Art, Culture and Dialogue in the "Streets of Cairo"
By DEDI
Throughout history, art and culture often served as vehicles of change and dialogue in both the Danish and the Egyptian societies. This dynamic is at the core of an exchange between artists from the two countries, staged and hosted by Cairo’s new art scene.
“Streets of Cairo” is the title and literally also the venue of a number of workshops that will include modern street artists in both performance, conceptual, and visual arts, cooking and music. For ten days in the beginning of June, 24 artists, chefs, food critiques, and composing DJs from both countries will work and perform together in public venues scattered around Cairo. The participating artists will take their inspiration from the streets of Cairo - hence the name - and interact with caireens in the very same streets.
The project is implemented by the Danish-Egyptian Dialogue Institute in cooperation with the following Egyptian art and culture organizations, Townhouse Gallery, Sawy Culturewheel, Art el-Lewa and Contemporary Image Collective (CIC):
Townhouse Gallery is the leading cultural institution in Cairo's independent art scene and deals with contemporary art and outreach programs to a wide audience. It is located in the heart of down town Cairo where its gallery houses art exhibitions, film screenings, academic curatorial programs, seminars and even workshops for refugee children.
Townhouse Gallery is the leading cultural institution in Cairo's independent art scene and deals with contemporary art and outreach programs to a wide audience. It is located in the heart of down town Cairo where its gallery houses art exhibitions, film screenings, academic curatorial programs, seminars and even workshops for refugee children.
Sawy Culturewheel is a venue that in only six years has established itself as a favorite, primarily with the young audience. In its numerous rough halls and open air venues in the pillars under one of the bridges crossing the Nile, Sawy hosts concerts, film screenings, debates and theatre.
Art el-Lewa was founded in January 2007 in the poor Cairo neighbourhood of Ard al-Lewa, where the gallery remains integrated in the local environment. Part of its concept is live-in-workshops and it has solid experience in collaboration with foreign artists.
CIC is a renowned art institution. On its track record is the Cairo Photo Biennale, part of which was on show at Brandts Klædefabrik in Denmark in 2009.
For more in formation please contact the program officer responsible at
Festival Spreads Art Around the “Streets of Cairo”
By Ethar Shalaby
Musical performances, art pieces, video projections and even food are the components of the “Streets of Cairo” art festival, where 26 Egyptian and Danish artists, dj's and even chefs explore Cairo's different neighborhoods.
In the project, organized by the Danish Egyptian Dialogue Institute (DEDI), artists will paint, musicians will perform, and chefs will cook in Cairo's dynamic streets for ten days. The “Streets of Cairo” art festival aims at bridging the cultural gap between Egyptian and Danish cultures through different mediums of arts. The Townhouse Gallery, El Sawy Cultural Wheel, and Art el-Lewa will host several music, food and street art events, where participants will express themselves and interact with Egypt's public community.
In the days of the event, chefs will be learning Egyptian recipes and will cook them in front of the public at the Townhouse Gallery and El Sawy Cultural Wheel. The Egyptians will have the chance to taste the Danish-cooked meals and interact with the chefs.
Of the Streets - In the Streets
Composing DJ's from Egypt and Denmark have set up their own studios in the old down town building of The Viennoise. Together they will perform in areas open to everyone to view the performances and enjoy the music. Also, artists will explore the streets and neighbourhoods of Cairo together, and take their inspirations from the buzzing streets out in pictures and installations. Where these art works will best be shared with the public is to be decided along the way, but it is not likely to be in the traditional setting of a posh gallery.
“The main aim of this arts project is to have an audience from the public covering the entire spectrum of egyptian lifestyles. At DEDI we acknowledge that art is an international language that anyone can understand, whether appreciated or not,” DEDI's program officer Muhab Wahby tells Hiwar Magazine. He adds that another objective of the festival is to establish relationships between the Egyptian and Danish participants, hopefully for long term contact and inspiration.
“The participants are the backbone of the project and when you have such intimate cultural exchange, we hope that stereotypes are demystified and that the contact with peers and publics in the streets allows for a constructive relation that goes beyond the production that is the immediate result of the festival,” Wahby says.
The Richness of Cairo
Taking art to the streets paves the way to interact and communicate with people. Wahby describes the streets of Cairo to be very “rich and diverse”.
“Cairo is a very rich city with a lot of layers to work in. We do not want to dictate to the artists which layer to work on. We rather try to provide them the flexibility to work around the field,” he says, adding that artists are supposed to come up with ideas on how to portray the streets of the Egyptian capital.
Michael Irving, project officer of "Streets of Cairo", has long experience in artistic exchange between East and West.
“Performing arts in the streets is more visible and interactive with the society,” Irving says. He explains why the composing DJ's have been included:
“Music is a language that has no boundaries. You can communicate fantastically through the medium of music”.
Daily News Egypt
By Chitra Kalyani. June 8, 2010.
A fusion of colors, sounds and scents promises to lure streetwalkers as Danes and Egyptians run joint workshops in the “Streets of Cairo.”
Starting June 10, the 10-day event organized by the Danish Egyptian Dialogue Institute (DEDI) will feature joint workshops between 24 artists, musicians and chefs.
The event will make its way into the heart of Cairo, hosted in venues like Townhouse Gallery, Contemporary Image Collective, and even the meaner streets of Artellewa. Sawy Culture Wheel, another affordable art venue, is also one of the hosts.
The event aimed to “democratize art by having it outside,” project head Michael Irving told Daily News Egypt.
The event entails “more public engagement, not just art for the sake of art,” said Muhab Wahby of the DEDI program. The aim is to attract a wider scope of audience.
Already, the event is encountering criticism, as seen by responses at the website of Egyptian newspaper Al-Youm Al-Sabae. Since the publication of Prophet Mohamed’s cartoons in Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, relations between the two countries have been strained.
Yet Wahby, governance program officer at DEDI, said the event had no relation to the cartoon controversy, nor any religious or political agenda.
“We’re just using art as a tool for cultural exchange and dialogue, aimed at change and commentary. We believe that change is inevitable in any society,” said Wahby about DEDI’s stance, adding “We only provide platform for that change.”
Graffiti art around the streets is one such event that will engage the public in a dialogue with participating artists. Danish artist who goes by the moniker Armsrock, known for his life-sized graffiti of “people at the periphery” will be among those coloring up streets outside Townhouse Gallery with Aya Tarek, who founded Alexandria’s first graffiti group.
Budding photographers featured in the event will also gain experience in producing a portfolio and exhibiting their work, said Irving. They will collaborate at workshops conducted at the Contemporary Image Collective. Art workshops for children will also be held at Artellewa with Danish artist Kenneth Balfelt.
Revealing how the participants were chosen, Irving said, “We wanted highly qualified people with experience with global context.” The project highlighted socially responsible artists, who were aware of and global issues, and produced work of a high quality. Artists chosen also had experience in working outside institutions.
Egyptian artists featured include photographer Tarek Hefny whose work depicts urban landscapes or codification of locations through color-coded cabs. Another participant is rooftop studio artist Karim Lotfy, exploring paradox by using provocative words for his calligraphy works. Independent artist Aalam Wassef, who has previously showcased his art installations at local businesses around Cairo’s El-Khalifa area, will also be featured.
In addition, the event will introduce Danish photographer Charlotte Haslund-Christensen, author of a pictorial study on her home country called “Natives: The Danes.”
By studying daily Danish life through an anthropological approach, Haslund-Christensen “questions the whole history and approach to the other in a very eloquent way,” said Irving.
“Music is also communication,” said the project head, pointing to another area of collaboration. “That’s also dialogue,” Irving added, noting the trend of world composers borrowing creative ideas from each other to make new and original songs.
Danish and Egyptian composing DJs will collaborate in producing music in a studio to learn from each other. The venue — an old edifice in Mahmoud Bassiouny Street called the Viennoise — will be open to the public to enter and observe the artists at work. The DJs — including Denmark’s Katrine Ring — will have performances at Cairo Jazz Club and El-Sawy Culture Center.
In sharing their experiences and ideas, Wahby said the artists “would see what others take for granted.”
Sharing of ideas will also take place on the “Critical Run,” an event in which invited participants will run and talk around the setting of the Pyramids.
One potentially mouth-watering experience that DEDI aims for people to share is food. “There is nothing like food in bringing people together,” said Irving, since it “makes people happy.”
Danish chefs Kille Elna and Rene Bolvig will explore the Egyptian cuisine — from the vegetable and spice markets to Cairene kitchens.
Citing food as a perfect tool for dialogue, Irving says the cooks will produce “a fusion between Nordic and Middle Eastern cuisine” for the first few hundred arrivals at the Townhouse next Sunday, and at the Sawy on June 17. “Better make it early,” said Irving.
For more information on the “Streets of Cairo” event visit: http://www.dedi.org.eg/
