Cairographie is an event that celebrates photography and videography in Egypt and Africa. Different artists gather to raise awareness of contemporary topics through photos and videos. The first edition was back in 2017. In its second edition, more than 20 artists are participating at Cairographie.  Workshops and art debates are waiting for you till the 31^st of December.

Moreover, this year’s special edition will be the exhibition of the artists’ artwork for participation in Carte Blanche. Carte Blanche is a grant-project dedicated to photo-based artists from Middle East and North Africa. Gladly we had the chance to interview the winner of Carte Blance, Amina Kadous. She told us more about her project and its storyline.

Living between two worlds

Kadous’ artwork was inspired from her road trips between her two-family houses in Cairo and Almahalla. In her project, Kadous is expressing her thoughts on the two places that she considers as two separate worlds. This is along with the road connecting them which represents the timeline and the state of not settling.

“Nostalgia is about not being able to find your presence”, Kadous added, “We recreate the past in our mind and the picture is not always right”

Furthermore, Kadous is exploring the timeline and the linkage between the past and the present. She’s comparing how places were in the past and how they are now. This has raised questions about our perspective towards the past.

“As I am doing this project, I went along the road many times. I started taking photos and putting it with old photos from my childhood.”

Mahalla itself went through a lot of changes. Blocking the horizon with building  on agricultural lands totally changed the face of Mahalla. Moreover, Kadous captured the train as a constant background sound to her roadtrips.

Al Safar association

We also had the chance to interview Al safar cofoundrs. Al Safar association is covering Cairographie event. It’s a French based non profit organization association working on several visual projects. Mainly they are shedding light on emerging photographers in Africa and the middle East. In addition, they are doing this project in several countries. They have projects in Morocco and  Lebanon going in parallel.

You can also check these other projects here: http://www.alsafarproject.org/en

We had the chance to interview Darb1718 founder, Moataz Nasr. Initially he had the idea of a cultural hub since 2002 started working in 2007. We asked him about the location of the hub in Kasr El Sham3 Street, Old Cairo and how the locals dealt with it.

“You can say this location chose me not the opposite”, Nasr said.

He initially had his studio in the same area. “At the beginning the locals were not as accepting to the hub. It took some time to induce a cultural art space in this location. By time, they felt they are part of the place. We can actually count on the youth in the neighborhood to help us out in big events.”, Nasr said.

Moaz added that they have been working with the community and engaging children in different workshops. They are also offering special workshops for women. Locals are giving workshops in fields of art as carpentry, glass art work.

Do not miss the chance to go to Darb1718 event, Cairographie. Surely, it’s a unique opportunity of engagement through photos and videos. The exhibition will continue every day from 12:00 PM to 9:00 PM except Fridays until 31 December 2019.