Art D’Égypte, a privately owned Egyptian multidisciplinary company that provides art consultancy services, has concluded its fourth international exhibition of contemporary art, called “Forever is Now”, at the pyramids Plateau in Giza.
The event received more than 520,000 visitors, with the participation of dozens of local and international artists.
The exhibition was organized by Art D’Egypte under the auspices of the Ministries of Tourism and Antiquities, and Foreign Affairs. The closing ceremony was attended by key cultural and artistic figures.
Bishr Imam, Director of the UNESCO Regional Office in Cairo, expressed his pride and happiness for the success of this global event in Egypt.
During the closing ceremony, a documentary video was screened about the story of the emergence and hegemony of the contemporary art scene in Egypt. The exhibition honoured 14 Egyptian artists who contributed to the development of the art scene in the country, including Abdel Hadi Al-Gazzar, Adam Henein, Ahmed Asqalani, Effat Nagy, Ghada Amer, Hani Rashid, Hamed Abdullah, Hazem Al-Mestakawi, Hoda Lotfi, Ibrahim Khattab, Inji Aflatoun, Mahmoud Saeed, Mohamed Nagy, and Seif Wanly.
A musical composition was performed at the ceremony by musician Mohamed Nawara, entitled “Evolve”, recounting the development of art in Egypt over different ages.
Nadine Abdel Ghaffar, Founder of Art D’Égypte, said: “The support from the Egyptian state and President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi for women’s empowerment helped stimulate our efforts to realize this wonderful achievement.”
She also thanked the Ministries of Tourism and Antiquities, and Foreign Affairs for supporting the event. Several press conferences to promote the event were held in different countries in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Abdel Ghaffar added: “Today we celebrate the success of an innovative and pioneering artistic experience that blended historical and heritage art with modern and contemporary art, as contemporary artists from all over the world showcased their work with the archaeological background of the Pyramids of Giza in a wonderful creative scene. The event has proved the deep global influence of ancient Egypt, and the continuity of this influence through contemporary cultural arts. We at Art D’Egypte have succeeded in proving that there is a strong passion among the Egyptian audience for arts of all kinds. This was evident in the first demonstration of its kind in the history of art performances in Egypt, which attracted more than half a million Egyptian visitors, all of whom went to the pyramids to witness this wonderful blend of ancient and contemporary art in a distinguished artistic scene.”
She continued: “The exhibition’s success will be a milestone in the Egyptian art scene development. It is the product of a series of art exhibitions that were held in preparation including the exhibition Cairo International Art District, which was held in 12 different locations in the streets of the historic downtown Cairo and was a great success with the attendance of more than 25,000 visitors. It included works of contemporary art by local and international artists, including photography, paintings, and sculptures, in addition to a number of lectures and workshops. It also came within the framework of the community participation program that Art D’Egypte planned in the region to work on providing access to culture and art to audiences of all ages.”
The leading local and international participating artists included Russian artist Alexander Ponomarev; Brazilian artist João Trevisan; French Artist JR; Italian American artist Lorenzo Quinn; Egyptian artist Moataz Nasr; Egyptian born, Los Angeles- based artist Sherin Guirguis; British artists Shuster and Moseley; British artist Stephen Cox RA; and Saudi Arabian artist HRH Prince Sultan Bin Fahad.
