeology’s most enduring mysteries.

السماء.‏

فعلى مر التاريخ،‏ قاد تطور الحضارة أشخاص يستكشفون الماضي ويتخيلون

المستقبل.‏ ينبع هذا العمل الفني المركّ‏ ب من استكشاف زكي المستمر للعالقات

بين السرد التاريخي والخطاب المجتمعي،‏ في حوار مع الحقائق المعاصرة،‏ الذي يعبر

زكي من خالله عن اعتقاده بإمكانية التقاط رؤية للحاضر:‏ العربة مفككة،‏ ومدفونة،‏

وعجالتها متناثرة كأدلة أثرية تنبض للظهور،‏ ولم تعد مرتبطة بالخيول التي كانت

بمثابة قوة قاطرة سريعة.‏ تمثل هذه الرؤية التوازن المتغير ألنظمة القوة المعاصرة

حيث تسبق التكنولوجيا ‏)المتمثلة بالصلب المصقول المقاوم للصدأ(‏ صانعيها.‏

تمكّ‏ ن الرغبة البشرية المشتركة في الكشف والفهم،‏ من خلق أدوات جديدة،‏

وبالتالي،‏ أصبحت العديد من المساعي العلمية ممكنة.‏ ومن هذه الموارد،‏ تنتج

التكنولوجيا المزيد من الموارد،‏ بما في ذلك ‏"مستلزمات الحياة اليومية"‏ التي سوف

تشكل السرديات الجديدة لإلنسانية حيث تستمر التكنولوجيا في حل أقدم ألغاز

علم اآلثار.‏

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

KHALED ZAKI

THE RACE

خالد زكي

السباق

50 51

Image: MO4 Network

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

خالد زكي فنان عالمي مصري معروف بمنحوتاته وتركيباته الرائعة.‏ يعتمد عمله

على مصادر متعددة مثل التماثيل المصرية القديمة ونحت عصر النهضة اإليطالية

ومنحوتات الحداثة المصرية.‏ حصل على درجة الماجستير في الترميم من كلية

اآلثار جامعة القاهرة،‏ ودرس النحت في متحف الخوناني للفنون بالجيزة.‏ تابع

زكي تعليمه الجامعي بإقامة طويلة )1997-1988( في بيتراسانتا،‏ وهي مدينة

من القرون الوسطى تقع على ساحل توسكانا الشمالي تُعرف باسم ‏"مدينة

الفنانين"،‏ حيث أصبح أول فائز أجنبي بجائزة بيتراسانتا - ستريتويا للرسم في عام

1989. شاركت أعماله في العديد من المعارض والبيناليات العالمية،‏ بما في ذلك

اللجنة المصرية لبينالي البندقية الدولي الخامس والخمسين ‏)‏‎2013‎‏(؛ وصالون باري

فريدمان في فن + تصميم،‏ نيويورك )2013( جنبًا إلى جنب مع المصمم الشهير

ويندل كاستل.‏ حصل على جائزة الفنان الدولي من آرت تايبيه،‏ تايوان )2015(، وعرض

‏"الكنز المفقود"‏ في بينالي بكين الدولي السابع )2017(، وشارك في بينالي داكار

)2022( حيث كان أيضً‏ ا عضوً‏ ا في لجنة التحكيم.‏ كان لديه العديد من العروض

الناجحة في دبي بما في ذلك ‏"الرحلة"‏ )2022(. وبالتعاون مع جاليري لو الب،‏ أطلق

Khaled Zaki is an international artist born in Egypt known for his accomplished

sculptures and installations. His work draws upon sources ranging from ancient

Egyptian statuary and Italian renaissance sculpture to Egyptian modernism.

He holds a master’s degree in restoration from the Faculty of Archaeology at

Cairo University and studied sculpture at the al-Khonany Museum of Art in Giza.

Zaki followed his university education with an extended stay (1988–1997) in

Pietrasanta, a medieval town on the coast of northern Tuscany known as the

‘City of Artists’, where he became the first foreign winner of the Pietrasanta

- Strettoia Painting Prize in 1989. His work has been included in numerous

global exhibitions and biennales, including the Egyptian commission for

the 55th International Venice Biennale (2013); and Barry Freidman at The

Salon: Art + Design, New York (2013) alongside renowned designer Wendell

Castle. He received the International Artist prize from Art Taipei, Taiwan (2015),

displayed The Lost Treasure at the 7th Beijing International Biennale (2017),

and participated in Biennale de Dakar (2022) where he was also jury member.

He has had numerous successful shows in Dubai including The Journey (2022).

52

In collaboration with Le LAB, he launched his first design piece, The Wave, at

Dubai Design Week (2021). It was subsequently showcased at NOMAD St Moritz

53

together with an array of Zaki’s artwork in collaboration with UBUNTU art gallery.

Zaki's works can be found at the British Museum, London; the Egyptian Museum

for Modern Art, Cairo; the Egyptian Museum for Modern Sculpture, Aswan; and in

private collections around the world.

أول تصميم فني له بعنوان ‏"الموجة"‏ في أسبوع دبي للتصميم )2021(. تم عرضه

الحقً‏ ا في نوماد سانت موريتس جنبًا إلى جنب مع مجموعة من أعمال زكي

الفنية بالتعاون مع جاليري اوبنتو.‏ تُعرض أعمال زكي في المتحف البريطاني بلندن،‏

والمتحف المصري للفن الحديث،‏ القاهرة؛ والمتحف المصري للنحت الحديث

بأسوان؛ وفي مجموعات خاصة حول العالم.‏

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

LUCA BOFFI

MONOCHROME RGB

لوكا بوفي

مونوكروم أر چي بي

Stainless steel, reflective cladding, fabric

3 elements, 275 x 275 x 600 cm each

2024

صلب مقاوم للصدأ،‏ طبقة عاكسة،‏ نسيج

ثالث عناصر،‏ كل منها × 275 275 × 600 سم

2024

Monochrome RGB represents the encounter between the grid and the

desert landscape of Giza. The three frames are glimpsed in the flat

horizon and reveal that the work is about sublimating the relationship

between the square shapes and the Pyramids.

‘My artistic practice develops from the scientific study of the grid as

an optical device through which to measure, order, and reinvent the

environment. It finds form in construction in nature, with installations

and performative actions born from the sensitive listening of the site

of action, from the desire to be a place and to participate in space

in an architectural and poetic sense. The intervention in both urban

and natural contexts is aimed at enhancing collective memories

and territorial needs through the involvement of participants and

communities in practices of co-research and unprecedented narratives

of places, to contribute to a common action.’

يمثل العمل الفني ‏"مونوكروم أر چي بي"‏ ‏)لون أحادي ‏/أحمر،‏ أخضر،‏

أزرق(‏ االلتحام بين اإلطارات الشبكية والمشهد الصحراوي في

الجيزة.‏ تظهر اإلطارات الثالثة للمتفرج في األفق المسطح وتكشف

عن تسامى العالقة بين األشكال المربعة واألهرامات.‏

‏"تتطور ممارستي الفنية من خالل الدراسة العلمية للشبكة كجهاز

بصري يمكن عن طريقه قياس،‏ وتنظيم وإعادة اختراع البيئة،‏ فهي

تجد صيغة لها في بنية الطبيعة بتركيبات وأداءات تعبيرية ناشئة

من االنصات المرهف لمكان الحدث،‏ ومن الرغبة في أن تكون هي

ذاتها مكانا وللمشاركة بإحساس معماري وشعري في ذلك المكان.‏

يهدف التدخل في كل من السياقات الحضرية والطبيعية إلى

تعزيز الذكريات الجماعية واالحتياجات اإلقليمية من خالل إدخال

المشاركين والمجتمعات في ممارسات البحث المشترك والسرد غير

المسبوق لألماكن بغرض المساهمة في عمل مشترك."‏

54 55

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

LUCA BOFFI

MONOCHROME RGB

لوكا بوفي

مونوكروم أر چي بي

56 57

Image: MO4 Network

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

© Sirio Vanelli

Luca Boffi was born in Milan, Italy in 1991. He works as an artist and farmer

near Modena, Italy. He studies visual perception, landscape transformations,

processes of transition and reciprocity between living beings, and between

the natural and the artificial. He interprets his surroundings in order to restore

them, starting from the posture and gesture of his own practice. In 2013, he

graduated in Interior Design at the Politecnico di Milano, Italy, and embarked

on an artistic journey in which community and social dimensions are central,

creating works mainly in public space. In 2022, he was the winner of the Italian

Council (11th edition) with the publishing project Caro Campo. His work Diario

di lavoro stems from the human, artistic, and environmental experience of

the artist between December 2019 and April 2021 in Campogalliano (Italy)

in symbiosis with a field of two hundred and ninety poplars until they were

cut down. In 2023, he was the winner of ‘L’Italia è un desiderio. Open call sul

paesaggio contemporaneo’.

لوكا بوفي ولد في ميالنو بإيطاليا عام 1991. وهو يعمل فنانًا

ومزارعع ًا بالقرب من مودينا بإيطاليا.‏ يدرس اإلدراك البصري،‏ وتحوالت

المناظر الطبيعية،‏ وعمليات االنتقال والتبادل بين الكائنات الحية،‏

وبين ما هو طبيعي وما هو اصطناعي.‏ يقوم بتأويل كل ما هو

محيط به من أجل اصالحها،‏ بدءً‏ ا من وضعية حركاته وإيماءاته

الشخصية.‏ تخرج عام 2013، من قسم التصميم الداخلي من جامعة

بوليتكنيكو دي ميالنو،‏ إيطاليا،‏ وشرع في رحلة فنية تكون فيها

األبعاد المجتمعية واالجتماعية مركزية،‏ حيث أقام أعمالًا في

األماكن العامة.‏ وفي عام 2022، فاز بجائزة المجلس اإليطالي

‏)النسخة الحادية عشرة(‏ بمشروع النشر ‏"كارو كامبو".‏ كما عرض

‏"دياقيو دي الفورا"،‏ الذي ينبع من التجربة اإلنسانية والفنية والبيئية

للفنان بين ديسمبر 2019 وأبريل 2021 في كامبوجاليانو ‏)إيطاليا(،‏

بالتعايش مع حقل يضم مئتين وتسعين شجرة حور حتى تم

قطعها.‏ فاز في عام 2023، بجائزة ايطاليا ان ديسيديريو من خالل

دعوة مفتوحة من سول بايساجيو المعاصرة.‏

عرض بوفي وتعاون مع مؤسسات بما في ذلك:‏ المعهد األعلى

للفنون في ايطاليا وجامعة كوبا؛ وجامعة بوليتكنيكا دي فالنسيا،‏

فالنسيا؛ هنتر للتصميم،‏ مكسيكو سيتي؛ والجاليري الوطني

للفنون الحديثة والمعاصرة،‏ بروما،‏ ايطاليا،‏ من بين أماكن أخرى

كثيرة،‏ وباإلضافة إلى عمله في العديد من العواصم األوروبية،‏ عمل

أيضً‏ ا في المملكة العربية السعودية واألرجنتين وجزر األزور وكوبا

وإستونيا وإندونيسيا ولبنان والمكسيك والواليات المتحدة األمريكية.‏

منذ عام 2024، يتم تمثيله من قِ‏ ببَل غاليريا فوماغالي،‏ وهو معرض

فني معاصر مقره في ميالنو،‏ إيطاليا.‏

Boffi has exhibited and collaborated with institutions including: ISA

58

Universidad de las Artes, Havana CU; Univesitat Politècnica de València,

Valencia ES; Design Hunter, Mexico City MX; and La Galleria Nazionale

59

d’Arte Modena e Contemporanea, Rome IT; among many others. In addition

to working in many European capitals, he has also worked in Saudi Arabia,

Argentina, Azores, Cuba, Estonia, Indonesia, Lebanon, Mexico, and the USA.

Since 2024, he has been represented by Galleria Fumagalli, a contemporary art

gallery based in Milan, Italy.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

MARIE KHOURI

I LOVE

ماري خوري

بَحِ‏ ب

Polyurea hard coat and fiberglass

6.5 x 3.5 m

2024

طالء بوليوريا صلب وألياف زجاجية

× 6،5 3،5 م

2024

I Love is an installation that brings with it the messages of peace

and unity that captivated audiences for over a year during its first

exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery in 2022. Each piece of I Love is

formed through an extensive hands-on process that begins with clay

sculpted by Marie that is then scaled up and remade with expanded

polystyrene. The enlarged works then undergo vigorous carving

and sanding by the artist. As the flowing arabesque-like forms take

shape, so do the Arabic letters and message of the artist: I Love. This

installation is a bridge that connects Marie’s Egyptian heritage with

her global journey as an artist. It places her in a cultural and historical

nexus, offering her an unparalleled platform to contribute to the

ongoing story of art and civilisation.

‏"بَحِ‏ ب"،‏ عمل تركيبي يحمل معه رسائل السالم والوحدة،‏ وقد أسر الجماهير

ألكثر من عام أُثناء عرضة ألول مرة في معرض فانكوفر للفنون عام 2022. يتم

تشكيل كل قطعة من " بَحِ‏ ب"‏ عن طريق عملية يدوية مكثفة تبدأ مع الطين

الذي شكلته ماري،‏ ثم يتم تكبيره بنسب معينة وإعادة تصنيعه باستخدام

البوليسترين الممدد.‏ تخضع القطع المكبرة بعد ذلك للنحت والصنفرة من

قبل الفنانة.‏ وبينما تتشكل أنماط األرابيسك المتدفقة،‏ تتشكل أيضً‏ ا الحروف

العربية وتحمل رسالة الفنانة،‏ وهي:‏ ‏"بَحِ‏ ب".‏ يعد هذا العمل الفني التركيبي

بمثابة جسر يربط تراث ماري المصري برحلتها العالمية كفنانة،‏ فهو يضعها

في عالقة ثقافية وتاريخية،‏ ويقدم لها منصة ال مثيل لها للمساهمة في

القصة المستمرة للفن والحضارة.‏

60 61

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

MARIE KHOURI

I LOVE

ماري خوري

بَحِ‏ ب

62 63

Image: MO4 Network

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

ماري خوري نحاتة مقيمة في فانكوفر،‏ ولدت في مصر ونشأت في لبنان،‏

وهي تستمد طاقتها من نسيج غني من المؤثرات الثقافية والتاريخية.‏ على

الرغم من طفولتها المضطربة التي تأثرت بالحرب األهلية اللبنانية،‏ فقد قادتها

رحلتها عبر إسبانيا وكندا وفي نهاية المطاف إلى باريس،‏ حيث صقلت حرفيتها

في مدرسة اللوفر.‏ تتجاوز أعمال خوري الحدود التقليدية بين الفن والتصميم،‏

وتستحضر سيولة الفكر الحداثي بينما تضفي على منحوتاتها عمقً‏ ا عاطفيًا

بالغا.‏ تنسج قطعها الفنية بتشابك ما بين اللغة والشكل والجسم البشري،‏

متأثرة بتقنية النحت المباشر لهنري مور،‏ ويعكس ذلك ارتباطها الشخصي

بتاريخ الشرق األوسط المعقد.‏ عرضت ماري أعمالها،‏ على مدار الخمسة عشر

عامم ًا الماضية،‏ على نطاق واسع في أوروبا وأمريكا الشمالية،‏ وتفتخر بعرض

أكثر من 31 عمالً‏ فنيًا عامً‏ ا في كندا وخارجها،‏ بينما تزين منحوتاتها ذات

الحجم الكبير مجموعات خاصة في جميع أنحاء العالم.‏ وقد شرّ‏ فت أعمالها

أماكن مرموقة مثل معرض فانكوفر للفنون.‏ ومن بين إنجازاتها الكثيرة أنها

حصلت على العديد من الجوائز البارزة بما في ذلك جائزة التميز لإلنجاز مدى

Marie Khouri is a Vancouver-based sculptor, born in Egypt and raised

in Lebanon, who draws from a rich tapestry of cultural and historical

influences. Despite a tumultuous childhood marked by the Lebanese

Civil War, her journey led her through Spain, Canada, and eventually

Paris, where she honed her craft at l’Ecole du Louvre. Khouri's work

transcends conventional boundaries between art and design, evoking

the fluidity of modernist thought while imbuing her sculptures with

profound emotional depth. Influenced by Henry Moore's direct carving

technique, her pieces intertwine language, form, and the human body,

reflecting her personal connection to the complex histories of the

Middle East. Over the past 15 years, Marie has exhibited extensively

in Europe and North America. She boasts over 31 public artworks in

Canada and abroad, while her large-scale sculptures adorn private

collections across the globe. Her work has graced prestigious venues

such as the Vancouver Art Gallery, and she holds several notable awards

including the Award of Distinction for Lifetime Achievement from the

64

BC Achievement Foundation and L’ordre national du mérite, awarded by

the French Government.

65

الحياة من مؤسسة بريتيش كولومبيا لإلنجاز،‏ ووسام االستحقاق الوطني،‏

الذي منحتها اياه الحكومة الفرنسية.‏

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

STUDIO INI BY NASSIA INGLESSIS

LIQUID SOLID

ستوديو إيني - ناسيا إنجليسيس

سائل صلب

Sand, glass, aluminium honeycomb, steel

10 x 10 x 5 m

2024

رمال،‏ زجاج،‏ شبكة ألومنيوم،‏ صلب

× 10 10 × 5 م

2024

Liquid Solid inspires a journey looking back into the past to form a

vision of the future that unites the human, the technological and the

elemental.

Nassia treats the desert sand, as a liquid solid, to reveal beyond the

phenomenological solidity of the pyramids, their liquid essence.

An essence that holds evidence of living with a porous membrane

between the natural and supernatural, in which the Ancient Egyptians

understood their existence as a critical element in the balance of

the universe, defying the boundaries of human endeavour and

transforming their world with eternal relevance.

λογία

τέχνη

As a Greek artist, and as the Ancient Greeks did before her, Nassia

draws upon the sophistication of the early technological - art ( τέχνη /

techni) and science ( λογία / logia) - advancements of the Ancient

Egyptians in their ingenious crafting of the elements in their landscape,

so as to defy gravity and friction and fluidly shift millions of tonnes of

stone over liquid water and granules of sand into perfect geometry of

monumental scale. Nassia combines the native elements with materials

66

used in NASA’s Voyagers, such as aluminium honeycomb, sculpting an

encounter of past, present, and future in humanity's ancient quest for

67

immortality and desire to transcend time.

‘Man Fears Time and Time Fears the Pyramids.' The monument of the

future will not be defined by permanence but by impermanence, and

timeless resilience will be found in the ephemeral and the capacity to

adapt as we rediscover our role in nature, even beyond earth.

يلهمنا ‏"سائل صلب"‏ بالقيام برحلة للنظر إلى الماضي وتكوين رؤية للمستقبل

توحد ما هو إنساني وتكنولوجي وجوهري.‏

تتعامل ناسيا مع رمال الصحراء باعتبارها مادة صلبة سائلة لتكشف عما وراء

ظاهرة صالبة األهرامات،‏ جوهرها السائل.‏ وهو جوهر يحمل دليالً‏ على الفكر

المعماري للحياة بوجود غشاء مسامي بين ما هو طبيعي وما يتجاوز الطبيعي،‏

حيث فهم المصريون القدماء وجودهم كجزء ال يتجزأ من الطبيعة وعنصر

حاسم في توازن الكون،‏ متحديين بذلك محدودية المساعي البشرية وتحويل

عالمهم إلى صرح هائل ذو أهمية أبدية.‏

كفنانة يونانية،‏ وكما فعل اليونانيون القدماء من قبلها،‏ تعتمد ناسيا على

التطور المبكر للتكنولوجيا المتقدمة - فن ( / التكني(‏ والعلوم ( /

)logia - الذي حققه المصريون القدماء باألهرامات وإبداعاتهم البارعة والقدرة

على صياغة العناصر في بيئتهم الطبيعية،‏ وذلك إلعادة اختراع الزجاج وتحدي

الجاذبية ونقل ماليين األطنان من الحجر بسالسة فوق الماء السائل والرمل

الحبيبي وتحويلها إلى أجسام هندسية عمالقة.‏ تجمع الفنانة في منحوتتها

بين العناصر المحلية والعناصر المستخدمة في رحالت المسافرين من خالل

ناسا،‏ مثل الشباك المصنوعة من األلومنيوم،‏ محققة بذلك لقاء الماضي

والحاضر والمستقبل في عرض لسعي البشرية الدائم إلى الخلود والرغبة في

تجاوز الزمن.‏

‏"اإلنسان يخشى الوقت والوقت يخشى األهرامات".‏ لن يتم تعريف نصب

المستقبل بالديمومة بل بعدم الثبات،‏ وسوف نجد المرونة الخالدة في الزوال

والقدرة على التكيف بينما نعيد اكتشاف دورنا في الطبيعة،‏ حتى خارج الكرة

األرضية.‏

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE


LIQUID SOLID

ستوديو إيني - ناسيا إنجليسيس

سائل صلب

68 69

Image: MO4 Network

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

ناسيا إنجليسيس فنانة يونانية تقيم في أثينا ولندن،‏ وهي تجمع بين البحث

العلمي والمشاركة العامة.‏

‏»أنا أتمرد على النظرية القائلة،‏ أنه في عصر القدرات الحاسوبية الهائلة والذكاء

المُ‏ صننّع،‏ فإننا يجب أن نصمم موادنا لتكون ثابتة؛ أي أن تكون ‏"ملجأ"‏ جامدً‏ ا

لجسم اإلنسان،‏ منفصلًا عن عقله الالمحدود ومكانته ضمن النظام البيئي

للطبيعة . »

Nassia Inglessis is a Greek artist based in Athens and London who couples

scientific research with public engagement.

تعتبر أعمالها الفنية منصة راديكالية لالستفزاز المباشر وللتمرد على حدود

وجودنا المادي.‏ في ممارستها الفنية في ستوديو إني،‏ تلجأ إلى الميكنة عبر

عمليات تصنيف المواد لصياغة محتوى وبنية تقليدية،‏ في منحوتات ديناميكية

ذات حجم معماري يحركها اإلنسان.‏ تستحضر هذه التركيبات تجربة تتجاوز

أي حدود للحجم وتربط بسالسة بيئتنا المادية المبنية مع اإلدراك البشري

واالستجابة سعيًا وراء ‏"الذكاء المتجسد"‏ داخل واقعنا المادي.‏ ومن دون فرض

شكل نهائي أو محدد في منحوتاتها،‏ فهي تسمح للناس بتوسيع حدود

عملها بطرق غير متوقعة تمامً‏ ا كمكبر صوت مادي الكتشافاتهم الخاصة.‏

‘I disobey the notion that in an era of vast computational capacity and constructed

intelligence, we architect our matter to be static; to be a rigid “shelter” for the human

body, disparate from its boundless mind and its place within nature’s ecosystem.’

Her artworks act as a radical platform of direct provocation to disobey the boundaries

of our physical existence. In her practice, Studio INI, she co-opts automation

across material-driven processes to craft traditional matter and structure, into

human-actuated kinetic sculptures of architectural scale. These installations evoke

experience beyond any boundaries of scale and seamlessly connect our physical

built environment with human perception and response in pursuit of an ‘embodied

intelligence’ within our physical reality. Without prescribing a final or definite form

in her sculptures, she allows people to stretch the limits of her work in completely

unexpected ways as a physical megaphone to their own discoveries.

تأسست ناسيا في العلوم الهندسية،‏ وحصلت على ماجستير الهندسة مع

مرتبة الشرف األولى في جامعة أكسفورد،‏ كما تدربت على الفن والتصميم

في الكلية الملكية للفنون ومختبر الوسائط في معهد ماساتشوستس

للتكنولوجيا.‏ تقوم ناسيا بالتدريس لطلبة الجامعة والماجستير في مختبر

أبحاث التصميم التابع للجمعية المعمارية بمدرسة الهندسة المعمارية في

لندن.‏ وقد تم منح أعمالها العديد من الجوائز وعرضت دولييًا في محافل

مختلفة بما في ذلك متحف فكتوريا وألبرت،‏ وستوديو ديزين لهذا العام،‏

وحصلت أبحاثها على براءات اختراع ومطبوعات.‏ وهي جزء من المجموعة

الرائدة من الفنانين التجريبيين ‏"سوبربلو".‏

بدعم من / by Sponsored

VETA S.A. /

70

With a technical foundation in Engineering Science receiving MEng with 1st honours

Emami Art - Kolkata Centre of Creativity /

at Oxford University and training in art and design at The Royal College of Art and

71

MIT Media Lab, Nassia teaches as a university professor and course master at the

Design Research Laboratory of the Architectural Association School of Architecture in

London. Her work has been awarded and exhibited internationally (incl. V&A, Dezeen

Studio of the Year) and her research has been awarded patents and publications. She

is part of the pioneering leading group of experiential artists SUPERPLUE.

فيتا إس.‏ إيه

إيمامي للفنون - مركز كولكاتا لإلبداع

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

SHILO SHIV SULEMAN

PADMA/LOTUS

شيلو شيڤ سليمان

پادما/لوتس

Brass, iron, silk

10 lotuses ranging from 2.5 m to 4.5 m in height;

circular brass lily pad, diameter 1.2 m.

2024

نحاس،‏ حديد،‏ حرير

10 زهرات لوتس تتراوح ارتفاعاتها ما بين 2.5 و 4.5 م،‏

قاعدة نحاسية قطرها 1.2 م

2024

In the Vishnu Purana, a lotus emerges from the navel of a blue god and marks the

creation of the universe. In Egypt, a blue lotus flower at the beginning of time arose

out of primeval waters to connect the heavens to the earth. These ancient civilisations

of the Nile and the Indus are thus connected by one symbol: the Lotus.

Prophecies say that when the blue lotus flower returns to bloom in Egypt, there will be

a rebirth of consciousness rooted in the purity of the heart. Padma is an oasis of lotus

flowers bringing this prophecy to life. It consists of 10 brass lotuses handmade by

artisans in India and uses pulse sensors to visualise visitors’ heartbeats, inviting them

to synchronise their hearts. It is the first installation by an Indian artist at the Pyramids

of Giza.

في أسطورة اآللهة فيشنو في الهند ‏)فيشنو بورانا(،‏ تخرج زهرة اللوتس من سرة إله أزرق

كداللة على خلق الكون.‏ وفي مصر،‏ ظهرت زهرة اللوتس الزرقاء في بداية الزمان من

المياه البدائية كي تصل السماء باألرض.‏ ترتبط حضارتا النيل والسند القديمتان برمز واحد:‏

زهرة اللوتس.‏

تنص النبوءات على أن عودة زهرة اللوتس الزرقاء للتفتح في مصر،‏ سوف تُحدث والدة

جديدة للوعي المتجذر في نقاء القلب.‏ و"بادما"،‏ عبارة عن واحة من زهور اللوتس التي

سوف تعيد هذه النبوءة إلى الحياة،‏ وتتكون من 10 زهرة لوتس نحاسية مصنوعة يدويًا

من قبل حرفيين في صحراء الهند.‏ تستخدم ‏"بادما"‏ أجهزة استشعار النبض لتصور

نبضات قلب شخص ما،‏ وتدعو الناس إلى مزامنة قلوبهم.‏ هذا هو أول عمل تركيب في

الفراغ لفنان هندي على أهرامات الجيزة.‏

Padma is an evolution of lead artist Shilo Shiv Suleman’s installation Pulse & Bloom

developed at Burning Man in 2014. One of the largest biofeedback installations of

its kind, it is based on studies that prove that when two people spend enough time

together, breathing (beating, being) with each other, their hearts begin to beat in time

like fireflies pulsing in patterns. It was first created in collaboration with architects,

neurotechnologists, and hardware engineers and has toured the world ever since.

تعد ‏"بادما"‏ بمثابة تطور للعمل الفني ‏"نبض وازدهار"،‏ للفنانة شيلو شيف سليمان والتي

تم تطويرها في معرض ‏"الرجل المحترق"‏ في عام 2014، باعتبارها واحدة من أكبر تركيبات

التغذية الراجعة البيولوجية.‏ يعتمد ذلك على الدراسات التي تثبت أنه عندما يقضي

شخصان وقتتًا كافييًا مع سويًا،‏ يتنفسان ‏)ينبضان،‏ يتواجدان(‏ مع بعضهما البعض،‏ فتبدأ

قلوبهما في النبض معً‏ ا مثل نبض اليراعات في أنماط متشابهة.‏

تم تقديم العمل ألول مرة بالتعاون مع مهندسين معماريين وأخصائيي تكنولوجيا

Principal benefactors: Mr. Faizal Kottikollon and Ms. Shabana Faizal.

72 73

عصبية ومهندسين،‏ وقد جال حول العالم منذ ذلك الحين.‏

Supported by the Faizal and Shabana Foundation and QissaGoi.

الداعمان األساسيان:‏ السيد فيزل كوتيكولون والسيدة شبانة فيزل.‏

بدعم من قبل مؤسسة فيزل وشبانة وقيصاجوي.‏

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

SHILO SHIV SULEMAN

PADMA/LOTUS

شيلو شيڤ سليمان

پادما/لوتس

74 75

Image: MO4 Network

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

شيلو شيڤ سليمان،‏ فنانة متعددة التخصصات،‏ تربط أعمالها ما بين الواقعية

السحرية والفن والطبيعة والثقافة والتكنولوجيا والطاقة األنثوية والعدالة

االجتماعية.‏ ترجع جذورها الفنية إلى الهند ما قبل االستعمار،‏ حيث يدمج فنها

بين ما هو حسي وما هو مقدس،‏ وكذلك بين الماضي والمستقبل،‏ من خالل

لوحات ومنحوتات وتركيبات في الفراغ وتدخالت فنية عامة.‏ تقود شيلو بصفتها

مؤسسة ومديرة ‏"جماعة الشجاعة"،‏ حركة عالمية لتحويل الخوف إلى حب في

األماكن العامة.‏ تعمل من خالل التعاون مع المجتمعات المهمشة في جميع

دول العالم،‏ بما في ذلك مجموعات السكان األصليين في البرازيل والناشطين

المثليين في جنوب إفريقيا،‏ على تضخيم األصوات الهادئة.‏ وقد حاز دمجها

المبتكر بين الفن وإقامة السالم على شهرة دولية،‏ مع ظهورها في المنتدى

العالمي للديمقراطية ومشاركتها في مجلة ناشيونال جيوغرافيك.‏

Shilo Shiv Suleman is a multi-disciplinary artist whose work bridges

magical realism, art, nature, culture, technology, feminine energy, and

social justice. Rooted in pre-colonial India, her art merges the sensual with

the sacred, and the past with the future, through paintings, sculptures,

installations, and public art interventions. As the founder and director of

the Fearless Collective, Shilo leads a global movement to transform fear

into love in public spaces. Collaborating with marginalised communities

across countries, including indigenous groups in Brazil and queer activists

in South Africa, she amplifies the quiet voices. Her innovative fusion of art

and peace building has earned international acclaim, with appearances at

the Global Forum of Democracy and features in National Geographic.

أدى تعاون شيلو مع أحد علماء األعصاب في تخصص الفن الذي يتفاعل مع

الموجات الدماغية إلى حصولها على العديد من المنح،‏ بما في ذلك العمل الفني

الفخري ‏"نبض وازدهار"‏ في مهرجان رجل يحترق.‏ لقد ظهرت على منصات عديدة

مثل البي بي سي و مجلة رولينج ستون،‏ وبيعت أعمالها بالمزاد العلني في سوثيبيز

نيو يورك،‏ وحصل المركز الرئيسي لجوجل في بالو ألتو على العمل الفني ‏"جروف"،‏

وهو تركيب في الفراغ.‏

Shilo's collaborations with a neuroscientist on art that interacts with

brainwaves earned her several grants, including the honorarium

installation Pulse & Bloom at Burning Man. She has been featured on TED,

BBC, Rolling Stone, and auctioned her work at Sotheby’s New York. Her

76

installation Grove was acquired by Google HQ in Palo Alto.

77

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

XAVIER MASCARÓ

EXODUS

خافيير ماسكارو

خروج

Bronze, iron, cloth

26 boat sculptures (13 boats: 90/120 x 130 x 40 cm;

10 boats: 180/210 x 230 x 80 cm; 3 boats: 210 x 500 x 135 cm)

2024

برونز،‏ حديد،‏ قماش

26 منحوتة لسفن 13( سفينة:‏ × 120/90 130 40× سم،‏

10 سفن:‏ × 210/180 230 × 80 سم،‏ 3 سفن:‏ × 210 500 × 135 سم(‏

2024

‘Exodus is ever-present throughout history.

Even today, people flee, populations merge, nothing stays in one place

for very long.

My inspiration comes from ancient iconographies where the boat had

a ritual role, as a means of crossing from one life to the other as in

Egyptian funerary boats.

My work relates to present time, to our memory, to time that is

constantly flowing. We pass through time; we are dragged by it. After its

passage, things – including us – seem fossilised... I envision my work as

an imaginary archaeology of the present seen from the future.’

With thanks to the curators of the project, Giovanna Cicutto and

Esperanza Rullo.

With the support of Consejería de Asuntos Culturales y Científicos

de la Embajada de España en El Cairo (Cultural and Scientific Affairs

Department of the Embassy of Spain in Cairo)

" الخروج حاضر دائمم ًا عبر التاريخ.‏

وحتى اليوم،‏ يفر الناس،‏ ويندمج السكان،‏ وال يبقى شيء في مكان

واحد لفترة طويلة جدً‏ ا.‏

يأتي مصدر إلهامي من األيقونات القديمة حيث كان للقارب دور

طقسي،‏ كوسيلة للعبور من حياة إلى أخرى كما هو الحال في

المراكب الجنائزية المصرية.‏

يرتبط عملي بالوقت الحاضر،‏ بذاكرتنا،‏ بالزمن الذي يتدفق باستمرار.‏

نحن نمر عبر الزمن،‏ وننجرف به.‏ تبدو األشياء بعد مرورها وكأنها

متحجرة،‏ بما في ذلك نحن ... أتصور عملي باعتباره علم آثار خيالي

للحاضر تتم رؤيته من المستقبل."‏

مع الشكر لمنسقي العمل،‏ چيوڤانا شيكوتو وإسبرنزا رولو.‏

بدعمٍ‏ من إدارة الشئون الثقافية والعلمية بسفارة إسبانيا بالقاهرة

78 79

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

XAVIER MASCARÓ

EXODUS

خافيير ماسكارو

خروج

80 81

Image: MO4 Network

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

خافيير ماسكارو،‏ نحات ورسام إسباني وأمريكي التيني يستخدم مجموعة

واسعة من المواد مثل الحديد والبرونز واأللمنيوم والسيراميك والراتنج والزجاج

والورق المعجن لخلق أعماله المستوحاة من علم اآلثار وتاريخ الفن.‏ تظهر النماذج

األولية – األدوار والقصص البشرية المتكررة في مخيلتنا الجماعية – باستمرار في

أعماله،‏ كما هو الحال في هذا ‏"الخروج"‏ الذي يستحضر فيه أسطول من القوارب

الهجرات البشرية،‏ واألساطير،‏ وبصورة أعم مرور الوقت.‏ عُ‏ رضت في السنوات

األخيرة،‏ مجموعاته النحتية الكبيرة في العديد من األماكن العامة بما في ذلك

معرض 421 في أبو ظبي،‏ ومعرض ساتشي في لندن،‏ ودير سانتو دومينغو في

كارتاخينا دي إندياس ‏)كولومبيا(،‏ ومتحف كونسثيستوريستشس في فيينا،‏

وباسيو دو ريكوليتوس وباسيو ديل برادو في مدريد،‏ وبالزا ديل سيميناريو في

مكسيكو سيتي ومتحف ديل تمبلو مايور،‏ ومعهد كابانياس الثقافي في

غواداالخارا ‏)المكسيك(،‏ وهافانا ماليكون ‏)في سياق بينالي هافانا التاسع عشر(.‏

وكان لديه طوال حياته المهنية،‏ استوديوهات في برشلونة ومدريد ونيويورك

ولندن ولوس أنجلوس وروما ومكسيكو سيتي وتشاباال ‏)المكسيك(،‏ وهو يعيش

Xavier Mascaró is a Spanish and Latin American sculptor and painter

who uses a wide range of materials such as iron, bronze, aluminium,

ceramic, resin, glass, and papier-mâché to create his works, inspired

by archaeology and art history. Archetypes – the recurring human

roles and stories in our collective imaginary – constantly emerge in his

work, such as in this Exodus in which a fleet of boats evokes human

migrations, myths, and more generally the passing of time. In recent

years, his large sculptural groups have been shown in many public spaces

including Warehouse 421 in Abu Dhabi, the Saatchi Gallery in London,

the convent of Santo Domingo in Cartagena de Indias (Colombia), the

Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the Paseo de Recoletos and Paseo

del Prado in Madrid, Mexico City’s Plaza del Seminario and Museo del

Templo Mayor, Instituto Cultural Cabañas in Guadalajara (Mexico), and the

Havana Malecon (in the context of the 19th Havana Biennial). Throughout

his career he has had studios in Barcelona, Madrid, New York, London, Los

Angeles, Rome, Mexico City and Chapala (Mexico). He currently lives in

82

Mexico City.

83

حاليا في مكسيكو سيتي.‏

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE


ا ل م ش ر وع

PARALLEL

PROJECT

ا لم وا ز ي‏

84 85

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

PARALLEL PROJECT

DANIAH ALSALEH

EVANESCE

المشروع الموازي

دانيا الصالح

تالشي

Video produced using generative AI

2024

فيديو أُنتج بواسطة الذكاء االصطناعي

2024

Evanesce delves into the iconic period of the 1940s to the 1960s,

recognized as the golden era of Egyptian cinema. The epoch gave

birth to films that still resonate in the collective memory of Middle

Eastern audiences. This era's cinematic stories enchanted viewers with

their extravagant musical performances, profound love stories, and

unforgettable protagonists, offering a window to a universe filled with

glamour, romance, and sensuality. However, the allure of Evanesce

surpasses mere nostalgia, probing deeper into the transformative

cultural influence these films had on the region's conservative societies.

Evanesce meticulously scrutinises this period, shedding light on audience

perceptions and the multifaceted ways these films gradually shifted

societal attitudes.

The 10-minute video, an innovative blend of research and machine

learning, reconstructs the experience of watching these timeless movies.

It simultaneously concocts an eerie sense of familiarity that is almost

palpable but challenging to quantify. Through machine learning,

the project zeroes in on recurring cinematic tropes and themes, thus

challenging our comprehension and recollection of these films.

يتناول فيلم ‏"تالشي"‏ الفترة األيقونية الممتدة من أربعينيات إلى ستينيات

القرن العشرين،‏ والتي تُعرف بالعصر الذهبي للسينما المصرية.‏ وقد

أنجبت تلك الحقبة أفالمً‏ ا ال تزال تتردد في الذاكرة الجماعية لجماهير

الشرق األوسط.‏ وقد كانت قصص هذه الحقبة السينمائية تفتن الجماهير

بعروضها الموسيقية الباذخة،‏ وقصص الحب العميقة،‏ وأبطالها المبهرين،‏

فكانت نافذة على عالم مليء بالسحر والرومانسية والحسية.‏ ومع ذلك،‏

فإن جاذبية ‏"تالشي"‏ تتجاوز مجرد الحنين إلى الماضي،‏ حيث تستكشف

بشكل أعمق التأثير الثقافي التحويلي الذي أحدثته هذه األفالم على

المجتمعات المحافظة في المنطقة.‏ ويفحص ‏"تالشي"‏ هذه الفترة بدقة،‏

ويلقي الضوء على تصورات الجمهور والطرق المتعددة الجوانب التي غيرت

بها هذه األفالم تدريجييًا المواقف المجتمعية.‏

يُعيد هذا الفيديو الذي تبلغ مدته 10 دقائق،‏ والذي يجمع بين البحث

والتعلم اآللي،‏ بناء تجربة مشاهدة هذه األفالم الخالدة.‏ كما يخلق

في الوقت نفسه شعورًا غريبًا باأللفة يكاد يكون ملموسً‏ ا ولكن من

الصعب قياسه.‏ ومن خالل التعلم اآللي،‏ يركز المشروع على الموضوعات

السينمائية المتكررة،‏ وبالتالي يتحدى فهمنا وتذكرنا لهذه األفالم.‏

يجسد ‏"تالشي"‏ أكثر من مجرد تجربة مشاهدة؛ فهو رحلة عبر ممرات

الزمن،‏ توقظ المشاعر والذكريات التي تحوم على حافة األلفة والغرابة.‏

86

Evanesce encapsulates more than a mere viewing experience; it is an

87

expedition through the corridors of time, awakening emotions and

memories that hover on the edge of familiarity and uncanniness. The

project beckons an exploration of how cinema can recalibrate our

perception of reality and prompts reflection on the complex ways our

experiences and memories are sculpted by the narratives and imagery

interwoven into popular culture.

ويدعو المشروع إلى استكشاف كيف يمكن للسينما إعادة معايرة إدراكنا

للواقع،‏ ويحث على التفكير في الطرق العميقة التي يتم بها نحت تجاربنا

وذكرياتنا من خالل السرد والصور المنسوجة في الثقافة الشعبية.‏

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

PARALLEL PROJECT

DANIAH ALSALEH

EVANESCE


دانيا الصالح

تالشي

88 89

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

دانيا الصالح فنانة تتأمل في أعمالها الذاكرة والتكييف الثقافي:‏ كيف يتم

استيعاب الرسائل والمعتقدات وتوصيلها عبر وسائل اإلعالم والشبكات األخرى.‏

وهي تتساءل عن األنماط السلوكية والنماذج في الحياة اليومية،‏ وتفحص األشياء

التي نأخذها على محمل الجد من خالل زعزعة االفتراضات السائدة التي تشكل

أساس هذا التكييف.‏ تفكك أعمالها المعاني المقبولة وتقترح مواقف بديلة.‏

تنظر إلى العادي والدنيوي والشائع من خالل فحص المجازات الثقافية والذاكرة

والترابط واالنقسام.‏ من خالل مواد وحسابات مختلفة،‏ تستخدم دانيا التشبيهات

لتأسيس طرق للقراءة واكتشاف وجهات نظر غير متوقعة.‏ العمل مخادع،‏ حيث

يكمن وراء جمالياته تعليق على هشاشة اإلنسان وانعدام األمن والضعف.‏

Daniah Alsaleh is an artist whose work reflects on memory and cultural

conditioning: how messages and beliefs are absorbed and delivered via media

and other networks. She questions behavioural patterns and paradigms in

the everyday, examining things that we take at face value by destabilising the

mainstream assumptions that form the basis of this conditioning. Her work

deconstructs accepted meanings and suggests alternative positions. She looks at

the ordinary, the mundane, the ubiquitous by examining cultural tropes, memory,

connectedness, and division. Through different materials and computations, Daniah

uses analogies to establish ways of reading and unearth unexpected perspectives.

The work is duplicitous: behind its aesthetics lies a commentary on human fragility,

insecurity, and vulnerability.

شاركت دانيا في بينالي الدرعية بالمملكة العربية السعودية )2021، 2024(، وبينالي

سور باألرجنتين.‏ كما أكملت إقامتها مع السفارة الفرنسية في الرياض،‏ والتي

توجت بمعرض مزدوج )2024(، وكانت جزء من برنامج إقامة معهد جوته ومعهد

اآلثار األلماني في العال،‏ والذي سينتج عنه معرض في عام 2024. في عام 2019،

حصلت على جائزة إثراء للفنون.‏ وقد عرضت أعمالها في العديد من المعارض

الجماعية في الخليج وعلى الصعيد الدولي،‏ بما في ذلك متحف اإلرميتاج ( 2020(

ونور الرياض )2022(. استكشف معرضها الفردي األخير )2023( تأثير الرموز التعبيرية

على التواصل اليومي.‏ حصلت على ماجستير في الفنون الحاسوبية من جامعة

‏"جولدسميث".‏ ولدت في الرياض وتقيم بين جدة والرياض.‏

Daniah has participated in the Diriyah Biennale, Saudi Arabia (2021, 2024), and

Biennale Sur, Argentina. She has also completed a residency with the French

Embassy in Riyadh, culminating in a dual exhibition (2024), and took part in the

Goethe Institute and German Archaeology Institute residency programme in AlUla,

90

which resulted in a dual exhibition in September 2024. In 2019, she was awarded

the Ithra Art Prize. She has showcased her work in numerous group exhibitions both

91

in the Gulf and internationally, including the Hermitage Museum (2020) and Noor

Riyadh (2022). Her latest solo exhibition (2023) explored the impact of emojis on

everyday communication. She holds an MFA in Computational Art from Goldsmiths.

She was born in Riyadh and is based between Jeddah and Riyadh.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

PARALLEL PROJECT

HASSAN RAGAB

IDENTITY OBLIVIOUS


حسن رجب

هوية غافلة

Video produced using generative AI

2 min.

2024

فيديو أُنتج بواسطة الذكاء االصطناعي

دقيقتان

2024

‘They say, they are searching for people who once lived, whose remnants

we now live among. They call them the ancestors, and they read their

writings and names carved in stone.’ Waneess, Al-Mummia (1969) by

Shadi Abdel Salam

In a vast, ever-moving world, both guided and troubled by globalization,

openness, and digital communication, questions about one’s place in this

world (or perhaps the universe) have never been more pressing. These

questions are further complicated by global, ever-shifting paradigms that

leave both the individual and the collective in a state of confusion. This

leads to one essential question: Who am I? Who are we?

Identity Oblivious is a brief investigation – at times personal, but at other

moments, it may be considered global. One thing is certain: it reflects

how I feel at the moment of its creation. Like Waneess, the protagonist of

The Mummy, I am troubled by the search for what is right, trying to find a

connection with people I have never met, yet whose blood runs in

my veins.

‏"يقولون،‏ إنهم يبحثون عن أشخاص عاشوا ذات مرة،‏ ونعيش بين بقاياهم

اآلن.‏ يسمونهم األجداد،‏ ويقرأون كتاباتهم وأسمائهم المنحوتة في

الحجر."‏ ونيس،‏ المومياء )1969( لشادي عبد السالم.‏

في عالم شاسع ومتحرك باستمرار،‏ توجهه العولمة واالنفتاح والتواصل

الرقمي تارًة،‏ وتزيده اضطرابًا تارة أخرى،‏ لم تكن أسئلة حول مكانة الفرد

في هذا العالم ‏)أو ربما الكون(‏ أكثر إلحاحً‏ ا.‏ تزيد هذه األسئلة مع زيادة

النماذج العالمية المتغيرة باستمرار،‏ والتي تترك كل من الفرد والجماعة في

حالة من االرتباك.‏ ومن ثم يؤدي هذا إلى سؤال أساسي واحد:‏ من أنا؟

من نحن؟

‏"هوية غافلة"‏ هو تحقيق موجز - في بعض األحيان شخصي - ولكن في

لحظات أخرى،‏ قد يعتبر عالميًا.‏ فهناك شيء واحد فقط مؤكد:‏ إنه عمل

يعكس ما أشعر به في لحظة تكوينه.‏ فمثل ونيس،‏ بطل الفيلم،‏ أشعر

بالقلق من البحث عما هو صواب،‏ في محاولة للعثور على صلة بأشخاص

لم أقابلهم أبدً‏ ا،‏ ولكن دماءهم تجري في عروقي.‏

92 93

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

PARALLEL PROJECT

HASSAN RAGAB

IDENTITY OBLIVIOUS


حسن رجب

هوية غافلة

94 95

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

حسن رجب مهندس معماري وفنان ومصمم متعدد

التخصصات يتمتع بخبرة تزيد عن 15 عامً‏ ا في الهندسة

المعمارية وتصميم المعارض وتصميم األثاث والتصميم

الحاسوبي والفن التوليدي.‏ هو مؤسس ستوديو ‏"حسن

رجب"،‏ ويُعرف بدمجه المبتكر للهوية والتكنولوجيا

والجماليات.‏ كثيرً‏ ا ما تتطرق أعماله إلى موضوعات الهوية

والتراث والتجربة اإلنسانية،‏ مما يثير الفكر ويلهم التغيير.‏

وبصفته معلمً‏ ا،‏ يتحدث بانتظام في المؤتمرات الدولية

ويساهم في مناقشات حول الدور المتطور للذكاء

االصطناعي في الفنون.‏

Hassan Ragab is an interdisciplinary designer and conceptual

artist based in Southern California with over 15 years of

experience in architecture, exhibition design, computational

design, generative arts, product design, and construction.

As the founder of HSNRGB Studio, he has become known for

his innovative integration of artificial intelligence, exploring

how technology reshapes creativity and design. His work

often engages with themes of identity, heritage, and the

human experience, provoking thought and inspiring change.

As an educator and public speaker, he regularly presents at

international conferences and contributes to discussions on the

evolving role of AI in the arts.

96 97

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

ت

خ


98 99

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ت ك‏ ب اا‏

ف

ي الن

و ت الار‏

WRITINGS

ON

ف

ART &

HISTORY

ي

ART D’ÉGYPTE

THE DISCOVERY OF THE

NEW CORRIDOR INSIDE THE

GREAT PYRAMID

Zahi Hawass

Reprinted from the Forever Is Now.03 catalogue with the kind permission of the author.

In 2023, the ScanPyramids Project announced the discovery of a corridor –

approximately 9m long and 2.10m wide with a chevron ceiling – behind the

main entrance of the Great Pyramid of Khufu. The announcement was made

in front of hundreds of reporters and television channels from all over the

world, marking the momentousness of the discovery in the only monument

remaining today of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

The discovery was made by a scientific team from Japan, France, and Egypt.

Dr Hany Helal, former Minister of Higher Education was the coordinator of

the team; Eng. Mehdi Tayoubi also participated in addition to a German team.

The Minister of Tourism and Antiquities appointed me director of the scientific

team to review the results of the work together with Egyptologists Mark Lehner

and Miroslav Bárta. We also invited Dr Dietrich Raue, the Director of the

Archaeological German Institute, to join us.

Each period of ancient Egyptian history has a trend. If we look at the 4th

100 101

The team started work in 2016 and used five different non-destructive

techniques (including infrared, muon radiography, georadar, ultrasound,

architectural, and 3D simulation) to explore the chevron area and the stone

gables over the entrance to the descending passage at the northern face of

the Great Pyramid. The analysis of the different results showed that there

was a corridor (the north face corridor) behind the chevron area with the

abovementioned dimensions. These results have been peer reviewed and

accepted for publication in Nature (2023) and in Non-destructive Testing

and Evaluation (2023), an international scientific journal specialised in nondestructive

techniques in engineering.

The committee held a meeting at the office of Dr Nashwa Gaber at the Pyramids

together with Ashraf Mohie Eldin, Director General of the Pyramids of Giza.

Hany Helal asked the team to move to the site of the chevron area on the north

face of the Great Pyramid where we joined the members of the ScanPyramids

team. The team viewed the newly discovered corridor on a video screen, the

images transmitted through a very thin (6mm) endoscope inserted into a joint

behind the lower course of the chevron and manoeuvred up inside the corridor,

which was immediately clear to us. We clapped with joy - we could not believe

that we were seeing a discovery inside the Great Pyramid with our own eyes.

The roof of the corridor is gabled, taking the shape of the underside of the

upper course of the chevrons. The corridor extends approximately 9m. Stone

blocks showing a vertical seam close off its southern end. We made the

following recommendation to the ScanPyramids team: They should gather as

much information from the endoscope and video observations as they could,

such as the character of the masonry, size of the chamber, and any other

construction details.

We think that the most probable function of the corridor is to relieve stress and

weight from whatever structures lie below, including the opening and upper

part of the descending passage around 7m below, similar to the function of the

weight relieving chambers above the horizontal passage and chambers in the

Meidum pyramid. We also note that the gabled blocks forming the ceiling of

the newly found corridor distribute the weight down and to either side, away

from the corridor. The ceiling of the Meidum weight-relieving chambers is

corbelled rather than gabled.

Dynasty, we will see that its kings built 11 pyramids and the same for

queens, and this means that the ancient Egyptian moved about 6 million

stones, an indication certainly of the size of the economy at the time.

Furthermore, all the pyramids built during this period are remarkable

because of the huge size of the stones used. However, just as there was an

increase in the volume of the stones, there was a decrease in the size of the

wall reliefs.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

In the 5th and 6th Dynasty many scholars believe that the decrease of the size

of the stones was for economic reasons, but we also note an increase in the

size of the wall reliefs. If we look at the pyramid of Sahure in Abousir, we will

find that it was estimated that around 10,000 wall reliefs covered the pyramid

complex. The cost of producing wall reliefs could possibly have been more than

hiring workmen to move large stones. It’s possible then that the decrease in the

size of the stones was due to the lack of good quality stones in these areas.

We can also see that the pyramids of the Middle Kingdom look like mounds

of mudbrick but underneath there is a maze of corridors that is unbelievable.

When I visited the Pyramid of Amenemhet III at Dahshur, I asked the workmen

to tie a string to my leg because I was afraid that I could get lost and lose my

way inside.

We also must give credit to the genius architect Nefermaat who was Khufu’s

cousin and who designed four pyramids for Senefru at Meidum, Dahshur, and

Seila. His sons Hemiunu and Ankh-Khaf are the ones who designed the Great

Pyramid at Giza. People are interested to reveal the secrets of Khufu’s pyramid,

but I am sure that the pyramids at Dahshur are also remarkable. A French team

was working inside the Pyramid of Senefru at Meidum. They are the ones who

found the horizontal passage whose weight-relieving function we believe to be

similar to the corridor found inside Khufu’s pyramid.

The airshaft in the third chamber was discovered in 1819 when Captain

Giovanni Caviglia dug a tunnel from the short passage located between the

The Pyramid of Khufu has features that you cannot find in any other pyramids

antechamber at the top of the Grand Gallery and the third chamber. When

of the Old or Middle Kingdoms. It has three levels; the first level is located

he breached the western wall of the short passage, he stumbled across the

underground, and the passage ends in an unfinished chamber. It has about 2m

northern channel and followed it for about 1.5m to the north. In 1871, British

of stones and a hole. All the Old Kingdom kings were buried under the pyramid

engineer Waynman Dixon located the entrance to the shaft in the third

except Khufu and his father Senefru. I found out that Khufu changed his cult.

chamber. Later, Scottish brothers John and Morton Edgar, non-conformists and

Before, kings were Horus on earth and when they died, they became the Sun

authors of three biblically inspired commentaries on the Pyramid of Khufu,

god. But Khufu in Year 5 of his reign, changed that cult and appointed himself

stated that the southern shaft extended horizontally for a few feet and then

as Re ‘the Sun god’. Then he abandoned the chamber under the pyramid and

bent upward. Flinders Petrie thought that he might have located the southern

built his burial chamber inside the pyramid because he was the god. Also,

exit shaft using binoculars. Goyon inserted an orange into the southern shaft

102 103

he called his pyramid Akhet-Khufu, meaning ‘the horizon of Khufu’ and the

one on the horizon in Re. I have around 12 pieces of evidence to support this

theory. The second level is the so-called Queen’s Chamber, and it is 21m above

ground and topped with a chevron shape. The third level is the King’s Chamber

where the empty sarcophagus lies 43m above ground. It is topped with five

relieving chambers and a chevron shape. The 2nd to the 5th chambers were

inscribed with graffiti that contains the names of the work gangs involved in

the construction of the pyramid as well as reference to Year 10 of Khufu’s reign.

I began to prepare many projects to reveal the secrets of the pyramid. In 1986,

we permitted a French team to drill in the western wall of the corridor that

leads to the second burial chamber. The team conducted a micro-gravimetric

survey. They claimed that there was an anomaly behind the west side of this

corridor. A Waseda University team used non-destructive electromagnetic

waves and claimed that they found a hollow located under the corridor leading

to the second chamber.

In 1990-1991, I closed the pyramid to limit exposure to humidity and contacted

Rainer Stadelman, then director of the German Archaeological Institute, to find

a robotics expert to clean the airshafts inside it. Four so-called air shafts are cut

in the body of the Great Pyramid. Pairs are found in the north and south walls

of both the third and the second chambers. They extend towards the north and

south and are approximately 20 x 20 decimetres in cross section. Those found

in the third chamber exit to the outside. It is quite possible, however, that the

limestone casing would have covered the exit and therefore blocked the shaft.

Noone has been able to discover exits to the outside for the sir shafts in the

second chamber. The purpose of these shafts is a mystery to scholars.

from the exterior of the pyramid and waited to see if it would merge into the

third chamber. When the orange never arrived, Goyon was able to state that

there was something blocking the path inside the shaft.

In 1872, Dixon began a search for similar vents within the second chamber.

Unfortunately, they were nowhere to be found. Being an engineer, Dixon began

to knock on the stone walls until he heard a hollow sound, then he cut a hole

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

in the rock. Today, when inspecting the northern shaft, one can clearly see the

damage Dixon caused while searching for its exact opening. Dixon unearthed

a copper implement often described as a hook from the shaft. It was located at

the bottom of the southern shaft’s entrance among much debris. He also pulled

out a wooden shaft and a piece of granite often described as a sculptor’s tool.

There are also accounts of Morton Edgar having inserted a metal rod into both

shafts of the second chamber in the 1920s. He recorded a distance of 63m for

the southern one, but the rod broke in the northern shaft.

1912: WHEN ‘AIDA’ CAME TO

THE PYRAMIDS

Peter Der Manuelian

In 1991-1993, Rudolf Gantenbrink developed a small robot called UPUAUT, the

name of a god meaning ‘opening of the road’. Work began in March 1992 in

the King’s Chamber. In March 1993, work extended to the second chamber. In

the northern shaft, the robot reached 19m and could not go further because the

chamber had been burned. In the southern shaft, the robot reached 53m and

then 60m and stopped in front of a stone with two copper handles. In July and

September 2002, National Geographic made a robot called Pyramid Rover who

went into the shafts but stopped after several metres. We are now working with

a team from England, and we hope that this year we will be able to see what

may be hidden behind these stones.

The ScanPyramids Project has been working for seven years. In their first

season, they held a press conference to announce that their work showed that

some disturbance could be seen on the east face of the Great Pyramid. I wrote

at the time that this could be because of the restoration that had taken place

in this area. I became the scientific director and examined the results together

with Mark Lehner and Miroslav Bárta. The project team said that they believed

there was an anomaly behind the main entrance of the pyramid and other

anomaly above the Grand Gallery, about 30m long. We asked them to do more

But Forever Is Now is hardly the first event to take place near the funerary

work until they could give us more specific and accurate information. After

monuments of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure. In recent decades, the Pyramids

further work, analysis of the results of the different techniques used showed

have looked down upon Shakespearean plays, classical and rock music

104

that there was a corridor behind the chevron area, and we could determine

concerts, international squash tournaments, blockbuster Hollywood movie sets,

105

its dimensions, direction, and shape. Hopefully, this is just the first exciting

discovery. I do believe now that the real burial chamber of Khufu is still hidden

inside the Great Pyramid.

George Reisner in

Indianapolis, his hometown,

July or August 1911

(colourised with AI). The

Museum of Fine Arts Bulletin

article on the table shows the

heads of the famous Menkaure

pair of statues. Harvard

University Archives.

Forever Is Now provides an engaging blend of contemporary art installations

inspired by and set against the spectacular backdrop of the Giza Pyramids, the

most famous archaeological site in the world. This ancient Egyptian cemetery,

full of royal pyramids, ‘private’ (non-royal) tombs, temples, and settlements,

is an active excavation site that still provides us with new information every

year. Giza is an open-air museum and a primary source for countless aspects of

Egyptian civilisation from the Pyramid Age (about 2600–2100 BCE)

and beyond.

fashion shoots, race car and motorcycle rallies, VIP tours for presidents, kings,

queens, and other celebrities, and many more events. One of the earliest public

performances took place in March of 1912 and takes us back to the heady days

of the great – some would argue, soft-power colonialist – Western expeditions

that excavated so many of the tombs, statues, inscriptions, and objects of daily

life at Giza.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

9 February 1912, George

Reisner tours with the Henry

Clay Frick party around the

temple of Edfu. From left

to right: Henry Clay Frick,

Dorothea Harding, J. Horace

Harding, Francis Dixon,

Helen Clay Frick, George

Reisner. Courtesy of The Frick

Collection/Frick Art Reference

Library Archives.

Before-and-after comparison

views of the Western Cemetery

excavations at Giza, looking

west: 12 January 1904 (HU–

MFA A10864A OS), and 24

April 1904 (HU–MFA A10865

OS); both photos by George

Reisner. Courtesy Museum of

Fine Arts, Boston.

Two major foreign expeditions, largely staffed with Egyptian workmen, were

active at Giza in 1912. One was led by American Egyptologist George Reisner

(1867–1942), director of the Harvard University–Boston Museum of Fine Arts

Expedition. Since 1903, Reisner had been clearing parts of the great cemetery

west of Khufu’s pyramid, as well as the Menkaure Pyramid Temple and Valley

Temple, revealing some of the greatest Old Kingdom royal statuary ever found.

The other mission was the German/Austrian expedition led by Hermann Junker

(1877–1952), which was just getting underway in 1912, but had replaced an earlier

German team directed by Georg Steindorff (1861–1951). Junker and Steindorff

had agreed to swap their respective expedition sites in Egypt and Sudan; Steindorff

went south to Sudan, while Junker came north to take over the Giza work.

View towards the north face

of the Great Pyramid of

Khufu, perhaps showing the

‘Aida’ stage construction,

21 February 1912. Courtesy

The Frick Collection/Frick Art

106

Reference Library Archives.

107

Triads of King Menkaure in situ in the Menkaure Valley Temple, 11 July 1908. HU–MFA A 250 NS.

Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Both Reisner and Junker, their families, and their teams were living at Giza when

news arrived that for the first time an opera performance was heading their way.

What more grandiose stage could there be for an opera than the Pyramids? And

not just any opera, but Aida, Verdi’s masterpiece, originally composed to mark the

opening of the Khedivial Opera House in Cairo on November 1, 1869. However, the

Franco-Prussian war delayed its premiere until December 24, 1871.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

George Reisner was just finishing up some fundraising work in early 1912, touring

with the American industrialist, banker, and patron of the arts Henry Clay Frick

(1849–1919) and his family up the Nile. Over the final two days of the Frick party’s

stay in Cairo, Reisner took Henry Clay Frick to the Egyptian Museum, then back

to Giza to see more of the excavations and stay to dinner. On February 24, he saw

them off to Alexandria from the Cairo train station.

The ‘Aida’ stage in preparation, and the

same area north of the Great Pyramid of

Khufu today, March 1912 and 18 February

2024, respectively. Note the Pyramids

Road leading to Cairo in the upper photo.

HU–MFA A 772 NS, courtesy Museum of

Fine Arts, Boston, and author’s photo.

Five hundred Americans attended, including J.P. Morgan, Col. and Mrs. John

Had the Fricks stayed in Cairo just a little bit longer they would have witnessed a

Jacob Astor, E. Henry Wall, Mrs. William. B. Leeds, Count Széchenyi, husband of

unique sight. The sawing and hammering had continued throughout late February

Gladys Vanderbilt, and banker turned Valley of the Kings excavator, Theodore

as a stage slowly rose on the north side of the Great Pyramid. In fact, one of the

Davis of Newport, Rhode Island. The weather was perfect, and the audience ‘was

photographs taken by Frick’s daughter Helen, dated February 21, 1912, perhaps

large and enthusiastic – very large and very enthusiastic. Practically all of Cairo

captures some of the stage construction. Since that time, most events have taken

and all of Alexandria were there – certainly everybody of any social or official

place to the west or to the south of the Pyramids, not in the rather more restricted

importance.’ Referring to the crowds, the writeup continued, ‘Englishmen likened

space on the north side, where the entrance to the Great Pyramid is located.

the great concourse that wended its way out of Cairo to the throng that takes the

108 109

Sunday March 3, 1912, was the date set for two performances of the opera.

Manager of the Cairo Opera, Adolfo Bracale (1873–1935) arranged the first

performance timed for sunset/moonrise, beginning at 5:00 pm, and the second

for the full moon, at 9:30 pm. New York’s Evening World newspaper described a

‘Unique Matinee Performance of Aida Given in Egypt and Repeated by Moonlight

View of the ‘Aida’ stage taken by the German/Austrian Expedition, March 1912. AEOS I 5923.

Courtesy Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

on Magnificent Desert Stage Set by Builders of Ages Ago.’ According to the

reporter, there were ‘modern taxicabs side by side with camels, Arabian horses

and arabeahs as audience assembles under starlit dome of heavens.’

road in Epsom on the Derby [horse race] Day.’ Verdi’s music reverberated against

the north face of Khufu’s pyramid ‘as if the early Egyptians had built it for a

mammoth sounding board. Signor Baroni conducted the orchestra and managed

the complex arrangements on the huge stage.’

The newspaper account continued, ‘In the first act, the procession of the priests

were arranged with breadth and dignity, whilst the pageantry of the second

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

act, with the return of the victorious Radames from the Nubian campaign was a

new thing for Egypt and evoked thunders of applause.’ As the first performance

ended, and the audience descended from the Giza Plateau, ‘there across the

immemorial valley above the Mokattam hills, the moon was rising in yellow

splendour, as it had done in the days when a veritable Radames might have

returned from the south, to be greeted by a real Pharaoh with the offer of his

daughter for a bride.’

View of the opera from the

audience, looking northwest.

From Samuel Holland Rous,

The Victrola Book of the Opera

(Camden, NJ, 1917), p. 25.

Article about the ‘Aida’ performance in The

Evening World, Wednesday, 3 April 1912.

Fantastical syndicated press

coverage distorting Reisner’s

research on the Sphinx,

1911 (left), and the Rockford

Republic, 12 March 1912,

p. 5 (right).

represent Khafre, builder of the second pyramid at Giza. Previously, all sorts of

The ‘Aida’ stage, looking

east across the north face

confusing theories abounded, dating the Sphinx and Khafre statues from the

of the Khufu Pyramid.

Middle Kingdom all the way to the Late Period. After Reisner’s announcement,

From victorianmasculinity.

however, the press coverage went wild, ascribing all kinds of fantastical

wordpress.com.

interpretations to Reisner’s rather sober, scientific research. The headlines

During the second performance, as Aida left the stage with her back to the

screamed that Reisner ‘Seeks Ancient Message in Head of Sphinx’, or ‘Jewels in

audience and faced the entrance to the pyramid, ‘her notes were borne back

Head of Sphinx’, or that ‘temples and tombs formed a veritable labyrinth in and

with a distinctness that was positively startling. She was applauded with

below the Sphinx’s head and body. That’s the belief of Harvard professor who is

110 on his way to Egypt to unearth treasure house of Pharaoh’.

111

unrestrained enthusiasm … At the close of the performance, hundreds paid a

visit to the Sphinx, who never seemed more mystic in his sombre majesty than

on this night of glorious full moon.’

Speaking of the Sphinx, it was ironically George Reisner who had only recently

announced his conclusive determination, based on his Menkaure temple

excavations, that the great crouching beast with human head must

This was just one of the first of many high-profile events that Reisner

participated in on the Giza Plateau. Still to come were numerous visits by

European royalty, annual exhibitions of oil paintings by his American artist

friend, Joseph Lindon Smith (1863–1950) at his ‘Harvard Camp’ dig house at

Giza, and even the world’s first live radio broadcast from the Pyramids in 1938.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

In the case of the opera, however, Reisner was less impressed than the fawning

journalists. In his Expedition Diary of March 3, 1912, he wrote, ‘The opera Aida

was performed on a stage erected on the north of the Khufu pyramid – one

performance at 5 pm and one at about 9:30 pm. A well-sung performance got

up by the association to promote traveling in Egypt, failed, I think, of obtaining

any effect beyond that of an ordinary stage exhibition. The audience seemed

to me to be unaware of the surroundings and of the sky overhead.’ But lest

we accuse the man of lacking any sense of romance whatsoever, he added, ‘It

should have been performed without any light other than the moonlight’.

Hermann Junker’s diary entry for March 3 (translated here from the German)

showed more concern for the safety and preservation of his excavation zone,

‘Sunday. Travel to Cairo in the morning. Afternoon performance of Aida by the

pyramids. I was extremely worried that the indigenous riders, who were called

in as extras, would ride out onto the worksite; some other people were also

concerned, and the police officer eventually offered to help’.

had a serious sit-down with her father, which may have concerned a terrible

premonition she had that the Titanic, on which Frick had booked suites B 52,

53, and 56, would founder. Practically throwing a tantrum while begging

her father to change their plans, Helen finally convinced Frick to cancel their

passage. (In her unpublished diary for April 17, 1912, Helen later wrote, ‘Read

in the papers of the frightful wreck of the Titanic – too, too horrible!’). J.P.

Morgan took over the suite, but then cancelled due to business in Chartres.

Next, the reservation went to Frick’s banker, J. Horace Harding and his wife

Dorothea, but they opted instead to take the earlier passage back to New York

on the Mauretania. Finally, it was the White Star Line’s managing director,

J. Bruce Ismay, who ‘inherited’ the tickets, and almost paid the ultimate price

when the ship struck the iceberg on April 14. John Jacob Astor, fresh from his

trip to Egypt, stayed on the sinking ship while his new wife, Madeline Force,

climbed aboard lifeboat number 4. Harry Elkins Widener of Philadelphia

(Harvard class of 1907), who had earned a C in Egyptology 1 class with

Reisner’s assistant and former MFA curator, Albert Lythgoe (1868–1934) in

1905, perished along with his father on the boat (his mother would later fund

Harvard’s primary library in her son’s name). Former Reisner field assistant

Louis Earle Rowe had planned to take the Carpathia home, but it sailed into

the history books instead to rescue the Titanic survivors. The letter Rowe sent at

Reisner’s request to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, requesting that one of

Reisner’s letter-books be sent to Cairo, never reached its destination, possibly

going down with the ill-fated vessel. But none of the guests next to the Great

Pyramid just over a month earlier could have foreseen the tragic events of April

1912, as they enjoyed a magical evening with Verdi’s music wafting across the

Giza Plateau, over the tombs of high officials – ‘Radames’s predecessors’ – who

lived more than 4,000 years ago.

‘Aida’ cast on the west side of the Great

Pyramid of Khufu, March 1912 (above), and

the same area on February 19, 2024 (below).

HU–MFA A 771 NS, courtesy Museum of Fine

112

Arts, Boston, and author’s photo.

113

Just prior to the opera performance at Giza, the Frick party had left their

beloved Thomas Cook steamer Soudan behind and boarded the Prince Heinrich

steamer at Alexandria, bound for Naples. Some of the party visited Capri,

Herculaneum, Pompeii, and Rome, while Henry Clay Frick himself had business

in Vienna. They all rendezvoused later in Paris, where Frick’s daughter Helen

For further reading:

Peter Der Manuelian, Walking

Among Pharaohs: George

Reisner and the Dawn of Modern

Egyptology (Oxford: Oxford

University Press, 2023).

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

ARTS IN TRANSIT:

AN OPPORTUNITY

FOR DIALOGUE

Nuria Sanz

For UNESCO, artists represent a guarantee for a creative and

pluralistic way of preparing for the future. Art is not merely

a therapy in times of war; it is a prerequisite for building

lasting peace. Art D’Égypte’s commitment to fostering

cultural exchange and promoting sustainable development

aligns perfectly with UNESCO’s mission to protect and

promote the diversity of cultural expressions. This year, by

showcasing works of both established and emerging artists,

the exhibition provides a platform for diverse migrant

voices and perspectives. This enriches our understanding of

creativity's role in inspiring resilience and fostering peace.

This year, we are still reminded of the transformative power

of art through displacement.

More than three million years ago, migration was not

conceived as a desperate solution but as the need to

respond to human curiosity and overcome new challenges

In the face of the ongoing protracted conflict, UNESCO has been keen to

114 115

related to our capacity to adapt. The cultural responses of

the communities in transit that have populated the planet

over the ages are found in the UNESCO Conventions on the

protection of cultural heritage and expressions of all forms

of safeguarding, preserving, and transmitting our diversity:

our own, others, and shared, as the Common Heritage of

Humanity. However, migration manifests itself as a recurrent,

daily phenomenon in the news worldwide. Its complexity and scale were

timidly made explicit in the United Nations 2030 Development Agenda.

Given this slight presence of the issue on a global agenda, the United

Nations General Assembly in September 2016 adopted by consensus

the New York Declaration on Refugees and Migrants, a document that

reiterates the international community's commitment to the rights and

protection of migrants and refugees. In this declaration, 193 Member

States seek to generate positive actions that commit the international

community to urgently provide a dignified life for refugees. In it, states

recognize a shared responsibility to manage large movements of refugees

and migrants in a humane, sensitive, compassionate, and people-centered

manner and further commit to addressing the causes of these massive

population movements and working together to generate forms of

cooperation. Since then, UNESCO has deepened its support and action for

arts and professionals who suffer from forced displacement.

UNESCO Support to the Sudanese Artists Union

This year, UNESCO is partnering with Art D’Égypte to support Sudanese

women artists. This support is the extension of UNESCO’s longstanding

cooperation with Sudan and its art and creative community in the country.

In response to the 2023 conflict, UNESCO intensified its support for

Sudanese artists and cultural professionals through the UNESCO Aschberg

Programme. Under the framework of the 2005 Cultural Diversity

Convention and the 1980 Recommendation on the Status of Artists, this

programme facilitates rapid damage assessment of cultural institutions.

It supports advocacy efforts to safeguard and promote the cultural rights of

artists and musicians.

support and motivate artists to relocate to safer areas and establish a hub

for them to continue working independently. The Sudanese Artists Union

in Port Sudan took in 200 displaced artists, providing them with a safe

refuge to recover and heal. This initiative provided artists with equipment,

skill development programmes, and spaces to showcase their work in

galleries and to screen cinematic films. In Cairo, UNESCO collaborated

closely with the Sudanese Artists Union to provide comprehensive support

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

to displaced artists through various initiatives to foster

resilience, provide resources, and promote a sense of cultural

continuity.

Recognizing the crucial role of artists and cultural

professionals, especially during times of conflict, UNESCO

underscores the importance of their work in healing,

addressing trauma, facilitating reconciliation, and building

societal resilience. Through artistic expression, we envision

the artists and cultural actors as messengers of peace.

UNESCO/Art D’Égypte’s Forever Is Now.04 supports artistic

skills, provides opportunities for collaboration, and helps

the Sudanese artist integrate into the local art scene. This

assistance is crucial in helping them rebuild their careers

and continue their creative work despite their personal and

familial challenges.

As we look to the future, we must continue supporting the voices of

Sudanese women artists and recognize their contributions to the global

cultural landscape. This exhibition provides a vital platform for these

artists to share their stories and to inspire audiences on the importance

of a more mindful understanding of a genuine intercultural dialogue.

And UNESCO is proud to support Art D’Égypte in this endeavour.

Together, we can ensure that the diversity of heritage and cultural

expressions remains a source of adaptation and hope.

For UNESCO, cultural diversity defines the uniqueness of human capital,

migrations dynamize the encounters among differences, and arts

become the interface.

Sudanese women artists have long been at the forefront

of cultural expression, with some gaining international

recognition for their contribution to contemporary art. Their

works often explore themes of identity, heritage, and the

complexities of modern life in one of Africa's most extensive

and diverse countries. These artists provide a unique view

of how movable identities can navigate social, political, and

cultural challenges through various mediums, including

painting, sculpture, photography, and digital art.

Including Sudanese women artists in Forever Is Now.04

provides an important platform for these voices to be heard,

dignified, and appreciated. It also aligns with UNESCO’s

116

efforts to promote gender equality in the arts and support

the cultural expressions of women worldwide. Through this

117

partnership, the UNESCO Office in Cairo demonstrates its

commitment to supporting Sudanese displaced artists and

the Sudanese Artists Union, ensuring that their cultural

contributions continue to thrive despite the challenges

posed by conflict and displacement.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

REFLECTIONS ON

ART THEFT AND

INSURANCE

Nikolaus S. Barta

Working in the art insurance industry for more than 30 years and being

confronted with cases of art theft on a daily basis, I often feel a mix of

fascination and unease. On the one hand, I admire the beauty and artistic value

of these works; on the other hand, I am aware that their theft is often associated

with loss, crime, and suspicion. This ambivalence reflects the complexity of the

art world, where beauty and darkness are often closely intertwined.

The subject of stolen art provokes thought and challenges us to reconsider our

notions of art, ownership, and ethics. By delving into this fascinating world of

theft and restitution, we can better understand the multifaceted nature of art

and its role in our society.

Stolen artworks hold a fascinating yet unsettling place in the art world.

Works of art, which often disappear under mysterious circumstances, only

to sometimes reappear years later, raise questions about ethics, ownership

claims, and the integrity of the art market.

The phenomenon of stolen art has always fascinated me. News articles

about art theft often seem to spring from the pages of a crime novel,

featuring thieves, high-tech security systems, and enigmatic collectors in

the background. Such stories about artwork theft make me reflect on the

vulnerability and value of cultural heritage. How can artworks in the public

eye simply vanish from galleries or museums?

A famous example of art theft is that of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre

in 1911. The painting was only rediscovered years later, and this incident

sparked a wave of attention. The painting seemed to become even

Stolen artworks are more than just missing paintings or sculptures - they are a

reflection of our complex relationship with art and the past. By contemplating

this topic, we can not only better understand the history and value of art but

also critically question our own attitudes towards it.

This makes the question of proper insurance all the more important.

‘Second to none insuring art’ is not only a slogan, it is the core element of

Barta & Partner’s philosophy. Barta & Partner Art Insurance has been present

in the Egyptian Market for over 20 years. Together with my team, I have

been responsible for the insurance of some of the most expensive artworks

in the world, as well as international blockbuster exhibitions, notably f.e. all

Tutankhamun Exhibitions since 2004 and, most recently, the unique ‘Ramses

the Great. The Gold of the Pharaohs’ exhibition in Paris and Cologne. This

international cooperation means that Barta offers a global insurance concept

for your art, including worldwide loss handling.

Barta is traditionally committed to the protection and preservation of works

118

more popular because of the theft, highlighting the irony of the stolen

of art. Art historians and insurance experts will advise you, and your art

art phenomenon.

collection will be regularly appraised and adjusted to constantly reflect its

119

current market value.

The theft of artworks also raises important questions about restitution. Many

stolen works have a long history of ownership claims and legal disputes.

Should stolen artworks be returned to their rightful owners, even if they have

been in private possession for decades? This ethical question is a complex

one, challenging the foundations of the art trade and of collections.

Barta insures against All Risks – which includes risks that are generally not

covered under conventional policies.

Curious? Find out more on www.bartaart.com

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

KADRIA HUSSEIN:

EGYPT'S FORGOTTEN

PAINTER PRINCESS

Sultan Sooud al Qassemi

Although Princess Kadria came of age in 1908 with the establishment of the

Egyptian School of Fine Arts, which graduated the country's first generation

of modern masters including sculptor Mahmoud Mokhtar (1891–1934) and

painter Ragheb Ayad (1882–1982), she was not allowed to enrol as it was the

custom for members of the royal household to be schooled at home. It was

only with the opening of the Higher Institute of Fine Arts for Women Teachers

in 1939 that women, including pioneering female artist Menhat Helmy

(1925–2004), were able to benefit from a formal arts education. Prior to that,

trailblazing artists such as Amy Nimr (1898–1974) either studied abroad in

Europe or engaged private tutors such as Ashod Zorian (1905–1970) who

trained artists Eliz Partam (1930–2007), Laila Ezzat (b. 1933), and Queen Farida

(1921–1988), the first wife of King Farouq. To that end, Kadria's father Sultan

Hussein encouraged his daughters to travel to Europe and appointed historian

and cabinet secretary Ahmad Zaki Pasha (1867–1934), known as the ‘Dean of

Arabism’, private artistic advisor to Princess Kadria whom Zaki referred to as

‘outstanding’. [1]

Kadria Hussein, Untitled (Bearded

Man), oil on canvas, 52x42cm, undated.

Courtesy Barjeel Art

Foundation, Sharjah.

The modern history of the Arab World includes many artists both male, and

perhaps especially female, whose work is uncatalogued and in need of greater

attention. In some cases, these lesser-known artists had significant impact

that went beyond the world of fine arts into scholarship, and even political

activism. One such artist was Egypt's Princess Kadria Hussein, a member of the

Egyptian royal family descended from Khedive Ismail who laid the foundation

1922 edition of the publication al-‘Arus, Princess Kadria donated funds to

120 121

acquire a plane for the Anatolian military.[4]

of the Cairo Museum of Islamic Art in 1869. Born in Cairo in 1888, Princess

Kadria was the daughter of Prince, later Sultan, Hussein Kamel who ruled Egypt

between 1914 and 1917. Her mother was Sultana Melek Tourhan who was

born in Istanbul to Circassian parents. Kadria's first marriage in 1919 lasted

for a year. In 1921, she married Mahmoud Khairy Pasha (1884–1957), an

industrialist and senator who had been a yaver or aide-de-camp to the former

Egyptian ruler Khedive Abbas Helmy. They had a son and a daughter.

Princess Kadria’s younger sister Princess Samiha (1889–1984) made her initial

artistic appearance at the first exhibition of the Société des amis de l'art in

Cairo, which was inaugurated on April 15, 1921, by Prince Youssef Kamal.[2]

The same year, Princess Kadria, who spoke fluent Turkish in addition to Arabic

and French, travelled to Türkiye with her husband. There, she found a country

undergoing seismic changes with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and

the birth of the Republic. In Ankara, they met with nationalist leader Mustafa

Kemal Attatürk who hosted them between April 16, 1921, and May 24, 1921,

according to researcher Nesrin Tağızade Karaca. This sojourn resulted in

Princess Kadria’s book Lettres d’Angora la sainte : 1918–1921 that covered the

contemporary events in Turkish history from a first person point of view and

in which she defended Turkish rights and sovereignty.[3] Princess Kadria's

support for the new republic extended beyond words. According to a December

In her twenties and while living in Cairo, Princess Kadria contributed to a

radical Turkish publication by the name of Şehbâl (Turkish for ‘The Longest

Feather in a Wing’) published between 1909 and 1914 with the aim of

emphasizing women's rights, technology, medicine, arts, politics, and social

concerns. In her articles, Princess Kadria used the pen name ‘Nilüfer’, which

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

translates to water lily, and sometimes also wrote under her initials K.H.

Her essays questioned the meaning of homeland and virtue, and tackled

themes including women's right to education. She contributed to numerous

publications including Resimli Kitap (The Illustrated Book), published

between 1908 and 1913; Mihrab, a philosophical magazine which ran for 15

years before ceasing publication in 1925; the women's monthly magazine

L'Égyptienne that ran between 1925 and 1940; and La Revue du Caire, the

francophone literary periodical published between 1938 and 1961. Princess

Kadria also published at least five books including two extended volumes

on prominent women in Islamic history released in Arabic in 1924 [5] and a

collection of thoughts by the name of al-Sarab published in Turkish in 1919 [6].

Princess Kadria and Khairy Pasha were also collectors of art and artefacts. A

photo from a 1946 edition of al-Musawar magazine taken in Khairy Pasha’s

mansion in the village of Tanash shows their living room decorated with

paintings, including one of her own, and artefacts such as swords and other

weaponry, vases, and books that – according to the magazine – they collected

during their travels across Europe and the United States. The mansion and the

artefacts were seized and sold at auction following the Egyptian Revolution

of 1952.

Little is known of the content and whereabouts of Princess Kadria's artworks,

but according to art historians such as Mohamed al-Gawady, she painted

landscapes of Egypt, Türkiye and France, as well as creating sculptures. Princess

Kadria's pieces made their last known appearance at an art exhibition in Egypt

at the Society of Graduates of the College of Fine Arts in the Cairo Municipality

Building between May 11 and 26, 1961, six years after her passing in Cairo.

It is unknown why her work was included, seeing that she was not a graduate

of the college. Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, is fortunate to have acquired

two paintings by Kadria signed in Arabic, one titled The Spiritual Queen Isa

122

(undated) was featured in the aforementioned 1961 exhibition. It depicts an

123

Kadria Hussein, The Spiritual

Queen Isa, oil on canvas,

54x45cm, undated.

Courtesy Barjeel Art

Foundation, Sharjah.

elderly female figure dressed in white, and adorned with a large, ornamented

green shroud and an elaborately crafted headdress. The lower part of her face is

masked, while the embroidered patterns on her cloak and her headdress recall

spiritual symbols and trinkets, seemingly imbuing the woman with a shamanlike

quality.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

For the past few decades, the Turkish born artist Fahrelnissa Zeid (1901–1991) was

seen as an important bridge between the cultures of Türkiye and the Arab World.

Fahrelnissa, who belonged to the royal Hashemite household of Iraq and Jordan

contributed greatly to the development of art in Jordan through the establishment

in 1976 of the Royal National Jordanian Institute of Fahrelnissa Zeid of Fine Arts that

trained prominent women artists including Suha Shoman, Hind Nasser, and Ufemia

Rizk. Princess Kadria Hussein through her art and scholarship was in her own way

also a bridge between the Arab World and Türkiye, contributing to the artistic, cultural

and intellectual spheres both in her native Egypt and in Türkiye in the first half of the

20th century. Although Egypt witnessed the emergence of several prominent women

intellectuals including May Ziade (1886–1941) and Huda Shaarawi (1879–1947),

few were able to simultaneously attain prominence in more than one country whilst

writing in different languages.

PUBLIC ART AND THE

POETICS OF SPACE

Precious Mhone

El Anatsui, TSIATSIA – Searching For

Connection, 2013, the façade of the Royal

Academy of Art. Aluminium and copper

wire. Image: Jonathan Greet.

In addition to her artistic endeavours, in many ways, Princess Kadria's intellectual

achievements mirrored those of other leading female activists of her generation

whether in the fields of modernity, women's empowerment, or philosophy. In

fact, some of her most impactful literary contributions materialised incognito and

overseas while her father was sovereign of the Sultanate of Egypt. In 1916, the

poet and founder of Dar al-Ma‘arif publishing house Najib Mitri (1865–1928) wrote

that Princess Kadria is ‘a girl who is not distracted by global prestige and material

wealth from the wealth of thought and the power of thinking.’[7] Hers is indeed a

life and legacy deserving of study and appreciation.

Originally published in the June 2024 issue of the Markaz Review.

[1] Author Unknown, 1985.

[In Remembrance of Two Poets: The Poet of the Nile Hafez Ibrahim and the Prince of Poets Ahmed

Public art, often an intersection of creativity, culture, and community, holds

Shawky], 47. Cairo: ‘Alam al Kutub.

profound significance across the globe. In contemporary African art, public

[2] Mai Ibrahim, 2023.

art is a dynamic canvas where the continent's historical, social, and political

[Société des amis de l'art … 100 Years of Creativity in Egypt], Independent Arabia, 1 January 2023.

[3] Kadria Hussein, 1921. Lettres d'Angora la sainte : Avril-Juin 1921. Rome: Imprimerie

narratives are vividly expressed. The concept of ‘the poetics of space’, a term

124 125

Editrice Italia.

coined by French philosopher Gaston Bachelard, explores how imagination fills

[4] Mary Abdu ʻAjami, 1922. Al-’Arus: Majallah nisa’iyah ’ilmiyah adabiyah sihhiyah fukahiyah

a space with spirit and meaning and how space evokes feeling, memory, and

8 (1): 47. Beirut: Mary Abdu ’Ajami.

[5] Kadria Hussein, 1924. Shahiraat al-nisaa’ fī al-’alam al-Islami (2 volumes). Cairo: al-Maktabah

fantasy. In the African context, this concept resonates deeply, as African artistry

al-Misriyah.

often transforms public spaces into realms where history, culture, and personal

[6] Kadria Hussein, 1919. Al-Sarab [The Mirage]. Turkey.

narratives converge. How can we interpret the poetics of space through the lens

[7] Author unknown, 1916. Tidhkar al-’id al-fiddi li-matba’at al-Ma’ārif wa-Maktabatuha li-sahibihima

of African artistry to understand the history, value, and contemporary relevance

Najib Mitri: [Souvenir of the Silver Anniversary of al-Ma‘arif Publishing House and Bookseller Owned

by Najib Mitri] Cairo: Dar al-Ma‘arif.

of public art in Africa?

‏"ذكرى الشاعرين،‏ شاعر النيل حافظ ابراهيم وامير الشعراء احمد شوقي"‏

‏"جمعية محبي الفنون الجميلة...‏‎100‎ عام من اإلبداع في مصر"‏

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

The Value of Public Art in Contemporary African Society

In contemporary African society, public art continues to play a vital role in

shaping the cultural and social landscape. It serves as a powerful tool for

education, reflection, and transformation. Public art installations, murals, and

sculptures provide accessible platforms for artists to engage with the public,

provoke thought, and inspire change.

One of the critical values of public art is its ability to foster a sense of identity

and belonging. Contemporary African art often reflects the continent's rich

cultural heritage while addressing modern narratives. By supporting and

investing in public art, communities and institutions can strengthen social

bonds and create environments where everyone feels valued and included.

Public art transforms ordinary spaces into places of communal gathering and

interaction. Through these interactions, we understand each other's stories and

build a stronger, more cohesive community.

Emeka Ogboh, Ámà – The Gathering Place,

2019, Cleveland Museum of Art. Image:

Scott Shaw.

The Historical Roots of Public Art in Africa

Public art in Africa has a rich and diverse history that dates back to ancient

civilisations. From the rock paintings of the San people in Southern Africa

to the intricate masks and sculptures of West African cultures, public art has

always been a medium of storytelling and communal expression. These early

art forms were not confined to galleries or private collections but were integral

to everyday life. Colossal statues and hieroglyphic inscriptions in ancient Egypt

adorned temples and tombs, communicating the divine authority of pharaohs

and the cosmology of the time. Similarly, the Great Zimbabwe ruins, with their

Public art also plays a crucial role in reflecting society, both historically and

126 127

imposing stone walls and monolithic structures, stand as a testament to the

architectural and artistic prowess of the Shona civilisation. These historical

examples underscore the deep-rooted tradition of using public art to define

and enhance communal spaces, imbuing them with cultural significance. As

we reflect on the rich history of public art in Africa, how do contemporary artists

continue this tradition, and what role does public art play in shaping modern

communal spaces today?

The Poetics of Space in African Art

The concept of ‘the poetics of space’ – how imagination fills a space with

spirit and meaning and how space evokes feeling, memory, and fantasy – can

be profoundly understood in the context of African art. African artists have

a unique way of engaging with space, transforming it into a realm where

history, culture, and personal narratives converge. This concept is particularly

relevant in African art, where public spaces are frequently transformed into

realms of fantastical storytelling, challenging the viewer to reimagine societal

constraints. Artists can engage the public to challenge perceptions, as in

collective thinking and understandings of history, as well as dare to consider

alternative contemporaries and myriad possible futures.

in the contemporary moment. The works of Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama,

which incorporate materials like jute sacks and coal tar, highlight the everyday

lives and experiences of people in Ghana. Public art fosters understanding and

dialogue within the community by showcasing these aspects, engaging us all

in the social and political issues that these artists address. Artists like

El Anatsui, who creates intricate sculptures from discarded bottle caps;

Abdoulaye Konaté, known for his large-scale textile installations that

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

address social and political issues; Otobong Nkanga, who uses performance,

drawing, and sculpture to explore the relationship between land and people;

Emeka Ogboh, who captures the sounds of cities to reflect on urban life and

globalisation; and Mary Sibande, whose sculptural installations interrogate

gender, race, and class, exemplify this approach. Their works redefine the use of

space and imbue it with rich layers of meaning and emotion.

Imagination is central to African art, where mythological themes and spiritual

beliefs are often interwoven with contemporary narratives. Art in public spaces

frequently transforms them into realms of fantastical storytelling, challenging

the viewer to reimagine societal constraints. This role of public art in inspiring

and motivating change is a testament to the resilience and creativity inherent

in African societies, and it's a narrative that is both intriguing and inspiring.

Ibrahim Mahama, Purple Hibiscus, 2024,

Barbican Centre. Woven cloth. Image:

Dion Barrett.

Malam Dodoo, National Theatre Accra

Ghana. Image: Ibrahim Mahama.

mediums and technologies to create interactive and immersive public art

experiences. For instance, the use of found materials, digital technology,

multimedia installation, and sound are all being harnessed to address issues of

identity, migration, and cultural hybridity. This transformative power of public

art is not just inspiring, but also instils a sense of hope and excitement about

the future of African societies.

Public art in Africa, deeply rooted in history and tradition, continues to evolve

as a dynamic force for artistic expression and social transformation. Through the

poetics of space, African artists imbue public spaces with imagination, spirit,

and meaning while evoking feelings, memories, and fantasies that resonate

with the community. As contemporary African art navigates the complexities of

identity, history, and modernity, public art remains a vital medium for shaping

128

the cultural and social landscape of the continent, connecting us all in this

129

Contemporary African Public Art: A New Narrative

Contemporary African public art is not just about preserving cultural heritage,

but also about forging new narratives that reflect the evolving identities and

aspirations of African societies. Artists are increasingly exploring innovative

shared narrative and making us feel part of the rich cultural heritage of Africa.

In embracing the poetics of space, African artists honour their rich heritage and

pave the way for innovative and impactful artistic expressions that inspire and

challenge us all. In its myriad forms, public art is a testament to the resilience,

creativity, and enduring spirit of African societies. It offers a powerful lens

through which we can understand and appreciate the profound connection

between art, space, and the human experience.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

#ANCIENTEGYPT

Christopher Noey


Alongside these quotidian depictions, other, more spiritual realms are

represented. The models are also inhabited by a preponderance of priests with

shaved heads attending to Meketre’s spirit, and some of the enchanting boats

(Fig. 1d), while modelled on those that traversed the Nile, are transporting

Meketre on his journey to the afterlife. The two statues found in the tomb

that show women striding forward with offerings on their heads are both

personifications of Meketre’s estates and, as evidenced by their sumptuous

feather dresses (Fig. 1e), the funerary goddesses Isis and Nephthys who are

on hand to protect the deceased. Viewed as a whole, the ensemble of models

slides from concrete representations of daily life into the consecrated realm of

the afterlife.

For over 2,000 years, the monumental traces of ancient Egypt have humbled

travellers along the Nile. In their presence, we find ourselves – archaeologist

or artist, local Egyptian or curious visitor – staring into the immensity of history

and wondering if ancient Egypt has a message for us. In the two centuries

since the Rosetta Stone began to unlock the culture of ancient Egypt, and the

sands revealed its treasures, we have asked, who were these people? What

can they teach us? With each new archaeological discovery, we search not only

for glimpses of that vanished world, but for clues to making sense of our own

contemporary culture.

Fig. 1a Model of a Cattle Census.

The Egyptian Museum, Cairo, JE 46724.

Image courtesy of the author.

Much of the evidence for the culture of ancient Egypt comes from the tombs

and memorial structures that elite patrons constructed to insure a safe passage

into the afterlife. Labels at archaeological sites or in museums often tell us

that we are witnessing daily life in ancient Egypt, but I approach these objects

as extraordinary examples of installation art (even if there was no word for

Fig. 1b Model of a Granary with Scribes.

©The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers

Fund and Edward S. Harkness Gift, 1920.

art or religion in this ancient culture). There is no doubt that this material

130 131

can reveal much to us about life along the Nile millennia ago 1 . For example,

the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and various museums in Egypt

contain near perfectly preserved models discovered in the Middle Kingdom

tomb of Meketre 2 . Among them are tantalizing glimpses of the cattle census

used for levying taxes (Fig. 1a), a granary at work (Fig. 1b), and the production

of beer and bread (Fig. 1c).

Fig. 1c Model Bakery and Brewery.



FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

Meketre’s tomb furnishings convey layers of meaning and are an immersive

experience stitched together, like any great work of art, by flexible threads

of interpretation as we ponder what is real and what is ideal. Long before

installation art of the 1960s sought strategies to dissolve the line between art

and life, these models suggest that for the ancient Egyptians, the everyday and

the eternal were present simultaneously.

Fig. 1d Traveling Boat being Rowed.



Fig. 2 Nebamun Hunting, Thebes, ca. 1350

BC. ©The Trustees of the British Museum

While we can learn a great deal about daily life from looking at Egyptian art,

that is not to say that it is about daily life. The wall paintings from the New

Kingdom tomb chapel of Nebamun now in the British Museum illustrate the

point 3 . In a marsh teeming with birds and fish, Nebamun is on a papyrus boat

hunting (Fig. 2). He is rendered with the usual conventions of Egyptian art:

the shoulders and eye are seen head on; the head, legs, belly, and nipple are

seen from the side; and in general, there is an acceptance of the physically

impossible, such as positioning the arms with the back sides of both fists

facing forward. In accordance with his status, Nebamun is much larger than

132

both his daughter seated between his legs and his demure and sumptuously

133

Fig. 1e Estate Figure. ©The Metropolitan

Museum of Art, Rogers Fund and Edward

S. Harkness Gift, 1920.

attired wife whose elaborate wig is considered an erotic signal. According to

the hieroglyphic caption, Nebamun is ‘enjoying himself and seeing beauty’.

Depicting the head in profile resonates with authority; in the words of Isak

Denison, ‘The profile is the true face of the king’, as does lifting his arms to

recall the ‘smiting’ pose of a victorious pharaoh. We are not witnessing a

‘heroic’ encounter in which the outcome is in question but, one in which the

outcome is a foregone conclusion 4 . This is an idealised setting where order

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

prevails over chaos: even the marsh reeds are bunched with exquisite

precision except for the few that bend improbably to support a cat.

For the Egyptians, the marsh is a place of rejuvenation and rebirth,

and the image pulses with life. It feels like a dream, and, very likely,

it was wish fulfilment, because successful bureaucrats like the temple

accountant Nebamun were more likely to spend their days working

away in offices than hunting in the marshes 5 .

Fig. 3 Cast photo for the American

television comedy Leave It to Beaver,

ca. 1959. Image courtesy of the author.

They are what breathes life into these images and inspires us to ask, who were

they? What did they love? We feel how powerfully they long for a rich afterlife. On

the walls of a tomb, it becomes a reality.

From our contemporary perspective, the ancient Egyptian attention to the

afterlife might seem obsessive. Today, we can experience an awe-inspiring

silence in sites like Saqqara and the Pyramids, where the crowds of tourists

are dwarfed by the monuments. Yet imagine how lively these places were

thousands of years ago when they felt more like the business district of a busy

city. Enormous building projects were underway, whether a pyramid complex

for the current pharaoh or the tombs of the elite nearby; water and food

supplies grown elsewhere were transported in for the workers; priests and

the families of the deceased ‘commuted’ from their homes in Memphis, for

example, to make offerings of food and to perform life-renewing rituals, both

of which were augmented by the work of artisans whose wall decorations and

furnishings would provide the deceased with everlasting sustenance in the

hereafter.

But is it believable as a glimpse of daily life? No less believable than

the imagery concocted for American television shows like Leave it

to Beaver, a light comedy about family life in the 1950s and ‘60s in

which the challenges, like Nebamun’s, are always overcome. These

archetypes of domestic bliss were seductive in their time, if less

convincing to contemporary eyes. Interestingly, only after revisiting

Nebamun Hunting did I notice how the Leave it to Beaver father, Ward

Cleaver, occupies the foreground of this 1959 photograph rendering

him slightly larger than everyone else in the family (Fig. 3). Mrs.

Fig. 4 Image courtesy of the author

Cleaver’s pearl necklace is plausible, if improbable, for a housewife at

home with her family. Are the pearls also sexy, in their own way, like

Ancient Egyptians, some as young as teenagers, began constructing their

134

the wig worn by Nebamun’s wife’s? Plus ça change…

tombs as soon as they had the means. For elite patrons like Meketre or

Nebamun, the wall decorations or furnishings were intended to provide safe

135

When an image like Nebamun Hunting captures our imagination and

passage and eternal supplies of abundance and pleasure in the afterlife. These

rings true to us, what allows us to take that leap of faith when reason

spaces remind me of today’s social media where, beginning at a young age,

tells us to distrust the visual signs? Whatever prayers and incantations

participants construct a digital world that is more perfect, more exciting, more

consecrated these images, it is probably the magic of harmonious

envy-inducing than the prosaic details of everyday life. However forthright the

proportions and artistic skill that still speaks to us across the millennia.

user of social media may be, there’s always a discrepancy between the digital

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

and the real. A survey of Instagram posts – my own included – reveals images

much like those on the walls of a tomb: beautiful destinations far away from

the workplace, idealised poses, happy relationships, wondrous things that

intrigue our imaginations, and far too many images of food (Fig.4). For many

social media users, a good portion of the day is devoted to the care and feeding

of these digital spaces that are as real to them as the tombs constructed for

the afterlife were to the Egyptians. The desire for these ideal spaces transcends

time and culture.

Admittedly, enormous differences separate our contemporary culture from the

belief systems of ancient Egypt, where images were an essential component of

the religion and could be activated to host a god or the spirit of the deceased,

thereby influencing events in the terrestrial realm. But the Egyptian belief that

creating an image can be an act that consecrates and eternalises has lived on

in various ways. This has sometimes been a threatening proposition, given

our history of iconoclasm and censorship in many forms. Yet the extraordinary

power of images is exactly where my attraction to ancient Egypt, contemporary

art, and even Instagram overlap: they allow me to enter a new space, spend

time in the presence of heartfelt belief, and come away inspired to see the

world in a new way.

CONNECTING PAST WITH

PRESENT AND ENVISIONING

FUTURE THROUGH

CONTEMPORARY ART

Kyu Hyon Rhee

Having spent years working in the field of contemporary art, I frequently

encounter questions like: How can one truly appreciate contemporary art?

What distinguishes an artist's creation from the countless commercial images

and AI-generated visuals that flood our daily lives? While particularly relevant

to contemporary art, these inquiries can extend far beyond, resonating with all

forms of cultural and artistic expression.

[1] There is extensive literature on daily

[3] Richard Parkinson, The Painted Tomb

life in ancient Egypt, including Nora Scott,

Chapel of Nebamun (British Museum,

‘The Daily Life of Ancient Egyptians’, The

London, 2008) for a recent comprehensive

Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 31,

study.

no. 3 (Spring, 1973).

fresh sensations and offering us a delightful experience.

136 [4] David Graeber and David Wengrow,

137

[2] Recent discussions of finds from the

tomb of Meketre, Thebes (ca. 1981–1975

BC) can be found in Adela Oppenheim,

Dorothea Arnold, Dieter Arnold, and Kei

Yamamoto, Ancient Egypt Transformed:

The Middle Kingdom, (The Metropolitan

Museum of Art, New York, 2015).

The Dawn of Everything: A New History of

Humanity (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New

York, 2021), 414–418.

[5] Barry Kemp, Think Like an Egyptian:

100 Hieroglyphs (Penguin Group, New

York, 2005), 23.

I believe that a good creator helps us, as contemporaries, to gain new insights

into the world we live in, and to discover new aspects of the places and times

we often take for granted. For example, consider the experience of enjoying

an exceptional meal. When we taste something truly remarkable, we might

find ourselves wondering, 'How did the chef achieve such extraordinary

flavours with these basic ingredients?' This suggests that an excellent chef is

not someone who invents entirely new ingredients or dishes that have never

existed before. Rather, even with everyday ingredients like potatoes, tomatoes,

and rice, a great chef introduces new flavours in unexpected ways, evoking

Likewise, in any form of art - whether it is visual art, literature, pop culture,

or cuisine - a perceptive and talented creator provides us with similar

transformative experiences. Among all cultural and artistic genres, however,

contemporary art plays a particularly crucial role in this respect. Contemporary

art sheds new light on elements of our experience, helping us recognise

aspects that we may have overlooked or failed to notice. It evokes memories,

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

connects those past experiences to the present, and inspires us to envision

the future. Contemporary art transcends time and space, serving as a bridge

that links the past, present, and future.

South Korea, with its rich history spanning around 5,000 years and its

experience of rapid change and development unmatched by any other

country, is home to many contemporary artists who captured and presented

this theme creatively.

Nam June Paik (1932–2006), one of the most renowned South Korean artists

in contemporary art history, stands out as a pioneering figure in video art.

Paik seamlessly connected the past with the present and inspired visions of

the future through his innovative approach. The video art that he created was

a ground-breaking attempt to link tradition, modernity, and the future. In the

mid-20th century, Paik already understood that technology and art were not

mutually exclusive realms. The artist utilised video and satellites - mediums

not commonly associated with art at the time - for his works. While Paik

employed cutting-edge and futuristic methods, he addressed themes that are

deeply rooted in tradition.

For example, his work The More, The Better (1988) at the National Museum

of Contemporary Art in Gwacheon, Korea, connects the East and the West,

and bridges the past, present, and future. This masterpiece, inspired by the

form of a traditional Korean pagoda, is a cylindrical structure assembled

from numerous video monitors, measuring 7.5 meters in diameter and

18.5 meters in height. Paik used 1,003 TV screens to symbolise the National

Foundation Day of Korea, which falls on October 3, and stacked them in a

pagoda-like structure. Commissioned for the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the piece

was created to commemorate Korea’s rebirth as a nation.

Nam June Paik, The More, The Better, 1988.

The 2009 two-person exhibition of Ik-Joong Kang and Nam June Paik at the National Museum

of Contemporary Art, Gwacheon, Korea, titled Multiple Dialogue ∞ (Infinity). Nam June Paik's

permanent installation work, The More, The Better, is displayed at the centre of the exhibition.

Courtesy Ik-Joong Kang Studio.

However, Paik’s work transcends the mere presentation of historical heritages

through contemporary technology. It integrates seemingly opposing entities -

such as the East and the West, the past and the present, art and science - into

a harmonious whole within a single frame, embodying Paik’s philosophy

that even the most disparate elements of the world can come together in a

unified vision. This artwork was significant as it envisioned a future where the

boundaries between distinct societies, religions, and cultures would ultimately

dissolve, leading to a peaceful and beautiful world. Through his video art, Paik

also challenged and redefined the conventional boundaries of ‘Fine Art.’

Breaking down boundaries is a theme that contemporary artists often explore.

The screens in The More, The Better showcase a rich tapestry of imagery,

138 Do Ho Suh (born 1962), a globally acclaimed South Korean artist, embodies 139

including iconic Korean heritage sites such as Gyeongbokgung Palace,

this theme beautifully in his work, captivating audiences worldwide. Suh

traditional fan dances, and Goryeo celadon, alongside global cultural symbols

seamlessly blends tradition and modernity, creating contemporary art that

like the Arc de Triomphe in France and the Parthenon in Greece. The work

resonates across time and space. One of his most celebrated series is the

also features footage of Paik’s artistic collaborator, cellist Charlotte Moorman,

recreation of the homes he inhabited, using translucent fabrics. These works

playing the cello. This installation masterfully integrates cultural heritage with

include the traditional house in Seoul where the artist spent his childhood

the modern cultures of South Korea and the West, using the technological

with his parents, and various residences in the United States and across the

innovations of the 1980s.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

world, where he lived for short or long periods during his nomadic youth.

These homes are crafted from sheer fabric, allowing light to pass through.

With a delicate and translucent quality, the houses appear as if they could be

effortlessly folded like a mosquito net and carried in a suitcase. Although they

originate from different countries and cultures, the houses share similarities,

and when integrated into a single fabric artwork, they coexist harmoniously

without conflict. Through the theme of ‘home’, which profoundly shapes an

individual's life, Suh delves into personal identity, creating a connection

between the individual’s past and present experiences. His work is playful

and thought-provoking, inviting curious viewers to step inside, explore, and

reflect on their own lives, ultimately encouraging them to envision their future.

The artist’s creative and brilliant approach allows the audience to interact

with the work and engage with the concept of space in a deeply personal and

meaningful way.

Kimsooja, Bottari Truck - Migrateurs, 2007. Image still from single channel performance video,

09:17 loop, silent, performed in Paris, Commissioned by Musée d’Art Contemporain du Val-De-

Marne (MAC/VAL). Courtesy MAC/VAL and Kimsooja Studio.

Kimsooja (born 1957), one of Korea's leading global artists, has gained

recognition for her innovative reinterpretation of the traditional Korean

ybulbo (bed cover) through contemporary artistic language. Her Bottari series,

initiated in the 1990s, is a ground-breaking work that transforms the bojagi,

an item commonly found in every Korean household, into an international

and modern sculptural language. For Koreans, bojagi is a cloth used to bundle

and protect cherished belongings throughout every stage of life. It symbolises

various life events from birth to death and represents countless encounters

and separations as well as incidents of joy and suffering. Through this distinctly

Korean object, Kimsooja creates a universal space that encapsulates the

140 141

Do Ho Suh, Seoul Home/Seoul Home/Kanazawa Home/Beijing Home/Pohang Home/Gwangju

Home, 2012. Silk, stainless steel, 1457 x 717 x 391 cm. Installation view at the Philadelphia

Museum of Art, Shape of Time: Korean Art after 1989, 21 October 2023 – 11 February 2024.

Courtesy of the artist; Lehmann Maupin, New York and Seoul; Victoria Miro, London/Venice,

© Do Ho Suh.

narratives of people from around the world. Her work begins with the most

personal space and extends to address the nomadic nature of life in this

diasporic era, encompassing themes of migration and movement experienced

by many people worldwide, and connecting different spaces, times, and

cultural practices. Her work transcends generations and time, serving as an

important medium that links the past, present, and future.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

Ik-Joong Kang, the first Korean artist to be invited to participate in Forever Is Now,

was deeply influenced by Nam June Paik after meeting him in New York in the

1980s. Kang developed a close relationship with Paik and collaborated with him

on exhibitions and drawing inspiration from his work. Their collaborative spirit is

evident in their exhibitions, such as the two-person show Multiple/Dialogue held

in the United States in 1994, and another two-person show Multiple Dialogue ∞

(Infinity) displayed at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Gwacheon,

Korea in 2009. These exhibitions showcased how the past of contemporary art,

represented by Nam June Paik, and the present of contemporary art, embodied

by Ik-Joong Kang, are engaged in a harmonious dialogue through their distinctly

different and unique artistic worlds.

Ik-Joong Kang, Four Temples, 2024. A part of the work (5 X 5 m, compressed styrene) translating

the traditional Korean folk song 'Arirang' into hieroglyphs. Courtesy Ik-Joong Kang Studio.

© Ik-Joong Kang.

142

small and disparate pieces come together to form a cohesive whole, creating a

universe where each element seems to engage in a harmonious dialogue with

the others, fitting together seamlessly. This concept is vividly demonstrated

in his work Four Temples, presented at Forever Is Now .04, where small units

A preliminary sketch of Ik-Joong Kang's work Four Temples, 2024, exhibited at Forever Is Now .04.

combine to create a miraculous, interconnected universe. The outer walls of

Courtesy Ik-Joong Kang Studio. © Ik-Joong Kang.

143

Kang enjoys creating large-scale works composed of small units. The units are

typically 3-inch by 3-inch squares adorned with images of myriad elements or

objects easily found in our daily lives. Seemingly unrelated objects - ranging

from toys, spoons, and domestic appliance parts to fake luxury brand pieces -

are brought together in his work, evoking memories in the viewers. These

Four Temples feature the Korean folk song ‘Arirang’ written in Hangeul (the

Korean Alphabet), English, Arabic, and hieroglyphs, while the inner walls

are composed of drawings by people from around the world, particularly

children and those facing political and social difficulties. In this work, the artist

explores the themes of the past (the pyramids) and the future (the dreams of

people worldwide). ‘Language’ is a key element in this work and signifies the

importance of language in bridging the past, present, and future.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

Each contemporary artist has a unique approach to their work, but they

all share a common thread: breaking down the boundaries between

the past, present, and future. Through this process, contemporary

art helps us to actively acknowledge the present and to enhance

our sensory engagement with our current moment. Ultimately,

appreciating contemporary art leads us to envision a brighter future.

Furthermore, contemporary art can play an important role in exploring

innovative solutions to the challenges our society faces today.

ART D’ÉGYPTE: EMBRACING

TRADITION AND INNOVATION

Maylin Pérez

The Great Pyramid of Giza, the venue for the global contemporary

art festival Forever Is Now, provides a unique backdrop. This greatest

cultural heritage of humanity, built 4,500 years ago, frames an

experience where the present (visitors) and the future (children)

converge through art. Through the works of 12 global artists at this

historic site, we will be able to participate in a timeless humanistic

dialogue. The event will also encourage us to hold onto hope and

dream of a better future, despite personal or global challenges and

fears we may face today. Contemporary art, by reinterpreting the

past and traditional cultural heritage through a modern perspective,

offers invaluable opportunities to envision the future. I am deeply

appreciative of the contemporary artists whose work fosters such

meaningful intellectual exploration.

Gisela Colón, Eternity Now, Forever Is Now,

2021, engineered aerospace carbon fibre

with gold particles, 2.43 m x 9.14 m x

1.82 m. Courtesy Art d’Égypte.

For more than four millennia the Pyramids of Egypt, particularly the Great

Pyramid of Giza, have witnessed the evolution of humanity, spanning cultural,

144

historical, and scientific dimensions. They embody the importance of religion,

as they were built to honour and preserve the pharaohs, believed to become

145

gods in the afterlife. These massive structures, made from millions of limestone

blocks, showcase advanced knowledge of engineering, mathematics, and

astronomy. This is evident in the precise alignment of the pyramids with

celestial bodies and their durable construction, which has lasted into the

present.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

The Pyramids are icons of global heritage, attracting millions of visitors

annually. Their cultural significance transcends national borders,

representing a shared human achievement and sparking interest in ancient

history across the globe. Their shape has influenced various forms of

architecture, art, and imagery worldwide. From modern-day pyramid-shaped

buildings to artistic representations, the influence of these structures is

evident in different facets of global culture.

Cairo is strategically located at the crossroads of Africa, Europe, and Asia.

This geographic centrality has made it a natural meeting point for Eastern

and Western cultures throughout history, facilitating trade, communication,

and the exchange of ideas between continents. From Pharaonic times to the

periods of Greek, Roman, and Ottoman rule, as well as French and British

influences, the region has absorbed and blended cultural elements from

both the East and

the West.

In the contemporary era, Cairo continues to serve as a bridge for artistic

and cultural exchange. Initiatives like Art D'Égypte, festivals, and art

biennales bring together Eastern and Western artists, creating spaces

where diverse cultural expressions meet. Cairo's modern art galleries and

cultural institutions, such as the Cairo Opera House, contribute to a vibrant

artistic scene that integrates global and local influences, fostering dialogue,

collaboration, and mutual enrichment.

Within a great cultural dynamic, Art D'Égypte stands out as a unique event

of its kind in the world. Founded in 2017 by art curator Nadine Abdel

Ghaffar, the initiative, under the umbrella of Culturvator, aims to promote

This year, Forever Is Now.04 embraces a participatory vision, inviting artists

contemporary Egyptian art while celebrating Egypt's rich cultural heritage.

and art lovers to actively be archaeologists of their own time. Tradition and

Many exhibitions are held in iconic historical sites such as the Cairo Citadel,

innovation come together to establish a curatorial line that promotes the use

the Egyptian Museum, the Pyramids of Giza, and other heritage landmarks.

of environmentally friendly materials, respecting the historical heritage of

146 147

The event provides a significant platform for contemporary artists to

showcase their work to both local and international audiences and creates

a timeless bridge between Egypt’s ancient heritage and modern creativity.

The organisation of cultural projects in iconic historical sites provides

exposure to artists, encourages a cultural revival, and draws attention to the

need for cultural preservation while promoting modern Egyptian creativity.

In the broader international context, Art D'Égypte has revitalised Cairo’s

art scene by attracting international attention. Through partnerships with

global institutions and international artists, it strengthens the local art

ecosystem and contributes to the cultural economy. The initiative includes

educational programs, workshops, and talks, helping to nurture the next

generation of artists and art lovers. This educational aspect promotes a

deeper understanding of art in the Cairo community and encourages public

engagement with contemporary and traditional art forms.

Through its high-profile exhibitions, such as Forever Is Now at the Pyramids

of Giza, Art D'Égypte has brought worldwide recognition to Egypt's

contemporary art scene. This exposure has helped position Cairo as a global

art hub, increasing interest in Egyptian art and promoting cultural tourism. By

bringing together international artists, curators, collectors, and promoters, the

event plays an important role in cultural diplomacy.

Some of the renowned Egyptian and international artists who have

participated in Art D’Égypte exhibitions include JR (France), Hassan Hajjaj

(Morocco/UK), Daniel Buren (France), Gisela Colón (Puerto Rico/LA), and

Moataz Nasr (Egypt), among many others. Each proposal adds a new

dimension to the relationship between contemporary art and history, fusing

monumental installations in outdoor spaces with works more sensitive to the

indoors. The development of the project is divided into different phases that

include conceptualisation, production, and installation of the works, and,

in some cases, the artists design and execute site-specific pieces in direct

dialogue with the space and local culture.

the site and exalting in the timeless dialogue between multiple generations.

Once again artists from different parts of the world have gathered in

the ancient city of Cairo to, from a contemporary perspective, share the

contributions of history to the development of current art.

In addition, it is important to mention that organising events at UNESCO

World Heritage Sites or other patrimonial sites can be challenging due to

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

the need to preserve the site's historical and cultural integrity. The

Art D’Égypte team ensures that all activities comply with guidelines

established by UNESCO or relevant conservation authorities, going

through multiple layers of government entities, obtaining permits,

and submitting a detailed plan that emphasises safety, respect for the

site, and cultural relevance. The event promotes the use of temporary

and eco-friendly infrastructure that can be easily removed, such as

mobile stages, biodegradable seating, and off-site support.

Art D’Égypte has set a precedent within the local history of

contemporary art and is an international example of how to develop

high-impact projects on heritage archaeological sites. Its scope goes

beyond the waters of the Nile, becoming a model of an event that

conceives connecting the past with the present, transcending time and

respecting cultural diversity, one that establishes a communication

channel with international artistic production, ratifying the importance

of art for humanity.

ANCIENT BUT ACCESSIBLE:

THE ARTISTIC INTERPLAY

AND INSPIRATION OF THE

GIZA PYRAMIDS

Salima Ikram

Photograph of Giza by Francis Firth. Courtesy S. Ikram.

The pyramids of Giza, massive man-made mountains rising out of the

148

limestone of the Giza plateau have dominated the landscape for nearly five

149

millennia. They have been a focus of religious and spiritual veneration, a

tourist site, and an inspiration for travellers, architects, writers, and artists of

all types. Thus, it is appropriate that they host contemporary art created by

artists inspired by and interacting with these monumental structures, using

the pyramids and their setting to establish a dialogue between the past and

the present.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

King Khufu initiated the site of Giza as a royal cemetery almost five

thousand years ago, and constructed his tomb, the largest pyramid in Egypt,

here. The plateau commands the landscape, an ideal spot for the eternal

resting place of a divine king. The structure is almost exactly oriented to the

cardinal points, a testament to the astronomical knowledge and skills of

the ancient Egyptians. The constant and eternal north star is a major focus

with which the king would unite in eternity. Using the limestone of the

plateau as the core of the building, Khufu’s architects constructed a complex

internal structure with several passageways and chambers, both hidden and

exposed, culminating in the breathtaking Grand Gallery that soars upward

and is unique to this pyramid. The rows and rows of relatively roughly laid

stones of the pyramid’s structure were finally covered with gleaming white

polished limestone from the Tura quarries. Finally, the pyramid was topped

by a small pyramid, a pyramidion, covered in gold or electrum so that when

the sun struck the apex of the pyramid it exploded with light, dazzling

viewers for miles around.

Smaller pyramids for the king’s spiritual double (ka) and some favoured

royal women were grouped around the main pyramid. A temple constructed

of varicoloured stones evoking the earth, the sky, and the force of the sun was

built to the east, facing the rising sun and key in the resurrection rituals of the

king in his solar form. A series of boat pits, two of which contained beautifully

crafted wooden boats, were dug to the south and east so that the king could

travel the skies with the sun god. A stone wall shielded the entire sacred

space from the eyes of the uninitiated. A long, covered causeway connected

the upper temple to another one, lower down, similarly built of stones that

recreated the cosmos. It was located on a canal, or possibly, another branch

of the Nile, and served not only as an access point for the labour, goods,

materials, and priests, but also played a role in royal funerary rituals.

150

A series of rectangular mastaba tombs for favoured courtiers and family

members, including the royal architect, were laid out in a grid plan to the

151

east and the west of the pyramid so the king would be accompanied in the

Afterworld, and his dependents could draw on his divine power eternally.

Two of Khufu’s successors, Khafre and Menkaure, also built their pyramids

Adrien Dauzat (1830), The Great Pyramid,

at Giza. While Menkaure’s was the smallest, the bottom nine courses were

oil on canvas, 42.9 × 33 cm. Courtesy

ambitiously covered in massive pieces of red granite brought by river

Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of

from Aswan.

Kenneth Jay Lane, 2015.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

Tomb chapels of the royal family and the favoured elite proliferated around the

kings’ tombs. These were elaborately carved and brilliantly painted by expert

artisans who depicted lively quotidian scenes as well as complex funerary

rituals, providing a window into all aspects of the lives of the ancient Egyptians.

To the east, the entire cemetery was guarded by the Sphinx, who faced the

rising sun. The Sphinx was a manifestation of the solar god, Re-Harakhte, the

first such colossal image to have ever been carved from the living rock, and an

inspiration for all subsequent monumental sculpture.

The pyramids at Giza were a place of reverence and pilgrimage for the ancient

Egyptians who came to pray and marvel. Artists and architects gravitated to

the site for inspiration. Images, artistic styles, the idea of monumentality,

and a variety of construction techniques that first had been perfected at Giza

were thus transferred to other sites throughout Egypt, creating an enduring

repertoire of architecture and art that was perpetuated, enriched, and

amended for over three thousand years by Egyptian artists and architects.

The constant use of Giza as a necropolis and cult site ensured its artistic

influence as continuous waves of artists garnered inspiration from the work of

their ancestors.

were fascinated by the interplay of light and the forms, lines, and colours of the

Giza pyramids and strove to capture it in their works. Architects naturally used

pyramids and Egyptian architectural elements in mausolea all over the world,

clearly an enduring testament to the appeal of the monumentality and power

of the Egyptian architectural vocabulary regardless of time or place. Egyptian

architecture also provided inspiration for civic and religious architecture all

over the world, starting with the Romans and continuing to the present day.

Contemporary architects are inspired by the clean lines, solid forms, and the

geometrical perfection of the pyramids, as is attested in the buildings of

Corbusier, I.M. Pei, Peter Hemingway and Norman Foster, as well as a host of

others.

Generations of artists and architects have been inspired by what they have

seen and experienced at Giza. The monumentality, strength, and beauty of

the monuments of Giza continue to appeal to our collective consciousness,

linking artists together across the millennia, and appealing to an aesthetic that

transcends time and space. Indeed, in this place Forever has helped create Now,

with the past constantly enriching and inspiring the present.

Over the years, Kushites from Nubia, the denizens of Asia Minor and the Levant,

Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans all came to pay homage to these

amazing constructions. The Kushites copied both pyramids and temples, albeit

on a much smaller scale, as did the Romans, thus spreading the language of

Egyptian architecture and art throughout Europe and deep into Africa. Later,

early Christians came to visit, mistaking these monuments for the granaries

of Joseph and taking inspiration from them for their illustrations of religious

texts. Over the centuries, Arab and European travellers came to marvel and

study the Giza necropolis. Their descriptions, sketches, paintings, and tales of

marvels have inspired and influenced literature, architecture, imagery, and art

152

until today.

153

Indeed, the pyramids, tombs, paintings, and sculptures of Giza have been

foundational to creativity and artistic growth since their construction. They have

served as subjects of paintings and sculptures from the Middle Ages to today,

and the forms, colours, and elegant styles of the ancient Egyptian artists have

influenced artists the world over. Artists such as William Holman Hunt, Adrien

Dauzats, David Roberts, Thomas Seddon, David Hockney, and many others,

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

MONUMENTA –

A DIALOGUE BETWEEN

PRESENT AND PAST

Roberta Semeraro

Costas Varotsos, Gate, 2024, glass

and steel. The author attending a Tale

of Two Cities, Athens, June 2024.

This past June in Athens, my friend and colleague Giovanna Cicutto introduced

me to the Art d'Égypte team during the events surrounding the Tale of Two

Cities project. The exhibition explored the connections between Athens and

Alexandria in Egypt, by way of a journey through the priceless collections of the

Benaki Museum and the Acropolis Museum.

statuary, although in Egypt we do see more abstract examples of monumental

154 155

Art has always been an exceptional gateway to the past, ‘an extension of the

present’, to use the definition of Greek artist Costas Varotsos, whose beautiful

glass sculpture served as a gateway in its own right to the Acropolis Museum's

installation for Tale of Two Cities. This is the guiding principle of the Art

d'Égypte initiative, Forever Is Now, which invites contemporary artists from

around the world to engage in dialogue through their works with the ancient

Pyramids of Giza, a UNESCO World Heritage Site constructed 4,500 years ago.

Luciano Minguzzi, Sei Personaggi n.

2 (Six Characters no.2), 1959, bronze,

210x160,5x50,5 cm.

In an extraordinary coincidence, or perhaps by a stroke of fate, this

very summer I have been curating a project of monumental sculptures,

commissioned by the Italian Ministry of Culture's Regional Secretariat

for Puglia to showcase the ongoing restoration works being performed

on the monuments of the territory. Monumenta, derived from the Latin

‘monumentum’ meaning a reminder or memorial, was chosen as the title of

this project precisely because of its ambiguous meaning. It refers to the past,

where the monument is understood as a grand architectural work intended

to bear witness to the history of a place; it also refers to the present, since the

word ‘monumental’ defines a type of sculpture found in all eras, bringing us

from past to present. In ancient times, monumental sculpture was most often

sculpture such as obelisks. Over the past century, as figurative art gave way

to abstraction, the ‘monumental’ in sculpture has become more a matter of

dimension than of representation. American sculptor Beverly Pepper, with

whom I have had the honour to work, moved to Europe after the Second World

War to study sculpture. She was immediately fascinated by the obelisks of

Rome, and explored the monuments of Greece, Egypt, and the Middle East. In

her description, monumentality is not a question of dimensions, but rather

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

in art over the last twenty years. I, who live and work in Venice, not only agree

with him but have seen the truth of his statements for myself. Today, works

of art intended for open spaces are becoming ever more gigantic: they must

impress the public, rather than invite them to reflect. But this lack of proportion

in macroscopic art distances the audience from the work, instead of inviting

them closer.

Giò Pomodoro, Colloquio col

figlio (Conversation with Son),

1974, bronze with green patina,

280x138x97 cm.

Crocetti's bronze equestrian statue of the Young Knight of Peace; Mauro

Staccioli's sculpture-sign Untitled in the shape of a vertical ellipse; Woman in

Carrara Marble by Costantino Nivola; Luciano Minguzzi's group of bronzes Six

Characters; Giò Pomodoro's Conversation with Son; and the work in the shape

of a Coal Carrier by Jannis Kounellis, a Greek by birth who lived his whole life in

Italy, are all works selected for Monumenta as perfect examples of proportion

in monumental sculpture, in contrast to today's widespread trend towards

gigantism. These pieces, exhibited together at the Citadella della Cultura in

Bari before being installed separately in September in front of monumental

works of architecture in the four provinces that make up the Region of Puglia,

all stand out for their ‘humanity’. They are the work of skilled human hands, not

of automated machines.

156

of proportions. My own personal art collection still includes a steel maquette

pyramid created by Pepper. Despite its small size, it has the same majestic

presence as the Pyramids themselves. The relationship with grand architecture

posed a challenge that the master sculptors of the 20th century gladly

accepted: among them Venanzo Crocetti, Luciano Minguzzi, Costantino Nivola,

Giò Pomodoro, Mauro Staccioli, and Jannis Kounellis all stand out and are

featured in the Monumenta project. This same rite of initiation is given to the

artists invited to take part in Forever Is Now: realizing their works in front of the

Great Pyramids of Giza and putting themselves in direct contact with the past.

What the great monumental sculptors of the past century teach us, and what

should guide contemporary artists is ‘that sense of the human which should be

157

the basis of every system of proportion’ in all forms of art, to avoid falling into

gigantism. Towards the end of the last century and the turn of the millennium,

the perception of open space radically changed. Architecture de-humanised

itself, abandoning all systems of proportion, and large-scale art became ‘colder’

as it came more in line with architecture. Several years ago, the French critic

Jean Claire held a fascinating conference on the phenomenon of ‘gigantism’

Mauro Staccioli, Senza titolo (Ellisse

vertical; Untitled - vertical ellipse),

2013, Corten steel, 280x190x16 cm.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

The creation of a monumental work of art cannot take place without a

profound understanding and knowledge of mathematics, geometry,

and physics. Mathematics, in turn, is a source of inspiration for

many esoteric doctrines and philosophies. Put simply, monumental

sculpture should help people live in their spaces, developing an

empathetic relationship with their surrounding environments and

inspiring a journey towards absolute comprehension. The pyramid

is a work of monumental architecture whose form symbolizes the

human need to connect with the heavens. But the pyramid is also one

of the most fascinating geometric figures in existence: it is the only

polyhedron on a polygonal base that converges at a single point, the

apex. The pyramid is an oft-recurring theme in the artistic language

of several of the sculptors featured in Monumenta. Mauro Staccioli's

monumental Pyramid, 38th Parallel in Corten steel was installed

on an extraordinary hill overlooking the sea in Contrada Belvedere,

located along the 38th parallel of latitude in Motta d'Affermo, Sicily.

The sculpture, a massive hollow tetrahedron, includes a slit along

its western edge. This allows light to enter the structure, casting

luminous reflections inside its geometric belly from noon till dusk.

In 1982, Giò Pomodoro, one of the leading abstract sculptors on the

world stage during the 20th century, created his polished bronze

Pyramid in Torsion, continuing his own personal artistic exploration

of the material's capacity for bending and twisting. Later, the pyramid

appeared in the artistic output of his brother Arnaldo Pomodoro,

currently one of the best-known Italian artists in the world. With his

1983 Pyramid, Arnaldo, a great lover of and expert in theatre, from the

time of the ancient Greeks onward, depicts the forms of myth among

which the pyramid represents power.

all nations. It is the only way for memory to be passed down from generation

to generation through the sensitive languages of art. This is particularly

true for those of us in the Mediterranean countries: we share the priceless

wealth of an artistic heritage reaching back through centuries and millennia

of history, rooted in ancient civilisations whose travel by sea cross-pollinated

all our artistic languages and created our strong sense of belonging to one

another. It is no surprise that Monumenta finds an analogy in Forever Is Now,

held every year at the famous archaeological site of the Pyramids of Giza.

Just as it is no surprise at all that the artistic output of the Italian sculptors

featured in Monumenta includes pyramids, symbols, and other elements of

Egyptian culture. Our hope is that the constant, unstoppable flow of cosmic

energy created by these initiatives may lead to new expressions of beauty and

creativity, which our planet needs now more than ever.

All images courtesy of the author.

More echoes of the pyramids are found in the works of Costantino

158

Nivola, both in the shapes that evoke the Nuragic and pre-Nuragic

sculpture of Sardinia, and in the technique of sandcasting he invented

159

for the bas-reliefs used to decorate his grand architectures, which in

turn recall the relief work on the great pyramids.

Keeping dialogue alive between contemporary artists and history as

seen through its monuments must be a task for the institutions of

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

FROM ANCIENT EGYPTIAN ART TO

MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY

EGYPTIAN ART

Valérie Didier


When we foreigners think of Egypt, the first cliché images that spring to mind

are its pyramids, its pharaohs, Cleopatra, the tombs of Luxor and Karnak, or

perhaps the feluccas on the Nile River. In other words, we identify Egypt with its

ancient cultural heritage dating from millennia ago, yet in many ways, Egypt's

national identity only took shape during the 20th century, following the 1919

revolution led by Saad Zaghloul, paving the way towards independence from

the British in 1922 and ultimately expelling the last British troops in 1956.

How do we reconcile these two identities, the ancient and the modern? It can

be argued that Egyptian identity has in fact always existed, with an ‘eternal

light’ that has somehow resisted centuries of foreign invasion and occupation

and manifested in the modern Egyptian.

The core of Modern and Contemporary Egyptian art is deeply rooted in this

unparalleled rich cultural heritage. Yet the modern or contemporary artist's

challenge lies in how to transcribe social, political, and cultural issues of the

present or simply portray contemporary daily life using up-to-date universal

1964) and Mohamed Naghi (1888-1956). Mokhtar's landmark sculpture,

160 161

aesthetic means while incorporating visual motifs inspired by ancient Egypt.

Nada Shabout, author of the ground-breaking book Modern Arab Art: Formation

of Arab Aesthetics (University of Florida Press, 2007), mentions another

challenge for the modern Arab artist that she refers to as the 'artistic vacuum' in

Egypt and the Arab diaspora. First there was ancient Egyptian, Mesopotamian,

and Sumerian art, followed by early Christian and Coptic art, and later by

Islamic art, but then there was a massive gap void of any new type of art until

the end of the 19th century or early 20th century, when art institutions and

schools were founded, very much under the influence of Western artists. And

still, despite that artistic vacuum, the 'eternal light' descending from ancient

Egyptian art continued to exist in essence but also through the vestiges of the

past, the pyramids, temples, and tombs that survived the passing of time.

That 'eternal light' was fully reignited in what Liliane Karnouk refers to as

the ‘Egyptian Awakening’ that came hand-in-hand with ‘al-Nahda’ or the

‘enlightenment’, in her seminal book Modern Egyptian Art 1910-2003

(The American University in Cairo Press, 2005). She describes this cultural

phenomenon as being influenced by a series of events: the travel to Egypt

by the Romantics seeking the original beauty of antiquity; the influx of the

Orientalists who sought a new visual vocabulary through their travels in

the – to them - exotic lands of the Middle East; the publication of Description

de L'Égypte in 21 volumes in the wake of the Napoleonic expedition to

Egypt in 1789; Jean-François Champollion's (1790-1832) deciphering of

Egyptian hieroglyphs in 1822; the increasing number of acquisitions of

Egyptian artefacts by leading European museums; and the excavation of many

archaeological sites in Egypt, which climaxed in Howard Carter's discovery of

Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922. According to Karnouk, all these events led to a

renewed interest in ancient Egyptian art and to the cultural phenomenon of

neo-Pharaonism.

All of the above confirm the omnipresence of the 'eternal light' that Modern

Egyptian artists picked up on, creating a visual vocabulary that merged the

ancient with the modern, and developing a universal interpretation of their

unique past. The three most famous Modern Egyptian artists who brought a

breath of fresh air to the 'eternal light' were the Cairene sculptor Mahmoud

Mokhtar (1891-1934) and the two Alexandrian painters Mahmoud Saïd (1897-

‘Nahdet Misr’ (‘Egypt's Awakening’) conceived in 1920 dominated Bab al-Hadid

Square (today's Rameses Square) in front of Cairo railway station from 1928

to 1955 after which it was moved outside Cairo University, towering above the

roundabout at the entrance. That monumental pink granite sculpture embodies

and radiates the ‘eternal light’, as do Mokhtar's many sculptures of fellahas

(Egyptian female peasants). In a similar way, Naghi made clear references to

his ancient Egyptian heritage, often transposing classical European themes

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

into ancient Egyptian contexts, epitomised by his monumental and almost

hieroglyphic masterpiece La Renaissance de l'Éqypte (or Le Cortège d'Isis)

executed in 1922 and now housed inside the Chamber of the Upper House

of Parliament in Cairo. Mahmoud Saïd's references to his ancient Egyptian

roots were perhaps more subtle yet they permeate his entire oeuvre, whether

through a felucca on the Nile River, a graceful fellaha carrying an amphora, or

even in his pyramidal compositions, resonating with the grandeur of ancient

Egyptian monuments. The pivotal role of these three pioneers of Modern

Egyptian art is further highlighted by the fact that all three were commissioned

to create works for the Egyptian pavilion of the 1937 Paris Exposition

Universelle (officially the ‘Exposition internationale des arts et des techniques

appliqués à la vie moderne’) by the pavilion's general commissioner,

Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil (1877-1953).

There, the works of these great Modern Egyptian masters were exhibited side

by side with ancient Egyptian artefacts, just as today, Art D'Égypte juxtaposes

Egyptian and international artworks against the majesty of the Pyramids of Giza

in the Forever Is Now annual exhibition series. Naghi's and Said's paintings

and Mokhtar's iconic sculptures taught future generations of Egyptian artists

to search for inspiration in their own nation's past in order to celebrate their

identity; today, Art D’Égypte brings the artists of the world to Egypt to seek

inspiration and radiate that ‘eternal light’ to the world in a celebration of our

common humanity and our shared future.

ALAIN JACQUET'S ARTISTIC

ODYSSEY: EGYPT AND THE

FIRST BREAKFAST

Gaïa Jacquet-Matisse

Alain Jacquet, The First

Breakfast, 1972–1978,

silkscreen, oil, and resin on

canvas.

Alain Jacquet (1939–2008), an early pioneering French pop artist, emerged in

the 1960s as a dynamic force within the art world. Renowned for his innovative

techniques and ever-evolving mediums, Jacquet's work consistently pushed

boundaries and challenged perceptions. Among his notable contributions is

the painting The First Breakfast, created in 1972, which marked a significant

visual departure from his earlier works and ushered in a new era of exploration

and creativity.

Jacquet initially gained recognition for his Camouflage series in the early

162

1960s, where he masterfully incorporated elements of everyday life and

popular references of the time alongside recognizable historical works,

163

obscuring and revealing images through the use of pattern and repetition.

This was followed by the Trame series in the late 1960s, where he employed a

technique involving enlarged photo screens (or trames) that, when viewed up

close, revealed intricate details hidden within the larger image. This method

became a hallmark of Jacquet's work, emphasising the concept of perception

and the role of the viewer.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

In the early 1970s, Jacquet's focus shifted dramatically towards Earth images

as his primary subject. Leveraging his status as a respected artist, he sought

and obtained permission from NASA to use their images, gaining access to an

extensive archive of photographs. The first image he selected was the iconic

photograph of the Earth taken during the Apollo mission, a symbol of human

achievement and a new perspective of our planet.

To create The First Breakfast, Jacquet enlarged the original NASA image. Over

this image, he layered a circular trame, which he strategically centred on Egypt,

specifically the Great Pyramid of Giza, also known as the Pyramid of Khufu. This

ancient wonder, built by King Khufu in the early 25th century BC, became the

starting point of many of his Earth paintings, a series that would continue until

the late 1980s.

Alain Jacquet, Mars

et Venus 2, 1995.

By anchoring his work in this ancient landmark, Jacquet bridged past and

present, creating a dialogue between history and contemporary art. The circular

trame allowed Jacquet to dissect and reimagine the Earth, presenting it as a

mosaic of hidden images and patterns. The initial placement in Egypt acted as

a lens through which the artist could ‘see’ into the Earth, akin to peering into a

crystal ball. This technique enabled viewers to discover multiple interpretations

within the painting, each unique to their perspective.

Alain Jacquet, The Lacemaker

n° 396, (La dentellière), 1978

–1980, oil and synthetic resin

on canvas.

The decision to place the trame’s origin point at the Great Pyramid was not

arbitrary. For Jacquet, Egypt’s rich history and the pyramids’ enduring mystery

and grandeur were symbolic of human ingenuity and the passage of time. The

164

significance of Egypt as a source of artistic inspiration cannot be overstated.

165

For centuries, Egypt's monuments, mythology, and cultural heritage have

captivated artists worldwide, from the Renaissance to contemporary times.

The Great Pyramid of Giza, in particular, stands as a testament to human

achievement and remains one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Its

imposing structure and the myths surrounding its construction continue to

inspire awe and creativity.

The First Breakfast was not a singular effort but the beginning of an extensive

journey. Over the next four years, Jacquet produced various iterations of the

painting, experimenting with different color schemes and backgrounds. Some

versions featured a more blue-dominant palette, while others embraced pink

hues. These variations laid the groundwork for his subsequent Earth series,

where he further manipulated and embellished the original image, adding

hand-painted details to reveal new forms and narratives.

One of the most compelling aspects of The First Breakfast is its ability to offer a

unique experience to each viewer. The myriad images and patterns embedded

within the painting invite endless interpretation, encouraging interactive and

personal engagement with the artwork. This quality persisted in Jacquet’s later

works, such as Ape with a Gold Tooth and Lacemaker, where he continued to

explore and expand upon the themes introduced in The First Breakfast.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

EMERGENT IGNORANCE AND

OUR INTANGIBLE HERITAGE:

A PERSONAL ESSAY ON HISTORY,

TECHNOLOGY, AND IDENTITY

Hassan Ragab

Alain Jacquet, Ape With a

Gold Tooth (Le singe á la dent

d’or) – 1980-81, 1980, oil and

synthetic resin on canvas.

Jacquet's fascination with the Earth and the universe did not wane. In the late

1980s, his work increasingly incorporated digital technologies, heralding a new

phase in his artistic evolution. He revisited his archive of NASA images, this

time focusing on outer space. Employing computer-generated imagery, Jacquet

wrapped planetary images around unconventional shapes like hot dogs and

donuts. Utilizing robotics to digitally print these images onto large canvases,

he created a series of works that seamlessly blended art and technology.

As an Egyptian, part of the Egyptian American diaspora, and a person who

is always unsure - always searching for answers - I’ve realised that the true

value of questioning lies in becoming comfortable with what I call ‘emergent

ignorance’. In this state, questions lead to more intriguing ones rather than

definitive answers. I’ve come to understand that questions about who I am

(as a person, an architect, a designer, and a father) are inseparable from where

I come from.

This has led me through the beautiful entanglement of what constitutes

‘Egyptian identity’ and how it can be reflected upon, rather than simply

portrayed. I am no historian, nor a stereotypical researcher, but through years

of independent research and contemplation, I’ve formed my own opinion

on what constitutes Egyptian identity. It is, in my view, complex and everchanging,

like a Rubik's Cube that reconfigures with every move.

Alain Jacquet's The First Breakfast stands as a testament to his innovative

The pyramid is an interesting symbol to associate with Egypt, though it might

spirit and relentless pursuit of new artistic frontiers. His pioneering use of

stem from oversimplification. It is probably the first image that comes to mind

166

technology and collaboration with NASA underscores his role as a visionary

for many people (non-Egyptians, and sometimes Egyptians as well) when they

167

artist ahead of his time. The timeless allure of Egypt and its profound impact on

hear the word ‘Egypt’. This bias often leads us to summarise who we are in

artists like Jacquet highlight the enduring power of its cultural heritage and its

reductive terms, even to ourselves.

ability to inspire future generations.

Generative AI is a great tool to explore this bias, as it is trained on human data

scattered across the internet. While many view AI as superior intelligence, I find


generative AI, especially public models with their unfiltered datasets, more of

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

a reflection of our collective notions. For example, if you use ‘pyramid’

as a prompt in many text-to-image generators, you will likely get at

least one result portraying the Great Pyramid of Giza. This wouldn’t

be the case if you tried to generate images of other polyhedrons or

geometric shapes like spheres or cubes. Somehow, these AI tools have

inherited our collective bias linking the pyramid shape to Egypt.

From that point, I’ve dedicated much of my work over the past few

years to exploring, critiquing, and even exploiting this bias within

these tools. It’s an ongoing journey that reveals interesting insights

about both my personal and our collective ways of seeing and

creating. As I explore these tools, I see parallels with the challenge of

understanding heritage, where we often focus on material symbols

– like the pyramid –without considering the people behind them. In

many ways, I find these tools more valuable for architects, designers,

and artists to integrate with the present, rather than for anticipating a

delusional utopia.

My approach to this exploration takes the form of mixing, or rather

collaging, at its core. It is based on ‘informally’ researching how these

tools perceive the world through my input and tying current events

to places and, most importantly, to people. It’s an approach that goes

back and forth between exploring novel geometrical vocabulary that

could be more informed, empathetic, and reflective of something

‘genuine’, and understanding how both I and ‘the machine’

comprehend the world around us. This understanding guides our (my)

journey into the unknown, obscure present, revealing challenges in

this lifelong endeavour.

death. For example, the further back in time our ancestors lived, the less we

tend to relate to them. I never knew my grandfather, who died before I was

born, but I relate to him more than to his father, who died even earlier, and so

on. In this way, time becomes like physical space, keeping us distant – both

physically and emotionally – from people who might otherwise feel close to us.

As the Egyptian proverb says, ‘

’ (‘Those who are

distant from our eyes are also distant from our hearts’).

البعيد عن العين بعيد عن القلب

Another factor is Egypt’s geopolitical position, which led to repeated invasions

by many different civilisations over two millennia. With imperialism, both

ancient and modern, came the imposition of the coloniser's ethics, knowledge,

and language. Civilisations began interacting in interesting ways, merging

and transforming one another, resulting in a unique blend of influences. One

of my favourite examples is the Fayyum portraits. This merging continues to

the present day. Most Egyptians speak English, and many grew up speaking

French, a direct result of modern colonisation by the British and the French. This

legacy affects how we see our past and present, from daily routines to deeper

reflections on our identity.

Colonialism doesn’t always arrive in the form of direct rule, like the British

or French occupations. Soft power, through media and cultural influence, is

another, more subtle form. Unfortunately, many Egyptians (not to mention the

rest of the world’s inhabitants) learn about ancient Egypt (and modern Egypt,

of course) through Hollywood movies, which are designed to be superficial

and often portray us through an Orientalist lens. Edward Said's concept of

‘Orientalism’ provides one of the most well-researched explanations of the

current state of Western bias, shaping how we see ourselves.

We are frequently told to be proud of our ancestors – the masters of masonry

One of the main challenges in understanding our heritage is that we

– and our country, the ‘cradle of civilisation’. These were great empires that

168

often focus on it as something material – like a pyramid (or how it was

achieved might when much of the world was in darkness. But as I grew up,

built), a house, an ushabti, a mummy (or the mummification process),

I don’t remember being told to love them because they were my family, not

169

or any of the amazing elements of tangible inheritance passed down

simply because of their power. Their actions, for better or worse, shaped my

to us as Egyptians.

bloodline and, in turn, my ideas about the world and myself.

There are many factors that can distance us from our ancestors, one of

them being the inevitable passage of time. Human empathy is limited

by perception. You can’t relate to everyone, and you can’t mourn every

For me, my heritage – for our collective heritage – lies in understanding of

who these ancestors were. The world is trying to learn what they did, but they

lack the connection we have. My great-great-grandfather could be Ramses II,

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

Khun-Anup (the Eloquent Peasant), or one of the labourers who built

the Pyramid of Khufu. Perhaps I wouldn’t even care if they hadn’t

achieved greatness. It is my duty to accept and respect my ancestors,

whether they achieved anything extraordinary or not. Before telling

their stories or repeating foreign interpretations of who they were, I

should first relate to them as human beings.

To sum this up: regarding my approach and its relation to technology,

I believe that it is more important to understand our true connection

to the past before we take pride in it. We inherit blood before we

inherit artefacts. Our borders were shaped by invaders who often

told us who we are and what we are worth. The mummies displayed

in museums around the world – those dissected in the search for the

secrets of immortality – are our great-grandparents. Realising this,

I often feel uncomfortable in museums displaying mummies (any

mummies, but especially Egyptian ones) because we were raised to

respect the dead.

This discomfort extends to any monument, object, or text that

attempts to inform us about our history. I view them with both

discomfort and reflection, imagining the stories behind them and the

people connected to them. These objects have a story, and it’s up to us

to interpret them empathetically. Before they were kings, emperors,

caliphs, scientists, poets, or workers, they were, like us, people.

THE INFLUENCE OF EGYPT ON

ARTISTS' IMAGINATIONS

Julia Fabry

Egyptian references in art have always been numerous. This inspiration,

synonymous with harmonious strength and solidity and imbued with mystery,

never ceases to fascinate, as evidenced today by the many artists enthusiastic about

the opportunity to work near the Pyramids of Giza thanks to Forever Is Now.

This fourth edition brings together proposals from all over the world, blurring the

boundaries between past and present for an unconventional, even innovative,

global vision based on the legacies of the past. This is a fascinating undertaking,

and it is interesting to note that this proposal has already inspired numerous artists

in the past. Today the interactions between past and present continue. The rebound

effects in time, from one inspiration to another starting from ancient Egypt, seem to

form, by ricochets, constantly renewed forms that respond to each other, echo each

other, and whose heart could be the pyramids.

Egyptomania

The future of our identity – and of humanity – depends on how we

One of the most precious moments in our history of artistic phenomena, and

use technology, the stories we choose to tell, and how true empathy

the undisputed benchmark of this inspiration, is of course Egyptomania. In

toward our identity can preserve our heritage. Most importantly, we

Europe, but particularly in France with Napoleon Bonaparte's expedition to Egypt

must understand that we do not preserve our history because of its

(1798–1801), a powerful interest in ancient Egypt developed, notably through the

greatness or might but because it is our duty, our birthright. If we

publication of the Description de l'Égypte (published between 1809 and 1829). It

170 don’t do it for ourselves, no one will.

covered many aspects of modern Egypt at the time, particularly in the two volumes

devoted to the modern state, and became a reference for many artists, writers,

171

musicians and visual artists.

This fascination emerged strongly in the 19th century, influenced by Bonaparte's

Egyptian campaign, and would affect various artistic and cultural fields, integrating

Egyptian motifs into architecture, fashion and the decorative arts in Europe. ‘By

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

what mystery did Bonaparte's expedition to Egypt, which failed to achieve either military or

political results, remain so glorious, with an increasingly radiant glory? (...) No one who has

experienced contact with the land of the Nile will be surprised: neither Greece nor Rome

exerts such an effect. It's like a spell.’[1] This quotation from Bonaparte historian Édouard

Driault points to what we would describe today as the work of one of the first ‘influencers’.

The effect is impressive when we realise that we're dealing here with a profound fascination

triggered centuries before the advent of new media.

This influence extends across many artistic fields, including literature with Victor Hugo's

Orientales and his Légende des siècles.[2] Music, too, when Giuseppe Verdi composed the

opera Aida, set in Egypt. All these artists contributed to the popularity of Egyptomania in the

19th century.

Piranesi

Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Altro spaccato

per longo della stressa bottega, 210 x 320

mm, etching.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Camino egizio con

due busti collocati sul fregio (drawing of an

Egyptian fireplace), 247x380 mm, etching.

His sometime disquieting decors are hybrid montages highlighting the author's

unbridled imagination, his passion for exotic motifs from faraway lands giving

access to a dreamlike, inspiring vision for all. The etching technique accentuates

contrasts, and the saturated effects of the image take architecture into the realm

of the fantastic. His distant Egyptian references give his work an archaeological

resonance that seems to justify aesthetic comparisons between ancient Rome and

ancient Egypt. These plastic innovations and fascinating oddities place Piranesi as

a precursor of the eclectic movement, while his precise technique lends a realistic

aspect to his reveries.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Veduta del Sepolcro di Cajo

Cestio, 380 x 540 mm, etching. Ed. Firmin Didot (XIXe),

Coll. Gajac Museum, Villeneuve-sur-Lot, France.

Long before this Egyptomania craze, an artist had also deployed several sequences of

Egyptian references in his work, and in rather extraordinary conditions. Giovanni Battista

Piranesi (1720–1778) played a significant role in the spread of the Egyptian style in Europe

from the 18th century onwards, using motifs and references to Egyptian architecture in his

etchings. An Italian engraver and architect born in Mestre near Venice, he was famous for his

engravings of urban landscapes and imaginary views of prisons, which influenced the neoclassical

style right through to 20th-century graphic novels.

While the exterior views reveal surrealist montages, many of the décor elements

also reveal his passion for Egyptian references. Furniture and chapiteaux are

adorned with inspired details. His ‘chimney’ projects are convincing examples

of this. Sphinxes rub shoulders with papyriform columns and hieroglyphs,

popularising an extremely personal and innovative vision and helping to bring

Egypt to the masses.

As modern-day archaeologists, Giovanni Battista Piranesi, adventurer David Roberts,

and contemporary photographer Gustavo Ten Hoever all drew on the treasures of

Egypt to create works that resolutely blurred the boundaries between past

and present.

172

Interestingly, Piranesi did not illustrate specific Egyptian monuments in his works. His

connection with Egypt can be seen in works such as Diverse maniere d'adornare i cammini,

Why focus on these ancient references? Quite simply to highlight the extent to

173

in which he incorporated Egyptian elements, thus influencing the decorative style of his

which the vision of Egypt has come to inspire the greatest creators, from classical

time. Although he did not travel to Egypt, he was nonetheless inspired by its art, and his

art to contemporary installations. And to show that this fourth edition of Forever

engravings remained fictitious representations combining architecture inspired by Roman

Is Now blurs the boundaries between past and present, tradition and innovation,

ruins and eclectic elements, including Egyptian and Etruscan motifs. He became renowned

and assumes that this is also what inspires contemporary artists. The motifs are

for his imaginative interpretations, returning to elements of the past while transcending it,

repeated and sometimes respond to each other over time. It's even difficult to date

proposing veritable ‘architectural fictions’.

the works, from representative images of Egyptomania by painter David Roberts

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

to contemporary photographs by Uruguayan artist Gustavo Ten Hoever, because the

motifs of this Egypt are timeless.

CONTRIBUTORS in order of appearance in the catalogue

Left: David Roberts, Head of the Great Sphinx and Pyramids of Gizeh (detail), (1839);

Right: Gustavo Ten Hoever, Head of the Sphinx, (2022).

Zahi Hawass is a world-renowned archaeologist whose dynamic personality

and extensive knowledge have sparked global interest in ancient Egypt.

His archeological discoveries include the Valley of the Golden Mummies and the

Tombs of the Pyramid Builders, among many others. He recently announced the

discovery of the Lost Golden City in Luxor and is currently excavating in the Valley

of the Kings in search of the tomb of Queen Nefertiti. He received his MA and

PhD from the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied as a Fulbright fellow.

He has received countless awards including nine honorary doctorates as well as

an Emmy for his work in television. He began as an inspector of antiquities and

rose to become the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities as

well as the first Minister of State for Antiquities. He has written more than 40

books and over 150 scholarly articles, including his most recent book,

Zahi Hawass’s Secret Egypt.

Left: David Roberts, Pyramids of Geezeh (1856);

Right: Gustavo Ten Hoever, Geezeh (2022).

This is what makes this setting of the Pyramids of Giza an extraordinary and

unique setting.

Egypt's cultural heritage is endless and still holds many surprises in store, from

interpretations of ancient visions to contemporary installations. The transmission

of stories and images, thanks to events such as Forever is Now, ensures a perpetual

source of creativity and a renewal of artistic visions of this precious heritage.

Peter Der Manuelian is Barbara Bell Professor of Egyptology at Harvard

University. He is also Director of The Giza Project at Harvard (http://giza.

fas.harvard.edu), Director of the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East

(https://hmane.harvard.edu), and Co-Director of the Arabic Excavation Archive

from Quft (http://quft.fas.harvard.edu). His interests include visualisation and

digital humanities approaches to the ancient world. His publications include

Digital Giza. Visualizing the Pyramids; Mastabas of Nucleus Cemetery G 2100;

Slab Stelae of the Giza Necropolis; Living in the Past: Studies in Archaism of the

Egyptian Twenty-sixth Dynasty; and Studies in the Reign of Amenophis II. His

most recent publication is Walking Among Pharaohs. George Reisner and the

Dawn of Modern Egyptology.

Nuria Sanz Gallego, archaeologist and anthropologist, is an international

civil servant at the United Nations. She currently holds the post of Director

of the UNESCO Regional Office for Egypt and Sudan/ Liaison Office with the

League of Arab States. Previously she was Director and Representative of the

UNESCO Office in Mexico. She holds a PhD in history and archaeology from


Universidad Complutense de Madrid and La Sapienza in Rome.

174 175

[1] Edouard Driault, Napoleon and Europe, Ed. Hachette BNF, 2023.

[2] Victor Hugo, Orientales, Ed Charles Gosselin, Paris (1829);

La légende des siècles, Ed. Interférences, Paris (2023).

For over 20 years, she has worked in international organisations, and a large

focus of her work has been on the protection of cultural and natural heritage.

She previously coordinated the largest World Heritage nomination project

in the history of the 1972 World Heritage Convention: Qhhapaq Ñan, the

Andean Road System. The nomination was inscribed on the World Heritage

List in 2014 and was selected as a project that exemplified the good practice of

cultural integration of indigenous people. She has authored and edited more

than 40 World Heritage publications, especially on issues related to human

evolution and cultural and natural diversity.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

Nikolaus S. Barta is the Founder, President, Chairman of Fine Art & Group Chairman of Barta &

Partner Art Insurance. Together with his team, he has been responsible for the insurance of some

of the most expensive artworks in the world. For additional information, please see the Sponsors

section (p. 191)

Sultan Sooud al Qassemi is an Emirati columnist and researcher specializing in social, political,

and cultural affairs in the Arab world. For an extended bio, please refer to the Patrons section (p. 185).

Photo: Florence Tan

Salima Ikram is Distinguished University Professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo.

She has worked as an archaeologist and museologist in Egypt since 1986 and has also excavated in

Greece, Turkey, and Sudan. She directs the Amenmesse Mission-KV10/KV63 in the Valley of the Kings

and the North Kharga Oasis Darb Ain Amur Survey. A member of the American Academy of Arts and

Sciences and a Fellow of the British Academy, Dr Ikram has published extensively in both scholarly

and popular venues (for adults and children) on diverse subject matters ranging from traditional

Egyptological subjects to archaeozoology topics. Currently, her research focuses on funerary customs,

especially mummification; the changing climate of Egypt as reflected in the fauna, relying on evidence

derived from pictorial, textual, archaeozoological, and climatological evidence; changing food sources

and eating habits; rock art; and the protection and presentation of cultural heritage.

Photo: Jackie Neale

Precious Mhone is a Malawian independent curator, writer, artist, and researcher. She holds a

BA with Honors in Fine Art Photography from University of the Arts London. Her practice is rooted

in experimental approaches to placemaking and collective critical thinking. Mhone explores the

complexities of representation and identity with particular interest in memory, the transmutation

of histories and indigenous knowledge production. Mhone is currently the Project Manager of

the Afreximbank Art Program. She has previously held curatorial roles with the African Artists’

Foundation in Lagos, Nigeria and Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town, South

Africa.

Christopher Noey is an art historian, author, and Emmy award-winning producer of films on art

and culture. On the staff of the Metropolitan Museum of Art for thirty-four years, he created media

installations for a diverse array of exhibitions and was the series director on the innovative online

features 82nd & Fifth and The Artist Project. An expert in Asian and Islamic art, Mr Noey has taught

at Williams College and at the City College of New York. He is the author of The Artist Project: What

Artists See When They Look at Art (Phaidon, 2017).

Kyu Hyon Rhee is a prominent South Korean writer and art marketer. She started her career as a

journalist at Chosunilbo Dailynews, the leading newspaper in Korea, in 1997. Since she founded

her art marketing and PR agency ENART in 2012, she has hosted numerous press conferences

including HansaeYes24 Foundation Cultural Exchange Exhibitions (2023, 2019, 2018), Hyundai

Motor Pavilion at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics 2018, and Xavier Veilhan’s Great Mobile at the

Incheon International Airport (2018). Kyu is an author of five art books including two bestsellers and

one award-winner. She holds an MBA from Fordham University, New York; an Advanced Certificate

from Christie's Education New York; a MA in Museum Studies from Chung-Ang University; and a BA

in Korean Language and Literature from Yonsei University, both in Seoul.

Roberta Semeraro is an art historian, curator, critic, and writer based in Italy. In 2003, she curated

one of first exhibitions of digital art in Italy: Il Fantasma del Digitale (The Ghost of Digital) at the

Rocca Paolina in Perugia with the Municipality and Province of Perugia. In the following year, she

curated the first of many prominent exhibitions Umbra Lux Dei in the Museum of Contemporary

Sacred Art Stauros in Abruzzo. More recently, she has curated exhibitions such as Monumenta,

commissioned by the Italian Ministry of Culture's Regional Secretariat for Puglia. In 2023, the

Municipality of Portogruaro (Metropolitan City of Venice) appointed her curator of the municipal

public gallery Ai Molini until 2025. She has also written numerous historical novels and screenplays

for documentaries dedicated to art.

Valérie Didier is a specialist and writer on impressionist and modern art, currently working as

Director, Business Development for the Christie’s Middles East office where she oversees the

bi-annual sales of Modern and Contemporary Arab, Iranian & Turkish Art. Following the success of the

Mahmoud Saïd Catalogue Raisonné (Skira, 2016), co-edited with Dr Hussam Rashwan, the first book

of its kind for a Middle Eastern artist, Didier and Rashwan launched the second catalogue raisonné

on an Egyptian artist, Abdel Hadi al-Gazzar (1925–1966) at Christie’s London in November 2023

(Editions Norma, 2023).

Gaïa Jacquet-Matisse is an art curator and advisor based in New York City. She studied psychology

and theatre at NYU Gallatin, where she developed a unique interdisciplinary approach. In 2019, she

became Vice-President of the Alain Jacquet Estate, collaborating with Perrotin Gallery to produce

notable exhibitions, including Jeux de Jacquet in Paris and JACQUET x ROSENQUIST at Perrotin NYC

in October 2024. Gaïa has curated exhibitions in unique spaces across Paris, Los Angeles, Mexico City,

and New York, spotlighting emerging talent alongside established artists to blur the boundaries of

contemporary and traditional art.

Hassan Ragab is an interdisciplinary designer and conceptual artist based in Southern California

with over 15 years of experience in architecture, design, generative arts, and construction. For more

about his work, please refer to the Parallel Project section (p.96).

176

Maylin Pérez is a curator, advisor and independent art historian with more than a decade of

177

experience, specializing in art and design projects and collection management across global

networks. She has collaborated with many international organisations such as the Panama

Contemporary Art Museum, Institute of Fine Arts of Mexico, Japan Foundation, Paris Photo, among

others. With her knowledge of modern and contemporary art and design and her experience

Julia Fabry is an independent curator, visual and video artist with a PhD in fine Arts. She graduated

working with both emerging and established artists, she assists collectors in building, organizing,

from the University of Pantheon Sorbonne in Paris and Universidad de Bellas Artes Salamanca, Spain.

and expanding their collections. One of her recent publications (co-author) is Latin American Artists -

For an extended bio, please refer to the Honorary Curating Board section (p.178)

1785 to Now (Editorial Phaidon, 2023). She is member of the International Committee for Museums

and Collections of Modern Art (CIMAM).

FOREVER IS NOW .04

Photo: Eric Viou

ART D’ÉGYPTE

HONORARY

CURATING BOARD

Gaïa Jacquet-Matisse is an art curator and advisor based in New York City with a unique interdisciplinary

approach. For an extended bio, please refer to the Contributors section (p. 177).

Kyu Hyon Rhee is a prominent South Korean writer and art marketer. She started her career as a journalist

at Chosunilbo Daily News, the leading newspaper in Korea, in 1997 and founded her art marketing and PR

agency ENART in 2012. For an extended bio, please refer to the Contributors section (p.176).

Giovanna Cicutto is an art marketing and public relations specialist with over 35 years

of knowledge of the art market. Based in Venice, her contacts in the city have helped her

organise exceptional exhibitions over the years in some of the city’s most prestigious

heritage locations. Most recently, in 2024, she was project manager and PR specialist for

the official Pavilion of Kazakhstan and co-curator of #MITO Is Memory An Algorithm? at

the 60th edition of the Venice Biennale. She is also a member of the scientific committee

for the Official Carnival of Florence and has collaborated extensively with Geuer-Geuer

gallery in Venice to promote artists such as Bernard Venet and Rita Sabo. Since 1990, she

has been creative marketing director and project manager of Quinn Creations, personally

assisting in the breakthrough and career development of artist Lorenzo Quinn.

Hamza Serafi has been one of the driving forces behind the art movement in Saudi

Arabia since the 1980s. He is a dedicated patron of the arts and a champion of culture

and creative industries. He is the co-founder of ATHR Art Gallery, where he led the Young

Saudi Artist Program until 2022. This platform has been instrumental in promoting

artistic experimentation and nurturing emerging talents across the region. In 2013,

Hamza became a founding member of the Saudi Art Council and served as the head of

the territorial committee to further develop the contemporary art movement through

the 21,39 initiative, a role he held until 2022. In 1990, Hamza established Sama Office

as a creative grass-roots hub for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This developed into Sama

Design where Serafi has played a pivotal role in ideation, conceptualization, and creative

development in the design and construction industries. He is a member of the steering

committee of the Red Sea Museum and chairman of the House of Islamic Arts, the first

museum of its kind in KSA. Serafi has also made significant contributions through his

affiliations and has held board positions in numerous notable companies as well as

Princess Noura University and Effat University. He is a global council member of the

Delfina Foundation and also holds memberships in the British Museum, the Hamburger

Bahnhof Museum, and Sleysla, a Saudi Heritage Development organization.

Julia Fabry is an independent curator, visual and video artist with a PhD in fine Arts.

She graduated from the University of Pantheon Sorbonne in Paris and Universidad de

Bellas Artes Salamanca, Spain. She worked in close collaboration for more than 13 years

Youssef Mansour is one of the youngest collectors in Middle East with a collection that spans

178 with Oscar-winning pioneer filmmaker and visual artist Agnès Varda. She curated several

important international and local artists such Salvador Dali, Yohan, Andy Warhol, Reza Aramesh , 179

exhibitions in France, Sweden, UK, China, Belgium, Germany, and Spain among others.

She is greatly invested in the field of academic research, and she has participated in

several symposia, seminars, and publications, and has multiple experiences in writing,

publishing, and scenography. She is also an art advisor and creative consultant for

institutions and an architect of cultural projects. Connected with international artists, her

latest experience as Arts Outreach Lead for the two last editions of the Noor Riyadh Festival

has allowed her to discover the art scene in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and to open up

her worldwide field of investigation.

Maylin Pérez is a curator, advisor and independent art historian with more than a decade of experience,

specialising in art and design projects and collection management across global networks. For an extended

bio, please refer to the Contributors section (p. 176).

Precious Mhone is a Malawian independent curator, writer, artist, and researcher, with a practice is rooted

in experimental approaches to placemaking and collective critical thinking. She is currently the Project

Manager of the Afreximbank Art Program. For an extended bio, please refer to the Contributors section

(p.176).

STEERING COMMITTEE

The Steering Committee was established to provide support for Art D'Égypte's diverse endeavours. Led

by the dynamic and talented Nora Al Kholi, the committee is composed of experts in different fields

united by their passion for art and Egyptian heritage and dedicated to the promotion of the Egyptian

art ecosystem on the global stage. Art D’Égypte would like to express its gratitude to all committee

members for their invaluable guidance and support.

Nora Al Kholi – Steering Committee Director – is a true powerhouse in the areas of culture,

art, and business both on a local and on a regional level. She is a dedicated patron and champion of

the arts and has always been an unconditional supporter of Art D’Égypte. As Director of the Steering

Committee for the past two years, she has been instrumental in driving the growth of Forever Is Now

and ensuring its success. For an extended bio, please refer to the Patrons section (p.182).

Hamza Serafi has been one of the driving forces behind the art movement in Saudi Arabia since the

1980s. He is a dedicated patron of the arts and a champion of culture and creative industries. He is

the co-founder of ATHR Art Gallery, where he led the Young Saudi Artist Program until 2022. For an

extended bio, please refer to the Honorary Curating Board section (p. 178).

JR, Effat Naghi, Alia El Geridi, and Hamed Abdallah. For Youssef collecting art is not just about acquiring

beautiful objects, but also about investing in the cultural heritage of humanity. For an extended bio,

please refer to the Patrons section (p.183).

Ali Khadra is the founder and publisher of Canvas and Sorbet magazines. A keen collector of

contemporary art, in 2003, the French-Lebanese Khadra founded the boutique publishing house

Mixed Media Publishing and launched its flagship title, Canvas, the premier art and culture magazine

in the Middle East and Arab world.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

Alia El Tanani is an Egyptian raised, internationally acclaimed creative born in Alexandria, Egypt. From

a young age, she has always been fascinated with design and creation. She launched her business career

in 1992 alongside her husband Ashraf El Tanani and took on an instrumental role in building Living In

Interiors, a distinguished interior design, construction, and luxury furniture retailer. Her dedication to

developing an entity that would actively source and incorporate international trends as well as the latest

methods, studies and technologies led to partnerships with award-winning, high-end international

furniture producers such as Baker Furniture, Ralph Lauren, and Armani Casa, to name a few. In 2020,

Alia, together with her daughter Tamara El Tanani launched Don Tanani, a platform designed to elevate

Egyptian design alongside local innovators, researchers, curators, and tastemakers. The inaugural

collection, titled ‘Duality’, was conceived by Egyptian product designer Lina El Orabi and inspired by

Egypt’s pharaonic legacy with an added contemporary twist. Don Tanani’s aspirations stem directly from

Alia’s extraordinary and intangible abilities – to simultaneously preserve and enhance the essence of their

origins – and is manifested in every element of her visions, her philosophies, and her designs.

Christiane Abdalla is one of Egypt's foremost art patrons and co-owner of MARMONIL, an Egyptian

industry leader in the supply of marble and granite. For an extended bio, please refer to the Patrons

section (p.184)

Karim El Chiaty is the vice chairman of Travco Group, a travel and hospitality conglomerate with

presence in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. He is also the founder of Travco Properties, the group's

luxury real estate development arm with its flagship Almaza Bay project on Egypt's North Coast.

Mary & Bishoy Azmy are passionate art collectors and the founders of the Gratus Collection which

brings together dozens of pieces of Egyptian art from different eras. For an extended bio, please refer to

the Patrons section (p.183)

Rasheed Kamel is an attorney at law and one of Egypt's foremost supporters of the arts. He started

collecting art at university over 20 years ago and is particularly interested in modern, contemporary, and

conceptual pieces. For an extended bio, please refer to the Patrons section (p.184).

Art D’Égypte would also like to thank Sherine Ghanem and Venus El Rayes for their invaluable

support as members of the steering committee.

Laurent Le Bon is a French Conservateur général du patrimoine. After overseeing public

art commissions for the Ministry of Culture, he was curator at the Musée national d’art

moderne-Centre Georges Pompidou from 2000 to 2010 where he curated over fifty wideranging

exhibitions including Dada at the Centre Pompidou in 2005, Jeff Koons Versailles

at the Château de Versailles in 2008, Jardins at the Grand Palais’s Galeries Nationales and

Dioramas at the Palais de Tokyo both in 2017, and Picasso - Blue and Rose at the Musée

d’Orsay in 2018. He has previously served as director of the Centre Pompidou-Metz (2010–

14), and as president of the Musée national Picasso-Paris (2014–21). Since 2021, he has

been president of the Centre national d’art et de culture-Georges Pompidou.

Mounir Neamatalla is a man who is passionate about his dreams, pursuing them with

single-minded devotion until they become reality. He started his professional life driven

by a mission to succeed in creating environmentally and socially sensitive enterprises. The

result was Environmental Quality International (EQI), the first consulting enterprise of its

nature in the Middle East and North Africa, founded in 1981. He remains deeply committed

to the guiding principles of the company he founded more than 30 years ago and believes

that it is the spirit of entrepreneurship at the smallest scale that has preserved the cities of

the region for centuries as thriving centres of world trade, finance, and culture.

Peter Der Manuelian

Peter Der Manuelian is Barbara Bell Professor of Egyptology at Harvard University. He is

also Director of The Giza Project at Harvard, Director of the Harvard Museum of the Ancient

Near East, and Co-Director of the Arabic Excavation Archive from Quft. For an extended bio,

please refer to the Contributors section (p.175)

Ribio Nzeza Bunketi Buse is the Director of the Culture department at Senghor

International University in Alexandria (Egypt). He previously chaired the board of the

Music in Africa Foundation (2013–2016), a Pan-African not-for- profit organisation based

in South Africa. He played a major role in two successful achievements at UNESCO: He was

lead writer of Kinshasa's application to the Creative Cities Network in music (2015)

and rapporteur of the Joint Committee DR Congo-Republic of Congo for the nomination

of Congolese rumba on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of

Humanity (2021).

HONORARY

ADVISORY BOARD

Yannick Lintz has held many positions during her prominent career, including advisor for

museums and heritage to then French Education minister Jack Lang. She was appointed

head of the Islamic Art Department at the Louvre in 2013, a position she held until 2022

when she was appointed director of the National Museum of Asian Art – Guimet by French

president Emmanuel Macron. One of the foremost specialists of Iranian and Islamic

arts, she has curated numerous international exhibitions such as Medieval Morocco and

Splendours of the Uzbek Oases at the Louvre Museum. Her involvement in major cultural

180 diplomacy initiatives has translated into several large-scale and groundbreaking projects in 181

Arab countries, Central Asia, and Iran.

Hussam Rashwan is one of Egypt’s foremost collectors of Egyptian modern art. He is also a scholar

who plays a vital role in preserving its history by undertaking and supporting research projects and

Zahi Hawass is a world-renowned archaeologist whose dynamic personality and extensive

helping researchers around the world. His outstanding collection of literary references related to

knowledge have sparked global interest in ancient Egypt. For an extended bio, please refer

Egyptian modern art and his unparalleled knowledge have placed him at the pinnacle of Egypt's elite

to the Contributors section (p.175).

academic art circle, and he is considered an invaluable resource by art collectors, leading academics,

major institutions, and curators the world over. Together with Valérie Didier, he has co-authored

a catalogue raisonné of the entire oeuvre of two of the most important Egyptian modern artists,

Mahmoud Saïd (Skira, 2016) and Abdel Hadi Al Gazzar (Editions Norma, 2023).

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

PATRONS

DIAMOND

Nora Al Kholi is the visionary founder and driving force behind NK Ideas, a pioneering

event consulting company that specialises in crafting bespoke gifts and personalised

treasures, but her achievements don't end there. She holds an esteemed position on

the Board of Directors of Nile Holding for Investments, one of Egypt's premier industrial

and investment powerhouses. Her strategic insight is further acknowledged as a boar d

member of the First Arabia Development and Investment Co. (FADICO), the renowned

entity that brought the luxury of the Four Seasons to Cairo. Nora lends her expertise as

a dedicated consultant and patron to Art D’Égypte, contributing significantly to the art

landscape since 2016. Her past roles encompass commendable stints at prominent

establishments: she enhanced the British International School in Cairo (BISC) as a board

member from 2015 to 2021 and steered the FIRST ARABIAN COMPANY / First Mall and

the Four Seasons First Hotel Cairo as the Business Development, Marketing, and Events

Director from 2001 to 2010. Demonstrating her multifaceted talent, Nora also shone

as the Fashion and Lifestyle editor and writer for elite publications like Flash and Kalam

el Nas Magazines. Nora boasts a distinguished educational background. She holds a

master’s degree in Cognitive Psychology from Boston University, paired with a BA in

Psychology from the prestigious American University in Cairo. She is truly a paragon of

leadership, innovation, and expertise. Since February 2024, Nora has also been a member

of the Tate MENAAC’s Acquisitions Committee.

PLATINUM

The Bseiso Middle Eastern Art Collection by Rabie Bseiso and Joumana Mourad is

a collection of 500 artworks that showcase a thoughtfully curated array of masterpieces

created by visionary artists who have shaped the modern art landscape of the Middle

East. With a focus on bridging tradition and innovation, the collection captures the

essence of Middle Eastern identity while exploring the complexities of cultural

intersections and global dialogues and shedding light on the deep-rooted connections

between art, history, and spirituality. It aims to foster cross-cultural understanding,

inviting viewers to embark on a visual and emotional voyage that transcends

geographical boundaries.

Rabie Bsieso is a Jordanian/ Palestinian born in Beirut in 1971. He holds an LLB in

law, two diplomas and an LLM in law, and two PhDs, one in international commercial

law from Egypt and a second in international business administration from the USA. As

a Palestinian diplomat, he has represented the State of Palestine in the Organisation of

the Islamic Conference and held the position of permanent observer to the Arab league

and the United Nations for eight years. He is also the CEO of Bsieso Consulting Group, an

international law group with eight offices around the world. He is a passionate collector,

most notably of watches and sports cars of which he has an impressive collection. His love

of art developed thanks to his wife Joumana Mourad. In the past few years, the couple

have focussed on Syrian and Egyptian art, amassing a collection with over 500 pieces

including many rare masterpieces.

Youssef Ismail Mansour is a young collector who is passionate about art and culture

and views art as a valuable asset and a testament to human creativity. For Youssef

collecting art is not just about acquiring beautiful objects, but also about investing in the

cultural heritage of humanity. It is his way of participating in the dialogue that art creates

and preserving the stories of our time for future generations. He is now embarking on a

project to turn his private space into a museum by creating a sculpture garden of artworks

created for the Forever Is Now exhibitions at the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Giza

Plateau. This ambitious endeavour will feature a range of artworks from international

artists inspired by the unique history of the ancient Egyptian civilisation together with

the ever-changing social background and modern Egyptian culture. Through his tireless

pursuit of the best and most valuable pieces, Youssef is writing his own story. He is

committed to growing his collection and investing in the power of creativity.

The Gratus Collection by Mary & Bishoy Azmy brings together dozens of pieces

of Egyptian art from different eras encompassing the pioneers of the modern era, the

different Egyptian modern art movements, and the living giants of the contemporary era

as well as emerging talents supported and encouraged by the Gratus Foundation. This

one-of-a-kind collection has been developed with the help of Art D’Égypte and hopes to

provide a holistic representation of Egyptian art of all eras and disciplines, tracing the

varying layers and influences of Egyptian art over its rich and diverse history, showcasing

the wide range of local art production, and telling the story of Egypt using art as the main

182

Joumana Mourad is a famous actress and producer who has been working in the

medium. It will hopefully become an informative and invaluable resource for modern and

Arab world for the past 20 years. She is married to Dr Rabie Bsieso and lives between

contemporary Egyptian art research and play a small role in highlighting global awareness

London, Cairo, and Dubai. Born in Syria, she obtained a degree in English literature

and appreciation of Egyptian modern and contemporary art.

183

before moving to the United Kingdom where she graduated from the Actors Centre in

London. She has appeared in and produced numerous television series and feature films,

participated in many international film festival juries, and has received multiple awards

TITANIUM

throughout her illustrious career. Joumana’s passion for art and collecting started over

20 years ago, making her one of the foremost collectors of modern and contemporary

Masha Shobokshi is an avid art collector, the co-founder of RKan Editon, and a dedicated

art in the Middle East. Her favourite artists are Abdel Hadi Al Gazzar from Egypt and Luai

philanthropist through her participation in the Khayrazad organisation for social care. She

Kayyali from Syria.

has always been a generous supporter of Art D'Égypte and a patron of the arts in Egypt.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

GOLD

Hamza Serafi is a dedicated patron of the arts and a champion of culture and creative

industries. He is the co-founder of ATHR Art Gallery, where he led the Young Saudi

Artist Program until 2022, a platform that has been instrumental in promoting artistic

experimentation and nurturing emerging talents across the region. For an extended bio,

please refer to the Honorary Curating Board section (p.146)

Honayda Serafi is a Saudi Arabian fashion designer, educator, spokesperson, and

philanthropist. She is the first-ever female fashion designer to have launched a Saudi

Arabian ready-to-wear clothing brand, ushering her luxury, eponymous fashion house,

HONAYDA, into the international market in 2016. Serafi has since become a

pioneering creative and entrepreneurial ambassador for the Middle East, specifically

championing the leadership of women in the international fashion industry and

expanding contemporary definitions of feminist empowerment within the wider

creative field globally. Serafi is a long-standing mentor to women in fashion and the

arts, occupying both emissarial and education roles at the highest level of

Saudi Arabian cultural exchange and development. She has been recognised within

the global fashion industry through numerous awards and far-reaching press coverage,

partnering her creative success with an impressive business portfolio of board

directorships and advisory roles. Serafi is also a dedicated philanthropist who has

worked throughout her career to eliminate barriers around entrenched gender bias,

inequity and representation.

Dina Shehata & Karim Abou Youssef are the founders of the Mahy Khalifa Art

Fund, established in loving memory of Mahy Khalifa, Dina’s mother, an avid art lover

and collector. Launched in 2020 in partnership with Art D'Égypte, the Fund aims to

provide support for the arts in Egypt. The Fund’s flagship initiative, the Mahy Khalifa

Art Scholarship, was established to provide support for a new generation of artists,

art scholars, and curators by funding post-graduate studies in Europe for exceptional

young talents. Dina Shehata (PhD, political science, Georgetown University) is a senior

researcher and editor at al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies. Karim A.

Youssef (LL.M., J.S.D., Yale Law School) is the founder and CEO of Youssef & Partners, the

premier arbitration and dispute resolution law firm in Egypt and the Middle East.

Mr & Mrs Rasheed Kamel are proud supporters of the Egyptian art scene.

Passionate collectors of Egyptian art, they have amassed a superb, skilfully curated

Mohamed El-Shiaty is an avid collector of Egyptian art. He currently works for the World

private collection. The couple firmly believe they have an ethical obligation to support

Bank advising government clients across the Middle East and North Africa on private sector and

young Egyptian artists as part of their commitment to putting Egyptian art back

financial sector development reforms. Ramez Mirshak is an arts and culture enthusiast with

184

on the global map and preserving the country’s incomparable artistic heritage.

a background in banking, finance, and business development who researches and promotes

corporate social responsibility around the world.

185

Mr. Kamel is senior partner at Al Kamel Law Office, one of Egypt’s leading independent

law firms and currently serves on the Tate Modern Middle East and North Africa

Acquisition Committee.

Christiane & Claude Abdalla are the owners of MARMONIL, an industry leader

pioneering & operating in the Marble and Granite field. The couple make it their policy

to support initiatives they believe are helping to build a brighter future in Egypt. They

are avid collectors and passionate advocates for the arts and artists. Christiane Abdalla

serves as a patron for several permanent art movements including Venetian Heritage

in Venice and Art D’Égypte in Egypt. She received an award by MIA Art Collection headed by

Alejandra Rioseco for her role in supporting artists and art worldwide and has been recognised

as one of the top 50 most influential Women in Egypt. Through Marmonil, she also plays a vital

role in sponsoring and supporting art exhibitions such as the annual Art Symposium in Aswan

and takes immense pride in collaborating with renowned national and international artists

including Adam Henein, Stephen Cox, Gisela Colón, among others.

Rawya Mansour is an avid art collector and patron. She is also a dedicated environmental

activist and humanitarian, relentlessly fighting to lift up all segments of society. Her work

focuses on the link between the environment and poverty, empowering women and improving

standards of living through implementing clean technology for sustainable green business and

providing jobs, training, and capacity building. Her ground-breaking work has won her the title

of ‘African Female Leader of the Year’ 2019 from the African Leader Magazine and ‘Excellent

Business Leader’ 2017 from UN Women and Business Professional Women.

SILVER

Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi is an Emirati columnist and researcher on social, political, and

cultural affairs in the Arab Gulf States. He is also the founder of the Barjeel Art Foundation, an

independent initiative established in 2010 to contribute to the intellectual development of the

art scene in the Arab region. He has taught 'Politics of Modern Middle Eastern Art' at New York

University, Yale University, Georgetown University, Boston College, The American University

of Paris, Brandeis University, Harvard Kennedy School, Columbia University and most recently

at Bard College Berlin. Sultan also recently completed a Fellowship at Wissenschaftskolleg zu

Berlin.

Alia Saleh and Yasser Hashem began collecting art in the early 1980s. Since then, they have

carefully built an important collection of Egyptian artworks. They have also funded numerous

local and international projects focused on promoting research and publications on Egyptian

Modern Art. Yasser Hashem is the managing partner of Egypt-based law firm Zaki Hashem &

Partners.

BRONZE

Ola and Hisham El-Khazindar are passionate collectors of Egyptian and Middle Eastern

modern and contemporary art, and strong believers in engaging with Egypt’s and the region’s

art ecosystems and cultural initiatives. Amongst other initiatives, they supported the Egyptian

Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale, currently serve on the Tate’s Middle East Acquisition

Committee, and have supported Art D'Égypte since its inception.

Art d’Égypte would like to thank Mrs Samar Al Shaer for her generous patronage.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE


GOLD

The RAK Art Foundation is a non-profit organization, dedicated to empowering artists, providing opportunities,

encouraging cross cultural collaborations and exchange, and fostering international partnerships. Founded

in 2020, by H.E. Shaikh Rashid bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, artist, collector and Chairman of the National Arts

Council, Bahrain, the Foundation aims to support and enable projects that empower the creative community

in Bahrain and the wider region. The RAK Art Foundation exists within a converted traditional Bahraini House,

the home where Rashid Al Khalifa was raised. Since opening its doors to the public in 2020, the Foundation

showcases the private collection of Shaikh Rashid Al Khalifa, which encompasses modern and contemporary

art, furniture and design. It also houses his art studio, office space, and a library. An adjacent contemporary

‘white cube’ gallery space showcases Rashid’s own artwork, including his more recent large scale, aluminium

installations. In 2023, the RAK Art Foundation launched the Art Station, the educational extension of the

Foundation. The Art Station offers fellowships, residencies, studio spaces and workshops to Bahraini and

international artists looking to expand their creativity and community reach. Such opportunities aim to help

artists kick start their careers and develop their artistic practice with access to shared studio spaces, state of

the art equipment, bespoke intensives and workshops and an exhibition practicum.

BRONZE

Lee International is one of the largest internationally recognised intellectual property law firms in Korea.

Since its establishment in 1961, Lee International has been devoted to providing clients with a broad

range of high-quality intellectual property services. The firm is renowned for its cost-efficient solutions for

the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights provided by its exceptionally skilled and

experienced IP professionals and technical experts. Lee International is demonstrably the most reliable

partner for meeting its clients’ global IP needs. Its professionals understand the concerns of clients and

address those concerns to help them achieve successful business results in Korea and beyond.

The YS Kim Foundation was established in honour of Mr Young-Sam Kim who wanted to

help people on the margins of society find new opportunities to thrive. Mr. Kim’s legacy lives

on through his sons, Charles and James Kim, and their families. Inheriting and sustaining

the values of entrepreneurship, community building, and family, the Kim family honours Mr

YS Kim through the work of the YS Kim Foundation. Its mission is to support and open new

pathways of success for artists, children, young leaders, communities, and organisations.

The YS Kim Foundation does this by starting new initiatives and providing grants and

scholarships to organisations and students in the Korean American community and beyond.

PARTNER

The French Institute in Egypt (L’Institut français d’Égypte – IFE) is the heir to the

great tradition of cooperation between Egypt and France and a major player in the ties of

friendship between the French and Egyptian people. The institute is a department of the

French Embassy in Egypt, and its mission is to contribute to the influence of French culture,

language, and expertise in Egypt and to strengthen cooperation between Egypt and France.

To this end the IFE offers several hundred annual cultural events across its five branches

(Mounira, Heliopolis, New Cairo, Sheikh Zayedm and Alexandria), as well as participating in

numerous external events.

EDUCATION

PARTNER

186 187

The Peter Magnone Foundation promotes East Asian and Korean heritage by providing grants, organising

exhibitions, and developing educational programs. It supports artists, scholars, and organisations dedicated

to these cultures and hosts a range of historical and contemporary exhibitions. Additionally, the foundation

prioritises the preservation and expansion of significant artefacts, ensuring their relevance and accessibility for

future generations. Through its initiatives, the foundation aims to enhance awareness and appreciation of East

Asian and Korean heritage, fostering a deeper understanding of these cultures within the broader community.

The American University in Cairo (AUC) is dedicated to its mission of advancing arts,

education and culture while building essential bridges of knowledge and understanding

between Egypt and the world. Hosting the Forever Is Now.04 lecture series at its historic

AUC Tahrir Square campus is a practical example of AUC’s commitment to enriching Egypt’s

cultural landscape and providing lasting value to the community.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

THE GALLERY CIRCLE

THE DESIGNERS CIRCLE

At Culturvator|Art D’Égypte, we believe that working with local and international

galleries is vital to increase Egyptian artists’ exposure in new markets. The ‘Gallery

Circle’ was conceived with just such an aim in mind and is part of our continued

efforts to create synergistic collaborations with artists and galleries and thus provide

a wider audience for Egyptian and regional art. Pieces of art from our ‘Gallery Circle’

are regularly recommended to our Art D’Égypte network of local and international

collectors, interior designers, and buyers. Visitors to our ARTSY Platform are also able to

view and buy art directly via ‘Gallery Circle’ members.

The ‘Designers Circle’ is part of Culturvator|Art D’Égypte’s concerted efforts to

provide a wider audience for Egyptian and regional art through collaboration with

designers and architects. The aim of the initiative is to expand and strengthen the

art ecosystem and provide a platform where different creatives can work seamlessly

together. It brings together artists, architects, and designers under one umbrella to

facilitate cooperation and provide a curated library of artworks that can be used to

conceive visually enthralling spaces.

188 189

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

SPONSORS

Official Transportation Partner

GOLD SPONSOR

ALEXBANK, a bank of Intesa Sanpaolo, owns one of the largest private sector branch

networks with a total of 173 branches located in every major Egyptian governorate

employing over 4,300 individuals who proudly serve more than 1.9 million customers.

ALEXBANK actively serves the widest spectrum of segments by providing value-added

financial products, services, and solutions to retail, SMEs, and corporate enterprises.

ALEXBANK is currently in the midst of a radical digital transformation aimed at

providing our customers with the most unique banking experience via seamless

channels, offline and digital services, and unique propositions.

Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP) is the largest banking group in Italy, with a significant

international presence and is actively committed to the promotion and enhancement

of art and culture, engaging with national and international institutions towards this

aim. Central to this commitment is the Progetto Cultura program, which facilities

public access to the bank’s extensive artistic and architectural heritage through its

Gallerie d’Italia which serve as cultural hubs housing over 35,000 artworks while also

hosting cultural events and exhibitions. ISP’s Restituzioni program operates biennially

in partnership with governmental and academic organizations to restore significant

artworks and monuments, ensuring their return to communities and original sites.

Abou Ghaly Motors. We don't just move people; we transform journeys. With more than

40 years in the driver's seat, we've mastered the art of crafting mobility solutions that are as

dynamic as our customers' evolving needs. We don't merely keep up with technology; we drive

it. And our commitment goes beyond customer service; we provide an unrivalled experience. In

2010, we introduced the London Cab to Egypt, and since then, we've been rewriting the rules of

premium transportation. We offer more than just a ride; we provide an unforgettable experience.

But we didn't stop there. We're proud to announce our latest game-changer: the all-electric

London Cabs. Abou Ghaly Motors is at the forefront of green mobility in Egypt, ensuring your

journey is not only smooth but also environmentally conscious. Join us on the road to a better,

greener, and more unforgettable travel experience. Let's redefine mobility, together.

Barta & Partner Art Insurance has been present in the Egyptian Market for 20 years. ‘Second

to none insuring art’ is not only a slogan, it is the core element of Barta & Partner’s philosophy.

Together with his team, Nikolaus Barta has been responsible for the insurance of some of

the most expensive artworks in the world, as well as international blockbuster exhibitions,

notably f.e. all Tutankhamun Exhibitions since 2004 and, most recently, the unique Ramses the

Great. The Gold of the Pharaohs exhibition in Paris. This international cooperation means that

Barta offers a global insurance concept for your art, including worldwide loss handling. Barta

is traditionally committed to protection and preservation of works of art. Art historians and

insurance experts will advise you, and your art collection will be regularly appraised and adjusted

to constantly reflect its current market value. Barta insures against All Risks – which includes risks

that are generally not covered under conventional policies. Curious? Find out more on www.

bartaart.com

190 Afreximbank proudly sponsors Art D’Égypte, fostering cultural heritage and artistic

191

innovation in Egypt. As a leading financial institution, Afreximbank is committed

Al Ismaelia for Real Estate Investment specialises in the restoration of heritage buildings in

to supporting Africa's creative industries, recognising their vital role in economic

Downtown Cairo. To date, the company has acquired 25 signature heritage properties, including

development and cultural preservation. Art D’Égypte showcases contemporary art

the award-winning La Viennoise. Driven by its belief that art is the world’s most universal

within Egypt's iconic historical sites, creating a unique dialogue between past and

language, Al Ismaelia is dedicated to enhancing the arts and culture scene in Downtown Cairo

present. By partnering with this prestigious event, Afreximbank underscores its

and believes in its power to make a difference and influence positive change. Al Ismaelia’s

dedication to empowering artists and promoting African art on the global stage,

collaboration with Art D’Égypte is a wonderful opportunity to develop an experience that merges

enriching the continent's cultural landscape and inspiring future generations.

Downtown’s historic legacy with modern culture.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

Orascom Pyramids Entertainment (OPE) was established in 2018 through a

groundbreaking partnership with Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities. This collaboration

grants Orascom the rights to manage and enhance visitor experiences at the Pyramids of

Giza, integrating innovative technology with Egypt’s rich cultural heritage. The company

aims to transform the Giza Plateau into a premier destination, providing an engaging

and comfortable experience for visitors. With advanced services, OPE ensures a seamless

journey through this historic site while preserving its legacy for future generations. From

trip planning to on-site services, OPE offers streamlined experiences, including valet

parking, fast-track access, and eco-friendly mobility options. The newly completed Visitor

Centre provides essential orientation for an immersive exploration of the pyramids. Visitors

can customise their experiences through premium private tours, alongside amenities like

seating areas, restrooms, clinics, and wayfinding signage for added comfort. The Giza Plateau

now also features diverse dining options – everything from casual cafés to fine dining – at

the King Khufu Centre, all with breathtaking views of the pyramids. Retail locations showcase

authentic Egyptian craftsmanship, while cultural and art events introduce dynamic ways to

experience the site. OPE’s vision is to create lasting memories for every visitor, enhancing

their connection to this extraordinary wonder.

The Sawiris Foundation for Social Development (SFSD) was founded in 2001 by the Sawiris

family and today stands as one of Egypt’s foremost philanthropic foundations. With a commitment

to innovative and sustainable solutions, SFSD has consistently worked to address Egypt’s most

pressing social and economic challenges. For over two decades, SFSD has focused on empowering

marginalised communities by tackling poverty, unemployment, social exclusion, and limited access to

quality education. In collaboration with the Egyptian government, private sector, and civil society, the

Foundation funds programs that create lasting, meaningful change. By generating job opportunities,

expanding access to quality education, and improving essential services, SFSD has touched the lives

of nearly one million Egyptians. In response to evolving national and global challenges, SFSD has

launched its new 5-year strategy 2023-2028, grounded in the philosophy of effective altruism and

based on principles of evidence-based approaches. The strategy is focused on two main goals: Reducing

Multidimensional Poverty and Empowering Agents of Change across Egypt to foster long-term, systemic

transformation. SFSD is also deeply invested in supporting Egypt’s cultural and artistic heritage.

Since 2005, the Sawiris Cultural Award (SCA) has recognised both emerging and established Egyptian

writers, while the Sawiris Arts and Culture Scholarship (SACS) provides aspiring Egyptian artists the

opportunity to study at world-class universities and residency programs aboard. Through these initiatives

and numerous other cultural programs, SFSD plays a key role in fostering Egypt’s vibrant artistic and

cultural landscape. For more information, visit www.sawirisfoundation.org or contact us at info@

sawirisfoundation.org

SILVER SPONSOR

Nile Projects is a significant influence on Egypt's fashion industry, boasting a portfolio of

over 45 luxury and lifestyle brands, including Ferragamo, Burberry, Sandro, Maje, BOSS,

Official Automotive Partner

Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, AllSaints, Polo Ralph Lauren, Dan John, Hackett, Charles &

Keith, Matalan & many more. Nile Projects offers a diverse selection through mono brands

and innovative multi-brand concepts like Dstore and O'five. Today, Nile Projects stands as

Egypt's largest luxury and lifestyle retailer and a pioneer in e-commerce fashion committed

to elevating the retail landscape. Founded in 1972 by Ossama El-Naggar as a small family

business, Nile Projects expanded into various industries, including fashion, automotive, real

estate and F&B, and currently employs more than 3,000 individuals dedicated to excellence

BMW has always been a pioneer in the automotive industry, consistently delivering premium automobiles

192 and innovation. Our journey reflects a deep connection to our heritage while embracing

that blend performance, luxury, technology, and innovation. Beyond vehicles, BMW demonstrates 193

contemporary trends and a modern perspective.

its commitment to innovation through extensive cultural collaborations and artistic partnerships. By

supporting initiatives like BMW Art Journey and BMW Art Car Project, and collaborating with prestigious

In partnership with Art d'Égypte for the fourth edition of Forever Is Now, we proudly

events such as Art D'Égypte's Forever Is Now – an extraordinary fusion of art and historical heritage – they

showcase key pieces from Dstore & O'five from Sandro, Maje, AllSaints and BOSS against

highlight the timeless beauty of Egypt's cultural landscape, creating unique experiences that inspire

the breathtaking backdrop of the pyramids. This event goes beyond fashion; it is a vibrant

wonder and innovation. BMW blends automotive design with artistic expression, enhancing a lifestyle

dialogue between our legacy and Egypt’s rich artistic heritage. Here, the past, present, and

of luxury and joy, and underscores its leadership as a cultural ambassador. By encouraging everyone to

future intertwine, creating a striking narrative that embodies the essence of art, culture, and

be, feel, and think ahead, BMW contributes to the global art community and positions itself as a leader in

the dynamic spirit of timeless Egypt.

shaping the future.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

BICC was established in 1996 as a joint venture between BICC Cables of

the UK, DUCAB, and other investors, and focuses on the production of low/

medium voltage power cables and special cables. It has significantly expanded

production capacity and market share through strategic investments, including

the installation of new machinery. These improvements are dedicated to

meeting the evolving needs of our clients and ensuring a consistent supply of

high-quality cable products.

Eastern Company was established more than a century ago as a pioneer of the

tobacco industry in the Middle East. Through continuous efforts over decades,

the company has maintained its distinguished position and continued to

grow. Under the leadership of Mr Hani Aman, CEO and Managing Director, the

company has radically transformed, transitioning from public to private sector

and attracting substantial investments from new partners with vast experience

in the tobacco industry. In FY 2024, the company achieved its highest historical

results, distributing a total of EGP 8.1 billion (EGP 2.7/share) to shareholders. As

the company enters its second century, it looks to the future with confidence and

seeks to expand its global business reach.

NADIM Industries, a woodworking manufacturing factory at heart, works

both locally and internationally on B2B contract projects and partnerships.

Based in Egypt, this family business has flourished into one of the most

prominent woodworking manufacturers in the region, producing furniture,

fittings and interiors in both traditional and contemporary styles.

Orange Egypt is one of the world's leading telecommunications operators and

is proud to sponsor Art D'Égypte, a cultural initiative dedicated to promoting and

celebrating Egypt's rich artistic heritage. As a leading telecommunications provider,

Orange Egypt believes in the transformative power of art and culture to connect

communities and inspire innovation. Through this partnership, we aim to enhance

public engagement with the arts by showcasing the talents of local artists and

enriching the cultural landscape. Art D'Égypte serves as a platform for dialogue and

collaboration, bringing together diverse voices and fostering creativity. By supporting

this initiative, Orange Egypt reaffirms its commitment to social responsibility and

cultural development in Egypt. We are excited to contribute to a vibrant artistic

dialogue that not only highlights Egypt's historical significance but also paves the way

for future generations of creators. Join us in celebrating the intersection of technology,

culture, and art as we work together to build a brighter, more connected future.

Official Lighting Partner

Signify (Euronext: LIGHT) is the world leader in lighting for professionals,

consumers, and the Internet of Things. Our Philips products, Interact systems, and

data-enabled services deliver business value and transform life in homes, buildings,

and public spaces. In 2023, we had sales of EUR 6.7 billion, approximately 32,000

employees and a presence in over 70 countries. We unlock the extraordinary

potential of light for brighter lives and a better world. We have been in the Dow

Jones Sustainability World Index since our IPO for seven consecutive years and have

achieved the EcoVadis Platinum rating for four consecutive years, placing Signify in

the top one percent of companies assessed. News from Signify can be found in the

Newsroom, on X, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Information for investors is located on the

Investor Relations page.

194

TotalEnergies Marketing Egypt is a subsidiary of the international broad energy

195

company TotalEnergies SE established in 1998. The company is active across the

entire oil, natural gas, and energy sector, with general sales, lubricants, and aviation

activities as well as a retail network of 243 stations across the country. Our 1,200

employees are committed to energy that is ever more affordable, clean, reliable,

and accessible. At TotalEnergies Marketing Egypt, our core concerns are the safety of

people and operations, environmental protection, customer satisfaction and listening

to our stakeholders. Industrial hygiene, employee health, and product quality are our

absolute priorities.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

PARTNER

Official Carrier

EGYPTAIR, the flag carrier of Egypt, is proud to be the first airline in the Middle

East and Africa and the seventh in the world to join IATA. Boasting 90 years of

continuous success, EGYPTAIR has also been a member of Star Alliance, the

world’s largest airline alliance, since 2008. In a bid to upgrade its fleet, EGYPTAIR

recently added state-of-the art planes such as the Boeing Dreamliner 787-9,

Airbus A320NEO, and Airbus A220 all equipped with the latest technologies and

comfort facilities. EGYPTAIR has always played a pivotal role in linking Egypt to

Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Far East and has recently expanded its

substantial network with new destinations including Dhaka, Jersey, Manchester,

and Delhi.

Don Tanani is a high-end furniture brand and design house based in Cairo.

Founded in 2017 by Alia and Tamara El Tanani, the brand is dedicated to

promoting Egyptian craftsmanship and design through its exquisite furniture

pieces. Don Tanani combines traditional Egyptian craftsmanship with modern

design techniques to create unique and durable furniture. They offer both closed

and open edition collections, with closed editions released every two years,

inspired by Egyptian history, and open editions launched every six months,

featuring more functional and traditional items.

Official Financial Partner

Designboom is a daily web magazine based in Milan, Beijing, and New York

Ulter is a revolutionary payment program enabling customers to make sizable

with a global reach of 3.5 million readers and 390,000 newsletter subscribers.

purchases in the realm of luxury product acquisitions. Ulter prides itself on

Take a look at our social media platforms! Follow Designboom on Instagram

having the highest credit limit in the country, surpassing its peers by multiple

(4M followers), X (1.2M followers), Facebook (1.2M followers), and watch our

folds. It offers flexible repayment plans spanning up to 60 months with no down

videos on Vimeo and YouTube. Founded in Milan in 1999, Designboom is the

payment, subject to the financed amount, providing customers unparalleled

world’s first online magazine worldwide. Forbes magazine writes. ‘Designboom

financial convenience and peace of mind. Ulter by Valu promises to redefine

is known as the go-to designation for all things architecture. It’s a platform that is

the luxury shopping experience in Egypt, offering a seamless and accessible

crazy popular too, as they’ve built up a cult following over 20 years.’ Designboom

financing solution for discerning customers looking to invest in high-value

aims to bring together professional and young creatives from a diverse range

products. Ulter is designed to cater to the growing demand for flexible and

of backgrounds by publishing the latest news and key issues in the fields of

convenient payment solutions for high value transactions across luxury goods,

architecture, design, technology and art. Our mission over the past 25 years has

art, furniture, home finishing, travel, automotive, and marine transport, along

remained the same: unearthing the best projects and curating a selection of

with more lifestyle-enabling products and services. In conjunction with Ulter’s

the most interesting aspects of contemporary culture…before you can find it

launch, Valu has joined forces with top-tier merchants in the luxury space.

anywhere else. Today, Designboom is a comprehensive source with over 50,000

articles worth of useful information and insightful interviews, studio visits,

196 documentation of new products, reviews of exhibitions and books, and

197

historical surveys.'

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE


ART

D'ÉGYPTE

BY

CULTURVATOR

A CONDUIT OF GREAT IDEAS

AND CREATIVITY

Art D’Égypte’s flagship event is its iconic yearly exhibition in a historic Egyptian

location to shed light on the country’s abundant cultural heritage and connect the

art of Egypt’s past with that of the 21st century. Forever Is Now.04 is the seventh

edition and follows six highly successful iterations: Eternal Light at the Egyptian

Museum (2017); Nothing Vanishes, Everything Transforms at the Manial Palace

198 (2018); Reimagined Narratives on al-Mu‘izz Street (2019); and three editions of 199

Forever Is Now at the Pyramids of Giza (2021–2023). Since 2019, Art D’Égypte

has extended its reach, promoting Egyptian artists internationally at art fairs

such as Abu Dhabi Art and ArtGenève, holding exhibitions abroad such as

Tale of Two Cities, held jointly in Athens, Greece and Alexandria, Egypt, and

launching several initiatives such as podcasts and lecture series to raise interest

in Egyptian art at different levels and for varied audiences.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

Art D’Égypte was established by Nadine Abdel Ghaffar as a privately owned

Egyptian multidisciplinary firm that aimed to support Egyptian arts and cultural

initiatives. The company soon became a powerhouse on the Egyptian cultural

calendar with diverse initiatives across many disciplines. Culturvator was born

out of a need to extend the reach of Art D’Égypte and bring all these initiatives

together under one umbrella. It is a multi-disciplinary cultural platform that

works with private and public entities to activate spaces for cultural promotion

across all creative disciplines, spanning everything from visual arts and film to

heritage, design, and music. The core of the Culturvator model is to foster and

promote new collaborations across the global creative industry with the aim of

building connections and developing cultural experiences for a global audience.

As a sub-brand of Culturvator, Art D’Égypte continues to do what it does best:

develop strong local, regional, and international collaborations to enhance

and promote the rich Egyptian art scene; bridge the gap between Egyptian

artists and the world; and support young artists and artists with scarce funds

to get their work displayed and published. Art D’Égypte also provides art

consultancies to institutions, corporations, and private collectors as well as

curatorial services for public spaces and private entities. Cataloguing Egypt’s

modern and contemporary art heritage is a further goal of the company

through the development of documentaries on modern Egyptian artists.

ART D’ÉGYPTE

By raising awareness, Art D’Égypte’s target is to help preserve Egypt’s

heritage and advance the international profile of modern and

contemporary Egyptian art, presenting a different view of Egypt to

the world. Every aspect of Art D’Égypte’s projects is designed with

sustainability and community in mind. Free lectures and panels and

community engagement programs have helped hundreds of young

people from the neighbourhoods surrounding the historic sites

acquire a sense of ownership and pride in the initiatives and in their

shared heritage, thus promoting site sustainability. This commitment

to inclusivity and accessibility aligns with UNESCO’s Convention on

the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions

and has resulted in Art D’Égypte operating under UNESCO patronage

since 2019.

ART D'ÉGYPTE TEAM

Nadine Abdel Ghaffar [Founder & Curator] is an award-winning French-Egyptian

curator, cultural ambassador, art advisor, and entrepreneur credited with revitalising the

Egyptian artistic landscape in the space of only a few short years. Thanks to the iconic

annual contemporary art exhibitions held under her Culturvator|Art D’Égypte cultural

consultancy platform, Egypt has earned a coveted place on the international art calendar

and become a sought-after destination for artists, collectors, and art lovers alike. She

has also been instrumental in bringing contemporary Egyptian art to the world through

innovative collaborations and art activations such as the recent exhibition Tale of Two

Cities, held jointly in Athens, Greece and Alexandria, Egypt to highlight historic and

modern cultural ties between the two cities.

OTHER ART D’ÉGYPTE BY CULTURVATOR PROJECTS

Cairo International Art District

Thanks to Nadine’s passion and dedication, Culturvator|Art D’Égypte has been operating

under UNESCO patronage since 2019 and enjoys extensive support from both local

In tandem with Forever Is Now.04, Art D'Égypte is organising its annual

and international institutions, art patrons, and thought leaders. In her capacity as an

grand art concept, the 'Cairo International Art District' (CIAD) in a variety

art consultant, she has also brought her unique talent and expertise to international

of spaces across Downtown Cairo. The exhibitions embrace both solo

events in Athens, Geneva, and Riyadh where she has been instrumental in the success

of the Noor Riyadh light festival. She has been a brand ambassador for French luxury

and group contemporary art exhibitions and independent projects.

fashion house Dior since 2020 and is proud to support several exceptional womenowned

Egyptian brands. She firmly believes that it is vital to mentor and empower

Locations include the Cinema Radio Complex, Access Art Space, and the

Factory, among other venues converted to temporary exhibition spaces.

female youth in the region, and one of the core objectives of her firm's activities is to

support and exhibit women artists. The impact of her work has been widely recognised,

The showcased artworks comprise painting, photography, sculpture,

200 and she has received numerous accolades. In 2020, she was invited by UN Women to 201

installation, video art, new media art, and sound. CIAD also presents

a series of public lectures and talks targeting artists, students, and

art enthusiasts. These programs are hosted by esteemed artists and

academics at the American University in Cairo's downtown campus.

Her ambitious curatorial style and entrepreneurial vision are underpinned by

exceptional leadership skills and the ability to inspire and galvanise diverse networks

and partners to come together in celebration of culture and art. A key tenet of her

approach is a firm commitment to advocacy and community development, whether

through preservation and upgrading of facilities at heritage sites or through programs

designed to raise awareness, create opportunities, and instil a sense of pride and

ownership among community members. Her mission is not only to democratise access

to art but also to increase the inclusivity and diversity of the Egyptian and regional art

scenes through initiatives such as art residencies, scholarships, workshops, and

field training.

give a talk at Palais des Nations, Geneva, about Egyptian women and their impact on

art and society. In 2021, she was bestowed the title Chevalier de l’ordre des arts des

lettres by the French government and was selected as one of Egypt’s Top 50 Women.

Most recently, she was named Egyptian Woman Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2022

Egyptian Entrepreneurship Awards.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

Shahd Osman [Designer / Project Manager] is a multidisciplinary interior architect

with a passion for art and design. She has worked across a wide range of areas, from

exhibition curation and creation to architectural design and building projects, interior

design, set design as well as art direction. Her projects include Cinema Zawya, Studio

Emad Eddin, Rawabet Art Space, and Maktabi creative office space, among many others.

She received her BA in Interior Architecture from the Oxford School of Architecture

at Oxford Brookes University and completed her foundation design diploma at

Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, University of the Arts London. Her

responsibilities at Art D’Égypte include team management, as well as coordinating with

multiple entities to fulfil project requirements, design and manage exhibitions, and

oversee project technical aspects.

Hanya Elghamry [Senior Curator] is a research-based multidisciplinary visual artist

and curator working in a variety of media including painting, photography, installation,

and video. She holds two BAs in Visual Arts and Integrated Marketing Communication

from the American University in Cairo and recently graduated from Central Saint Martins

– UAL in London with a master’s degree in fine arts. She was Associate Lecturer at

Central Saint Martins in London in 2022 and currently works at the London College for

Contemporary Art, accredited by UCA. Hanya has been with Art D’Égypte since 2019. As

senior curator, she has worked on numerous projects including the three editions of the

Forever Is Now exhibition series at the Pyramids of Giza. She is responsible for research

and development of the curatorial direction of the exhibitions as well as overseeing the

execution of each show, including logistics, management, and artist liaison. Hanya has

participated in several group exhibitions and curated shows in both London and Cairo.

Alaa Elsayegh [PR & Communication Manager] is an experienced communications

professional with a strong academic and career background. She graduated with

honours in Mass Communication with a focus on broadcasting from MSA University and

Bedfordshire University. Alaa also holds a Public Relations certificate from the University

of the Arts London (UAL) and has completed her first year of working toward an MBA. Her

career includes notable roles at the 40th Cairo International Film Festival and as a public

relations specialist at EgyptAir. For the past four years, Alaa has been the PR Manager at

Art D'Égypte, where she handles all aspects of communications, including writing press

releases, managing social media, and maintaining relationships with the media.

Heidi Nasser [VIP Relations & Partnership Manager] graduated from the American

University in Cairo with a BA in Integrated Marketing Communication and a BA in

suppliers and proposing innovative ways for artworks to be interpreted through exhibitions,

202 Business Administration with an entrepreneurship concentration. At Art D’Égypte she

publications, and events. She has received her BFA, with a double major in Graphic Design 203

is responsible for coordinating activations and events, developing project proposals,

and painting from the Alberta University of the Arts.

arranging all logistical matters concerning guests, and securing funds for projects

through sponsorship agreements with both local and global organisations.

Amira Mostafa [Junior Art Curator] is a multi-disciplinary Egyptian visual artist based

in Alexandria. She graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts in 2019 and has participated

in numerous group exhibitions and joined in curation field since 2020. She joined

Art D’Égypte in 2022.

Hend Tarrad [Head of the Art Guides Programme] is an Egyptology enthusiast with a

deep-rooted passion for history and art. She is currently completing her master’s studies in

civilisations, cultures, and societies at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris after

graduating from the Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management, Helwan University where

she works as a teaching assistant. She has been involved with Art d’Égypte since 2022

which has fuelled her passion for new experiences and projects.

Laila Mansi [Artist Liaison Assistant] recently graduated with an architecture degree from

Paris, France. Over the past few years, she has embarked on an exploration of numerous

galleries and museums across Europe, immersing herself in the rich tapestry of artistic

inspiration. In her current role at Art D’Égypte, she is responsible for ensuring effective

communication with artists, orchestrating logistical arrangements, and coordinating the

intricate details that bring art to life.

Salma Al Ashmawy [Cultural Programme Specialist] holds a bachelor's degree in arts

plastiques (Visual Art) from Pantheon Sorbonne University in Paris, France. In pursuit of her

passion for design, she is studying for a fashion design diploma and obtained a certificate in

graphic design from the Russian Cultural Centre in Cairo. This certification not only expanded

her creative abilities but also provided her with a strong foundation in the principles of

design. Previously she worked as a co-teacher at Lycée Albert Camus. She joined Art D’Égypte

in 2023 where she is responsible for coordination with sponsors and partners and assists in

developing project proposals and handling VIP guests.

Esraa Elbeheary [PR & Communications Assistant] is a graphic designer and communications

professional with a bachelor's degree in graphic design from MSA University. She began her

career as a junior graphic designer at art gallery Easel and Camera and later worked at Lahja,

an advertising agency. After completing her degree, she joined Esorus as a visual designer and

now plays a vital role in PR and communication at Art D'Égypte where she manages social media

platforms, creates content, coordinates with the press, circulates press releases, edits videos, and

communicates with media partners. Her diverse experience and creative vision continue to make

a significant impact in every role she takes on.

Farah Yehia [Junior Curator] is a multi-disciplinary visual artist working with painting,

sculpture, video, and photography, and most recently, projection mapping. At Art D’Égypte, she

is part of the curation and project management team, assisting in exhibition design, logistics

management, and project organisation. Her duties include communicating and handling

Malak Hassanein [Project Coordinator] is a fine arts graduate from Chelsea College of

Arts UAL, London. Before joining Art D’Égypte, she lived in London where she focused on

strengthening her art skills, exploring different mediums, and building her knowledge

of the art field in London and Egypt. After moving back to Egypt, she joined Art D’Égypte

as project coordinator where she is responsible for organising and supervising projects,

working on exhibitions, and ensuring that events operate smoothly.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Nour El-Afifi [Office and Government Relations Manager] holds a BA in Finance and

Investment from Misr University for Science and Technology. At Art D’Égypte, Nour

leverages his extensive background in business development, operations coordination,

and strategic planning to foster strong relationships and streamline office operations.

His experience spans various industries, with roles at local and international companies,

where he demonstrated his expertise in market research, data analysis, and process

optimisation. Committed to continuous learning, Nour is enhancing his skill set with

certifications in digital marketing and data analytics.

Eunok Son [Consultant] is a Korean correspondent for KOFICE (Korean Foundation for

International Cultural Exchange) and has been living in Egypt since 2010. She writes

articles on culture and organises artistic collaborations between Korean and Egyptian

artists, promoting cultural exchange between the two nations. At Art D’Égypte, she is

involved in public relations and sponsorship-related tasks.

Hala El Sherif [Junior Coordinator] recently obtained her BA in Fine Arts, majoring in

Fashion Design, from the prestigious Parsons School of Art and Design, after studying

between Paris and New York, two of the world's major fashion hubs. Her role at Art

D’Égypte allows her to put her passion for art, culture, and heritage into practice,

particularly in terms of blending traditional influences with contemporary design.

Sherifa Youssef [Junior Coordinator] recently graduated from ESLSCA university

in Cairo with a bachelor's degree in BBA specializing in Luxury Brand Management.

Driven by her passion for art and fashion, she is actively pursuing a career in design.

At Art D’Égypte, she assists in developing project proposals and coordinating activations

and events.

Toqa Ashraf [Junior Coordinator] is a visual and interior designer based in Egypt

with BA in Arts and Design. At Art D'Égypte, Toqa assists in production and technical

details, as well as visual design, ensuring that everything runs smoothly for events and

exhibitions.

I am immensely grateful to the many contributors and supporters who were instrumental in

the success of Forever Is Now. 04. This year is our fourth edition at this iconic site, the Great

Pyramids of Giza, and I am truly proud of how far we have come. Today, Forever Is Now has

become a fixture on the international art event calendar, giving Egyptian heritage, culture,

and contemporary art its due on the global stage. This incredible journey would not have

been possible without the faith our supporters, contributors, and friends place in us.

First and foremost, the international and local stars of Forever Is Now. 04, our wonderful

artists, who gave us so much of their time, energy, and creativity to make this exhibition a

truly exceptional event:

Mahmoud Abdel Kader [Financial Manager] graduated from the faculty of commerce

Chris Levine

Khaled Zaki

in 2013. He started his career as junior accountant and first joined Art D’Égypte in 2018

as an accountant.

Federica Di Carlo

Luca Boffi

Ik-Joong Kang

Marie Khouri

Hossam Bahaa [Accounting Manager] joined Art D’Égypte in 2020 where he is

Jake Michael Singer

Shilo Shiv Suleman

204 instrumental in the smooth running of the Accounting Department.

205

Jean Boghossian

Jean-Marie Appriou

Studio INI by Nassia Inglessis

Xavier Mascaró

And our parallel project artists:

Hassan Ragab and Daniah Alsaleh

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

We are completely indebted to the support teams of each artist and the galleries that represent

them for their generosity and cooperation throughout this past year.

H.E. Sherif Fathy, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities.

H.E. Dr Badr Abdelatty, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

H.E. Dr Ahmed Hanno, Minister of Culture.

H.E. Omar Selim, Foreign Affairs Minister’s Assistant for Cultural Relations.

Dr Waleed Kanoush, Head of the Fine Arts Sector at the Ministry of Culture.

Dr Mohamed Ismail, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

Dr Khaled El Enany, Former Minister of Tourism and Antiquities.

Ashraf Mohie Eldin, Director General of the Pyramids of Giza.

Mr Amr El Kady, CEO of the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Board.

UNESCO, ALESCO, and ISESCO – Dr Nuria Sanz, Regional Director of UNESCO, and Dalia Khalil,

Assistant to the Regional Director of UNESCO, whose help, support and encouragement were

instrumental in helping revive UNESCO patronage. Thank you to H.E. Alaa Youssef, Ambassador

and Permanent Delegate of Egypt to UNESCO for his support.

Dina Iskandar for supporting Art D’Égypte over the years.

The Art D’Égypte team, my backbone and the best team in the world, for their dedication and

commitment to making our initiative work. They have been the true powerhouse behind this

exhibition, and I am truly grateful for their creativity and passion and for their perseverance

in the face of all obstacles. I thank them from the bottom of my heart for believing in this

project and I look forward to even greater successes together. Hanya Elghamry, Alaa El

Sayegh, Shahd Osman, Laila Mansi, and Farah Yehia for their hard work and perseverance

in dealing with every task presented to them no matter how obscure. Heidi Nasser, Salma

El Ashmawy, Amira Mostafa, Malak Essam, Esraa Elbeheary, Salma Hosny, Nour El-Afifi, Hala

El Sherif, Sherifa Youssef, Toqa Ashraf, Eunok Son, Hossam Bahaa, and Mahmoud Ashraf for

their hard work and dedication.

Tamasha PR & Media Agency founded by Nevine Zoheiry and her dedicated team for

managing the journalists and providing them with a professional, well-organized experience.

The contributors to our exhibition catalogue: Zahi Hawas, Peter Der Manuelian, Nuria Sanz

Gallego, Nikolaus Barta, Sultan al Qassemi, Precious Mhone, Christopher Noey, Kyu Hyon

Rhee, Maylin Pérez, Salima Ikram, Roberta Semeraro, Valérie Didier, Gaïa Matisse, and

Hassan Ragab.

The hosts of our lecture series, the American University in Cairo.

Giovanna Cicutto, Hamza Serafi, Julia Fabry, Kyu Hyon Rhee, Maylin Perez, Gaïa Matisse, and

Precious Mhone for their invaluable input on our honorary curatorial board.

Special thanks to UNESCO for their patronage of this edition of Forever Is Now, and particularly for

Nora Al Kholi, Director of our Steering Committee, and esteemed committee members

the perseverance of Akatuski Takahashi, Ayman Abdel Mohsen, and Amal Gad.

Hamza Serafi, Youssef Mansour, Ali Khadra, Alia El Tanani, Christiane Abdalla, Karim El

Chiaty, Mary & Bishoy Azmy, Rasheed Kamel, Sherine Ghanem, and Venus El Rayes, for their

The General Administration of Tourism & Antiquities Police, the Ministry of Interior, Giza

guidance and support.

206

Governorate, Cairo Governorate and Alexandria Governorate.

207

Sound and Light, especially Mohamed Abdel Aziz, Mohamed El Barbary, Nelly Rostom and

Manal Abdel Hamid for allowing us to create our opening event against their beautiful backdrop.

Linchpin-Heft with special thanks to Hani Bakhoum, Managing Director, for his continuous

support for the second year in a row, and to his team Andrew Ashraf, Mohamed Wael, Sherif

Gawdat, and Kirolos Nasser for their perseverance and dedication.

Hussam Rashwan, Laurent Le Bon, Mounir Neamatalla, Peter Der Manuelian, Ribio Nzeza

Bunketi Buse, and Yannick Lintz, our esteemed advisory board members.

Particular gratitude to Zahi Hawass for his steadfast belief in us and for his immense support

as a member of our advisory board from the very beginning.

Special thanks to Loa Pictet, Julia Ruzicka, Sylvie Reynaud, and Emmanuella Wuergler.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

Our copyeditor Nevine Henein and our book designer Jorell Legaspi for their tremendous

effort in bringing this publication to light; and our translator Maysoon Mahfouz for her

invaluable assistance.

Sahara Printing Company, our trusted printing partner, and their CEO Nadim Elias.

AlexBank, our official banking partner, for their support and input and the efforts of the

team, Nermine Hassouba and Rana Ahmed.

Orascom Pyramids Entertainment for hosting us four years in a row, Amr Gazarin,

Mona Lotfy, Mahmoud Abdel Aziz, Ali Abousteit, Yasmine Fahmy, and Ahmed Mustafa.

Al Ismaelia and Karim Shafei for their efforts to preserve Downtown Cairo’s heritage along

with Merna Hazem who has been extremely helpful.

M. Fares & Associates for curating the design concept of the event and venue. Special

thanks to Mohamed Fares, Omar Ashour, Nourhan Elbadry, Nada Abdelrahman, Ann

Elsaban, Shaza Ali, Farida El Nakkady, Farah Hesham, Lojain Zwail and Donya Raslan.

Tarek Nour Communications for managing the event and providing us with multiple

billboards in prime locations – Ahmed Tarek, Amira Atef, Yasmine Mashhour, Aalaa

El Sharbatly, Mark Mounir and Ahmed El Raey for your hard work and dedication.

I-Materials, Pakinam Mostafa for partnering with us and helping make the vision of the

opening night possible through their skilled craftsmanship.

Orange, especially CEO Yasser Shaker, Laila El-Nofely, Maha Nagy, and Beshoy Barsom for

their services.

The Sawiris Foundation for Social Development (SFSD) team for the great work

they do in Egypt. Special thanks to Samih Sawiris for his support and trust; Dina Nagaty for

assistance with every step; Laila Hosny and Rosa Abdel Malek for putting so much effort

into the foundation.

BMW, especially Mohab Ahmed and Nada El Sokkari, for their extended support.

EgyptAir for providing our guests with special flight rates, with particular thanks to Amr

Adawy and Pakinam Mohamed.

DHL, our logistics partners. Mona Mohamed, Nada Ali and Mai Hassabo for their

willingness to solve every logistical obstacle and for going out of their way to provide

storage space.

Logitrans and Lyne Roulin for their ongoing collaboration and constant help and support.

EgyBev and Beausoleil d’Égypte, particularly Micheleen Amir, Kareem Soliman,

and Gehan Iskander for providing our guests with a unique experience.

Rania El Gazzar Catering and Rania El Gazzar for all their help.

Total Energies, especially Rabab Mansour and Yasmine Emad for their support.

Four Seasons, our hotel partner, with special thanks to Sherifa Issa, Hibba Bilal, Khalda

Bibliotheca Alexandrina, our official exhibition host.

El Zanfaly, Ahmed Tarek, Noha Mahmoud and Dalia El Orfali.

BICC, especially CEO Hussam Sharkeya and Lina Sharkeya for their support and special

MO4 Network, our official media partner, for their creative input and the efforts of the

thanks to their team Mary Sobhy and Abanoub Safwat.

208

team Amy Mowafi, Timmy Mowafi, Nariman El Bakry, and Karim Abdellatif.

Université de Senghor and Ribio Nzeza Bunketi Buse.

209

Barta & Partner for insuring the artworks for the entire duration of the exhibition despite

many difficult circumstances – Nikolaus S. Barta, Philip Machat, Iduna Dessovic, and

Kahhal 1871 and Mohamed El Kahhal for their collaboration.

Dominika Niton.

Nile Projects, with special thanks to Ahmed El Naggar CEO and Hanna Sherif.

Signify for lighting the exhibition and illuminating this exceptional experience – Merna

Samir, Mohamed Maher, Menna Onsi and their CEO Mohamed Saad.

Eastern Company and Mr Hany Aman, CEO & MD, for his support.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

Abou Ghaly Motors and London Cab, particularly Mr and Mrs Abou Ghaly, Mohamed El

Gayar, and Engy El Asy, for the London Cabs that facilitated our guests’ stay.

Daghash Group and Mohamed Daghash for being a super company that can achieve anything.

Don Tanani, especially Alia El Tanani for her constant support and advice.

Abercrombie & Kent, with special thanks to Amr Badr and his professional team, Dalia Khater

and Waleed El Assar, for treating our esteemed guests to the smoothest travel experience in

Egypt.

MARMONIL for their consistent support throughout the years.

NADIM FOUNDATION for making space for industrial experts and technicians to partner

up with artists and help them defy all boundaries in creating their art installations as well as

supporting us in building our exhibition installations.

Ulter, CEO Walid Hassouna, Salma Abdelhamid, May El Gammal, Ahmed Fouad, Omar Salama,

and Nermine Hammad for their efforts and support.

Afrexim Bank for their faith in our vision and Precious Mhone for believing in our work.

Al Sagheer Group, Mostafa Al Sagheer for his support.

Leopelle, our leather accessories partner, especially Ahmed El Gabbas and Mariam for

pampering our guests with gorgeous ballerinas, pyramid gift boxes, and passport holders.

Barjeel Art Foundation and Sultan Al Qassemi, its founder, for his immense support,

patronage, and steadfast commitment to the arts of the Arab world. His passion and support for

Art D’Égypte initiatives made it possible for our first endeavour, Night at the Museum, to see

the light in 2017.

Leila Heller Gallery, with special thanks to Leila Heller.

Abracadabra and Hathor for creating these beautiful giveaways especially for our guests.

Alumil, especially Ahmed Kassem, for their support.

TV5Monde with special thanks to Nabil Bouhajra for unconditional support and for spreading

our story on around the world, and Sylvie Tixidre for handling our account.

P:S Agency, with special thanks to Michela Pelizzari, Valentina, and Eugenio for their

continuous support.

Art Africa, with special thanks to Suzette Bell-Roberts and her team member Stephan Rheeder

for their invaluable contribution to the exhibition and their efforts in helping elevate its publicity.

FOREVER IS NOW .04

Special thanks to our Gallery Circle, including Access Art Space, Easel and Camera, Gallery Misr,

Liwan Gallery, Odyssey Art Gallery, Passion Art Gallery, Picasso Art Gallery, Samah Art Gallery,

The Art’s Hub, Zamalek Art Gallery, Demi Contemporary Art, CLEG Art Gallery, Motion Art Gallery,

and The Art Gallery.

Thank you to our Designers Circle, including Don Tanani, Kahhal 1871, RKan Edition, MFares &

Associates, Nagada Egypt, Shewekar, Kenda, and F&R Partnership.

Friends and family who contributed tremendously to the success of Forever Is Now .04. My

deepest gratitude to my beloved family: My father, Mamdouh A. Ghaffar, who has always

believed in me; my mother, Aida Fahmy, the source of strength in our family; my husband

Tarek El Mahdy who has always been my rock; my beautiful children, Omar and Taya; and my

brother Omar A. Ghaffar. My friends, Venus El Rayes, Sherine Ghanem, and Tarek El Saifi.

210

Designboom. We extend our sincere gratitude to Torsten Mischel and Lea Zeitoun for their

remarkable support and efforts in boosting exhibition visibility and success.

Thank you all for your belief in Art D’Égypte. With every exhibition, we raise the bar for

211

ourselves, but this is only possible thanks to the generosity, talent, and perseverance of so

Canvas magazine, with special thanks to Ali Khadra and his team, Lauren Mcneil, Amal Andary,

many. We are privileged to be able to bring together the global art community for events that

and Mylene Calaguian, for supporting us with their invaluable contribution to the exhibition.

connect our rich past with the technologies and creative forces of the future and warmly invite

you to join us on our next journey!

TPP, for their partnership in realising our podcast. CEO Ahmed Luxor and his wonderful team.

Nadine A. Ghaffar

Founder and Curator, Art D’Égypte

ART D’ÉGYPTE

UNDER THE AUSPICES OF

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

ARTISTS’ ACCOMPLISHMENTS

GOLD SPONSORS

CHRIS LEVINE

FEDERICA DI CARLO

Official Carrier

GOLD

Official Transportation Partner

SILVER SPONSORS

Official Lighting Partner Official Automotive Partner Official Hotel Partner

PARTNERS

Official Logistics Partner Official Exhibition Host Official Contracting Partner Official Education Partner


BRONZE

PARTNERS

Official Financial Partner

Solo Exhibitions

2024 Selected Works of Visionary, Museo

Gran Via 15, Madrid, Spain

2021 528 Hz Love Frequency, Houghton

Hall, Norfolk, UK

2019 Chris Levine: Be Light, Sotheby’s,

London, UK

2018 Inner (Deep) Space, Park Village

Studios, London, UK

2013 Light 3.142, The Fine Art Society

Contemporary, London, UK

2010 Stillness at the Speed of Light, Grace

Jones by Chris Levine, Vinyl Factory,

London, UK

2010 LIGHT, Laser Installation, One

Marylebone, Genesis Foundation

Commission, London, UK

2008 Lightness of Being, The Queen by

Chris Levine, StolenSpace, Truman Brewery,

London, UK

Group Exhibitions

2024 Money Talks: Art, Society and Power,

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK

2024 Kate Moss, Camera Work Gallery,

Berlin, Germany

2023 Noor Riyadh, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

2023 Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of

Arts, London, UK

2014 What Marcel Duchamp Taught Me, Fine

Art Society, London, UK

2012 Out of Focus: Photography, Saatchi

Gallery, London, UK

2012 Digital Darkroom, Annenberg

Foundation, Los Angeles, USA

2012 Antony and the Johnsons, Light Artist,

Presented by MoMA / NYC, USA

2012 The Queen Art and Image, National

Portrait Gallery, London (toured to Cardiff,

Edinburgh and Belfast)

Solo Exhibitions

2023 Tendo a esistere, Villa Galileo,

Firenze, Italy

2023 I Will Watch You Burn, presentation

trailer, MAXXI Museum of Rome, Italy

2022 I Wanted the Sun, National Gallery of

Rome, Italy

2018 Flow, Triennale di Milano – Il tempo

delle donne, Corriere della Sera, Milan, Italy

2018 We Lost The Sea, Arsenale della

Marina Regia, Palermo, Italy

2017 The Sea is Blue Because You Want

to Know Why the Sea is Blue, Tour de la

Babote, Montpellier, France

Group Exhibitions

2021 I Say I, (Dior) Museum National

Gallery of Rome, Italy

2019 The Quest of Happiness, Serlachius

Museum di Mänttä, Finland

2019 Passione, Fondazione VAF, Mart –

Museo di arte moderna e contemporanea

di Trento e Rovereto, Italy

2017 Encovention Europe: Art to Trasform

Ecologies, 1957-2017, Museum De

Domijnen, curated by Sue Spaid,

Sittard, Netherlands

IK-JOONG KANG

2024 Journey Home: Ik-Joong Kang

Retrospective on 40 Years, Cheongju

Museum of Art, Republic of Korea

2024 Arirang 2024, The 30th Anniversary

Exhibition of Korean Pavilion at the Venice

Biennale, Palazzo Malta, Venice, Italy

2020 Gwanghwamun Arirang,

Commissioned by Republic of Korea, Seoul,

Republic of Korea

2016 Floating Dreams, Thames Festival

2016, London, UK

213

ART D’ÉGYPTE

2015 The Art of Our Time: Master Pieces

from the Guggenheim Collections,

Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain

2009 Multiple/Dialogue ∞ (Nam June

Paik/Ik-Joong Kang), National Museum of

Contemporary Art, Republic of Korea

2001–2002 Amazed World, United Nations,

New York, USA

1997 Throw Everything Together and Add,

Venice Biennale Korean Pavilion,

Venice, Italy

1996 8490 Days of Memory, Whitney

Museum of American Art at Philip Morris,

New York, USA

1994 Multiple Dialogue (collaboration

with Nam June Paik), Whitney Museum of

American Art, Champion, USA

JAKE MICHAEL SINGER

Solo Exhibitions

JEAN BOGHOSSIAN

LUCA BOFFI

2024 We Will Meet Again In The Field, Thk

Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

Solo Exhibitions

2023 Siete acciones para trece personas,

2022 Ten Thousand Things, Yedikule Hisari,

2024 Bonfire, N Gallery, Seoul, Republic

performance at Univesidad de Las Artes (ISA)

17th Istanbul Biennial Satellite

of Korea

with Taller Chullima and Italian Embassy,

Exhibition, Turkey

2024 Flames, Anima Gallery, Doha, Qatar

Havana, Cuba

2021 In The Light, Muse Contemporary,

2024 Smoke Signals, Nosbaum Reding

2023 Panorama imaginaire, temporary

Istanbul Bennu Stasis Küçük Mustafa Paşa

Gallery, Luxembourg

installation for the 14e edition of Planches

Hamami, Turkey

2024 Abstract Writings, Abstract Thoughts,

Contact festival, Deauville, France

2020 But A Storm Is Blowing From Paradise,

Wittockiana, The Museum of Book Arts and

2023 Cosa vediamo, Casa Design Hunter,

Gallery Tiny, New York, USA

Bookbinding, Brussels, Belgium

Mexico City, USA

2019 In Murmurs, Thk Gallery, Cape Town,

2023 Jean Boghossian, Opera Gallery, Monaco

2022 DOCCIA, with Jacopo Valentini, Forte di

South Africa

2023 The Language of Fire, Villa Zito, Palermo,

Santa Tecla, Sanremo, Italy

2019 Solo Show, Investec Cape Town Art

Sicily, Italy

2022 18 mattoni di fango disposti a torre,

Fair, Matter Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

2022 Dialogue, Matenadaran,

Public Collections

(OFF)SITE, The Bond Between Man and Nature,


Yerevan, Armenia

Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France

Plateforme, Paris, France

Matter Gallery, Toronto, Canada

2019 Cessez le feu!, United Nations,

Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, France

2022 Pic-Nic, Copper Leg Art Residency,


Geneva, Switzerland

Musée du Louvre, France

Vaskjala, Estonia

Kalashnikovv Gallery, Johannesburg,

2019 Building with Fire, L’Orient Le Jour,

CNAP, Paris, France

2022 Campo Terra, Museo internazionale

South Africa

Beirut, Lebanon

FRAC Ile de France, France

e biblioteca della musica, Art City Bologna,

214 2017 Pale Stability, Punt Wg,

2017 Fiamma Inestinguibile, The 57th Venice

FRAC Corse, France

Bologna, Italy

215

Amsterdam, Netherlands

2017 RGB Sky, Hazard Gallery,

Johannesburg, South Africa

Group Exhibitions

2024 Evvel, Ruzy Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey

2023 Casted, Rupert Museum, Cape Town,

South Africa

2023 Tales Under The Gate, Dubai International

Financial Centre, in Association With Awc

Contemporary, UAE

2023 Back To The City, Muse Contemporary

Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey

2023 Back For More, Fremin Gallery,

New York, USA

2022 Flights Of Fancy, Norval Foundation,

Cape Town, South Africa

2022 Flux, Muse Contemporary Gallery,

Istanbul, Turkey

2022 Relics, Ruins, Bodrum, Turkey

2021 Transform, Thk Gallery, Cologne, Germany

2021 1-54 London, Somerset House, Thk

Gallery, London, UK

2021 Reflect. Reimagine. Reset., Thk Gallery,

Cape Town, South Africa

2021 The Garden Of Senses, St. Antoine Church,

Istanbul, Turkey

Biennale, Armenian National Pavilion,

Venice, Italy

Art Fairs

2024 Park Ryu Sook Gallery, KIAF, Seoul,

Republic of Korea

2024 Boghossian Jewels, TEFAF,

Maastricht, Netherlands

2024 Connect, N Gallery, ART BUSAN,

Seongnam, Republic of Korea

2024 Boon Gallery, BRAFA,

Brussels, Belgium

2023 Nosbaum Reding Gallery,

LAW, Luxembourg

JEAN-MARIE APPRIOU

Solo Exhibitions

2024 Central Wharf Park, Boston,

USA (upcoming)

2024 Perrotin, Paris, France (upcoming)

2023 La constellation du Louvre, Musée du

Louvre, Centre Dominique-Vivant Denon,

Paris, France

2022 Liquid Metal Dream, Perrotin

Shanghai, China

2022 Ophelia, Massimo de Carlo,

London, UK

2022 Un Odissea, ArtClub, Villa Medicis,

Rome, Italy

2021 Surface Horizon, Lafayette

Anticipations, Paris, France

2019 Seabed, Le Consortium, Dijon, France

2019 The Horses, (organized by Public Art

Fund), Doris C. Freedman Plaza, Central

Park, New York, USA

2018 Open Space # 1, (curated by Ludovic

Delalande & Claire Staebler), Fondation

Louis Vuitton, Paris, France

2014 Sonde D’arc-en-taupe, Palais de Tokyo,

Paris, France

Zabludowicz Collection, London, UK

Borros Collection, Berlin, Germany

Sammlung Philara, Düsseldorf, Germany

Vanhaerents Art Collection,

Brussels, Belgium

Long Museum, Shanghai, China

Permanent installations, ENS Saclay,

Poitiers, Rennes, France & Neviglie, Italy

KHALED ZAKI

2024 Chiaro Scuro, Carpenters workshop x

Tabari Art Space, Cairo, Egypt

2024 Tadween, Le LAB, Cairo, Egypt

2023 The Wave, Nomad x Le LAB, Capri, Italy

2022 The Journey, Tabari Art Space, Cairo, Egypt

2021 Among the People, Ubuntu Art Gallery, ,

Cairo, Egypt

2018 The Return, Ubuntu Art Gallery, Cairo,

Egypt

2018 Resurrection, Ubuntu Art Gallery,

Cairo, Egypt

2016 Hymns of Gold, Tabari Art Space, Cairo,

Egypt

2014 In the Wind of January, Tabari Art Space,

Cairo, Egypt

2011 Egyptian Tale, Tabari Art Space,

Cairo, Egypt

2021 Tornare alle cose, La Galleria Nazionale

d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, (GNAM),

Rome, Italy

2021 Campo Libero. Un posto dove provare,

Festival filosofia, Consorzio Creativo,

Modena, Italy

2019 48 toni, Escalier de Bercy, Paris, France

2019 Duna — Gharfa, curated by STUDIO

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

STUDIO STUDIO, Riyadh, KSA

2019 Molo, Fabric, Fall River, USA

2019 Dispositivi di visione, Sussulti,

Palomonte, Italy

2018 The time of rice, Noa Noa Art residency,

Bali, Indonesia

2018 Avanzamento Progressivo, Altrove,

Milan, Italy

2017 Villa 26, residencia Barrio Puente,

Buenos Aires, Argentina

2017 Altro Paesaggio, in collaboration with

Sirio Vanelli, Ritmo Gallery, Catania, Italy

2017 As far as the eye can see, Magma Gallery,

Bologna, Italy

2017 Würfl 120 toni, Kulturweg, Pfaffenhofen,

Munich, Germany

2017 Kinu, Salone del Mobile, Milan, Italy

2016 The great man of tomorrow, De Angeli

MM1, Milan, Italy

2016 S/visto, curated by Giacomo Spazio,

Santeria Social Club, Milan, Italy

2016 Big City Life, Biennale di Venezia,

Venice, Italy

2016 City after the City, curated by

Nina Bassoli, XXI Triennale Esposizione

Internazionale, Milan, Italy

2016 Mañana, Poliniza Dos, Valencia, Spain

2015 Basketball Court, Ex Dogana, Rome, Italy

2015 64 toni, V9 Gallery, Warsaw, Poland

2015 Black Circle Festival 6, Busthyno, Ukraine

2014 Black Circle Festival 5,

Uzhgorod, Ukraine

2013 Interior Design Project for Meridiani USA,

Art Basel, Miami, USA

2013 Ghetto, SNPS, Antrachite, Lyon, France

2011, 2012 Creature Festival, Lodi, Italy

2023 NOMAD Capri, with Chahan Gallery,

Capri, Italy

2023 PAD Paris, with Chahan Gallery,

Paris, France

2022 Candelabras in bronze for Le Jule

Vernes, Commissioned by Aline Asmar

d’Amman/Culture in Architecture,

Paris, France

2021 Sit with me, Share with me (public art),

Kay Meek, North Vancouver, Canada

2021 Cascade (public art), Landa Global

Development, Richmond, Canada

2021 Unfold (public art), Polygon, Maple

Ridge, Canada

2021 From The Ground Up (public art),

Oxford Properties Group, Toronto, Canada

2019 Vessels, The Grand Tour by Chahan x

Colnaghi, Venice Biennale, Italy

2018 Eyes On The Street (public art), Concert

Development. Olympic Village,

Vancouver, Canada

2018 Water Fountains (public art), Rosewood

Group. Le Crillon Hotel, Paris, France

2018 Abstract Mountains (public art), Lark

Group. Surrey, Canada

2018 Nautika (public art), Executive Group.

Olympic Village, Vancouver, Canada

2017 Flight Of Doves (public art), Children’s

Hospital Foundation. Vancouver, Canada

2017 Vessels & Mirrors (public art), Hôtel de

Crillon, A Rosewood Hotel. Paris, France

2016 Major Works, Equinox Gallery,

Vancouver, Canada

2016 You and I, TED Conference ‘Dream’,

Vancouver, Canada


(Nassia Inglessis as part of the MIT

Media Lab)

2017 In Need of Transformation, London

Design Festival, Victoria & Albert Museum

(V&A), London, UK

2017 Glass II, Triennale di Milano, Milan

Design week, Lexus Pavilion, Milan, Italy

(Nassia Inglessis as part of Mediated Matter

Group, MIT Media Lab)

2016 Shadow, Gulbenkien Gallery, Royal

College of Art Galleries, London, UK

2015 Spine, Somerset House, London

Design Festival, London, UK

SHILO SHIV SULEMAN

2024 God is a Woman in Love, India Art

Fair, New Delhi, India

2023 Eden Everlasting, India Art

Architecture Design Biennale, Red Fort,

New Delhi, India

2023 Shankha x Galerie Geek Art, Jio World

Convention Centre, Mumbai, India

2023 Eden Everlasting, India Art Fair, New

Delhi, India

2022 Grove, Google Palo Alto,

California, USA

2022 Kamadevi x Galerie Geek Art, NFT Art

Junction Shibuya Cast, Tokyo, Japan

2022 Picking up pieces of myself, ‘Vita

Nova’ Site: 2, Italian Embassy Cultural

Centre, New Delhi, India

2022 Rebirthing the River, India Art Fair,

New Delhi, India

2017 Tidal, Three Rivers Festival, Pittsburgh USA

2014 Pulse and Bloom, Burning Man

Honorarium Art Grant, USA

Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation,

Abu Dhabi

2014 Departure, The Saatchi Gallery,

London, UK

2010 Eternal Recurrence. Instituto

Valenciano de Arte Moderno (IVAM),

Valencia, Spain

Monumental Sculptures

Xavier Mascaró, Paseo del Prado,

Madrid, Spain

Guardians. Jardins du Palais Royal,

Paris, France

Mascaró en Silos. Museo Nacional

Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Spain

Monasterio de Santo Domingo

de Silos, Spain

MARIE KHOURI

2019 Urban Imprint, A/D/O by MINI–BMW,

XAVIER MASCARÓ

2024 Look At The Clouds (public art), Millennium

NYCxDesign, New York, US

216 217

Northmount, North Vancouver, Canada

2024 This Is Us (public art), Qualex

Landmark, Canada

2024 Unfold (public art), Amazon HQ,

Vancouver, Canada

2023 I LOVE, Vancouver Art Gallery,

Vancouver, Canada

2023 PAD London, with Chahan Gallery,

London, UK

2019 Kochi – Muziris Biennale, MAP Project,

Cochin, India

2018 Disobedience, London Design

Biennale, Somerset House, London, UK

2018 Ithra Centre, King Abdulaziz Centre for

World Culture, Dahran, KSA

2018 Kolkata Centre for Creativity, Emami

Art, Kolkata, India

2018 RobArch 2018, Zurich, Switzerland

Solo Exhibitions

2019 Departure, Museo Würth,

Agoncillo, Spain

2017 After Earth, Everything, Jordan

National Gallery, Amman, Jordan

2017 Guardianes. Museo del Templo

Mayor and Plaza del Seminario,

Mexico City, Mexico

2016 Departure, Warehouse 421, Salama

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

218 219

©2024 Art D’Égypte, Cairo, Egypt.

Office 210, 2nd Floor, portal (A) building,

Sodic, Beverly Hills, Giza

+20237900115 / +201224706339

www.artdegypte.org

FOREVER IS NOW .04

ART D’ÉGYPTE

CHRIS LEVINE

FEDERICA DI CARLO

IK-JOONG KANG

JAKE MICHAEL SINGER

JEAN BOGHOSSIAN

JEAN-MARIE APPRIOU

KHALED ZAKI

LUCA BOFFI

MARIE KHOURI


SHILO SHIV SULEMAN

XAVIER MASCARÓ

220

FOREVER IS NOW .04

Forever is now edition 4

Transform your PDFs into Flipbooks and boost your revenue!

Delete template?

Save as template ?