28 Aug 2008

Cairoscape - Images, Imagination and Imaginary of a Contemporary Mega City

A project curated by Marina Sorbello and Antje Weitzel

Cairoscape - Images, Imagination and Imaginary of a Contemporary Mega City introduces the dynamic situation of contemporary art and culture in Egypt to the Berlin public.
Taking the Arab-African megalopolis of Cairo as a starting point, Cairoscape proposes a different way of looking at the modern city and at the phenomenon of contemporary urbanization. In the project Cairo is held up as an emblematic place, catalyst and generator of new narrative series that ultimately transcend local context: Cairo as translocal place, simultaneously recipient and origin of a set of cultural influences and ideas floating in the region, and privileged observation point that as such may disclose unexpected yet familiar scenarios.
Cairoscape features artists and practitioners who in their work reflect a certain contemporary and existential urban condition connected to the city of Cairo, its suggestive power and urban imaginary. Works by artists both from Egypt and artists who have recently completed residencies in Egypt are included, allowing differing views of Cairo to be juxtaposed. At the same time, Cairoscape examines the possibilities, the potentialities and the paradoxes of Cairo as a site of artistic production today.


Programme of Events

The exhibition is accompanied by a dense programme of events on the opening weekend and throughout the duration of the exhibition. Every Thursday the Kunstraum Kreuzberg Bethanien will host lectures, screenings and discussions starting at 19:00. The film programme at Kino Eiszeit (on the weekends 12-14 September and 10-12 October 2008) shows excerpts of Egyptian contemporary cinematic production, showcasing market oriented as well as experimental and independent films. The programme of events also includes two off site project, a film screening at the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, a literature evening at the Literaturwerkstatt Berlin, and the workshop and exhibition Kairo Souvenir Shop in cooperation with Fichtelgebirge Primary School, Berlin (opening: 3/09, 12:30, Raum der Patenschaften des Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien).


Artists

Doa Aly (Cairo), Gilles Aubry (Berlin), Nermine El Ansari (Cairo), Sherif El Azma (Cairo), Hala Elkoussy (Cairo/Amsterdam), Rana El Nemr (Cairo), Shady El Noshokaty (Cairo), Maia Gusberti (Vienna/Bern), Khaled Hafez (Cairo), Hermann Huber (Vienna), Iman Issa (Cairo/New York), Ahmed Khaled (Cairo), Susanne Kriemann (Rotterdam/Berlin), Maha Maamoun (Cairo), Christoph Oertli (Basel/Brussels), Hany Rashed (Cairo), Katarina Šević (Budapest), Randa Shaath (Cairo)


Off-Site Projects

Hassan Khan (Cairo), Lust, solo exhibition at uqbar projectspace, Berlin, 26/08 – 18/10/2008, Opening 26/08/2008, 19:00. Opening Hours Fr.-Sa. 14:00-19:00 and by appointment: projectspace.uqbar-ev.de

eps51 (Berlin) & Ganzeer (Cairo), Poster projects in public space, Dresdnerstr. 8, 10997 Berlin (gegenüber /in front of Möbel Olfe); Micamoca, Lindower Str. 22, 13347 Berlin, 29/08–12/10/2008


Cairoscape - Images, Imagination and Imaginary of a Contemporary Mega City is funded by:

Hauptstadtkulturfonds (Capital Cultural Fund), Berlin


And

ifa – Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen; Goethe-Institut Ägypten; Ministry of Culture - Sector of Fine Arts, Cairo; Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin; Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Berlin; Collegium Hungaricum, Berlin; Pro Helvetia


Partners

Art Swap Europe, Berlin; Berlin Tapete, Berlin; Eiszeit Kino, Berlin; Egyptian Film Center, Cairo; Freunde der Arabischen Kinemathek, Berlin; Koschwitz Plakat, Berlin; Literaturwerkstatt Berlin; Micamoca, Berlin; NGBK, Berlin; uqbar projectspace, Berlin; Westgermany, Berlin


Media Partners

Babelmed, Roma; Die Tageszeitung, Berlin; Le Monde Diplomatique; Qantara, Bonn; Umelec, Praha/Berlin/London


Press Contact

Projektbüro Cairoscape
Schwedenstr. 16, 13357 Berlin
0049 (0)30 46069107 / 0049 (0)177 3738683
presse@cairoscape.org