Townhouse Gallery: 'Dust' by Xenia Nikolskaya

Published On: 14/05/2012

What started off as a healthy interest in Egypt eventually led Russian born Xenia Nikolskaya to Cairo where she became obsessed with all the city’s abandoned palaces and mansions. During her explorations around these empty buildings, she always had her camera right by her side, and that is how her ‘Dust’ was born. The photography exhibition is located on the first floor of Townhouse Gallery in Downtown Cairo and carries pictures from abandoned buildings from all over the country.

Nikolskaya’s inspiration began when she entered the Serageldin Palace in Garden City and that is perhaps why it is the focus of most pictures. The Serageldin Palace is one of the few buildings that wasn’t confiscated by the government in the 50s and turned into a school. In many of the photographs we see former palaces that now have chalkboards clipped onto 19th century wallpaper. There are pictures of staircases that used to have great splendour but are now falling apart.

Nikolskaya didn’t just visit palaces though; there are also photographs of other key sites around town. Very interesting is her work in Downtown’s Radio Cinema. The theatre has recently been restored to its former glory and through Nikolskaya’s two-year old photographs, you can see why this was necessary. The best photograph is perhaps one that shows a dressing room. The lights around the vanity mirror don’t work anymore and there is an empty chair; one can imagine that many an artist and actor once rested on it before heading to the stage.

Another interesting picture is that of the Tiring Building in Ataba. What used to be one of Cairo’s most glorious department complexes is now falling apart and covered in dust. The images of the Sakakini Palace are also striking; it shows that the structure is still in good state and can perhaps be saved from further neglect and deterioration.

Apart from Cairo, Nikolskaya has also travelled to Minya, Alexandria and Esna. The photographs from these towns centre mostly on images of former hotels.

While the images overall are interesting, there is something missing from the whole exhibition. Though all the venue’s names are mentioned next to each shot, there is no background information which is a bit of a shame considering that Nikolskaya has published a book featuring these photos.

Nikolskaya has captured Cairo’s iconic buildings and has quite literally photographed the emptiness found in them; but this sad aspect of the photographs gives the exhibition depth.

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Townhouse Gallery of Contemporary Art: ‘The Popular Show’ Exhibition

Hussein El Me'mar Pasha Street, Downtown

Contemporary art institutions are often known for their practiced exclusivity concerning the constant question of what art is. Located in Downtown Cairo, Townhouse Gallery of Contemporary Art has responded to this common criticism with an experimental exhibition called ‘The Popular Show’. The concept behind the exhibition was not only to counter this exclusivity; but also to offer the public an opportunity to openly present any of their works within a well-known contemporary art context. Acceptable submissions included art objects, regardless of their medium, quantity and duration; as well as alternative forms of contribution including statements, public performances and text. Not only does this allow the artists to wholly determine the content of the show; but it also garners a variety of art in general. It sets aside moot distinctions, which are usually incorporated into exhibitions and the discursive space of art itself. Because of this, the experiment allows the public to define the gallery space by both participation and collection. Furthermore, it presents the opportunity for both professional and non-professional art appreciators to see what individuals around Cairo are creating and what might be in store for the future of Cairo’s contemporary art scene. On March 6th, the exhibition opened to a more-than-full house. Right away, it was easy to see that the show was appropriately named. By popular choice, the definition of both art and the exhibition were given to the people and an exciting energy filled the air. It was a new and exciting experience for many Cairenes who had never had the chance to display their artwork before. The submitted works of 134 apsiring local artists fill three rooms from floor to ceiling. From a viewer’s perspective, the exhibition is quite overwhelming; not only due to the vast quantity of pieces present but also to the chaotic variation of medium, style and experience. However, there are a few pieces to watch out for. In the back room, two large ink sketches come framed on parchment paper. Created by Osama Abdel Moneim, the sketches embody space and activity in a social setting. In the same area, revolutionary-inspired art includes a series of cool graphic, glass pieces; depicting Mubarak simply as an echo of Ben Ali. Head to the next room where you can catch a set of small black and white lithographs embodying a sweet and tender story. On the wall perpendicular to that, Ezzat Abdel Aziz’s nightscape piece is impressive. In its entirety, the exhibition’s experimental basis was just that; an experiment. With no clear guidelines or conceptualization behind the collected pieces, cohesion was non-existent where an unfurling mess was unfortunately present. Fortunately for those participating, though; the openness of Townhouse and the local art community alike aided in the success of the show.

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Mashrabia Gallery: 'Missing Pieces' by Karim Bakry

As the second round of the presidential elections approaches, frustration, confusion and even resignation are widely felt across the country. “I don’t know what to do. If I knew, I’d tell you. There’s something missing, and we don’t really understand what’s going on,” says Karim Bakry, an Egyptian photographer and visual artist who from day one captured the revolution through his lens. Responding to a request by a gallery in Gothenburg, Sweden last September, Bakry compiled the images for an installation, now on exhibition at the Mashrabia Contemporary Art Gallery in Downtown.

Steps from the epicentre of the uprising, in a dark, cramped room, ‘Missing Pieces’ features a slideshow on loop of some hundred photos taken over the course of the revolution. The montage begins with portraits of optimism, in which youth pose and come together with their families under red, white and black bunting. The show then progresses, or rather regresses, into poignant images of the clashes between protesters and armed forces, tear gas, violence and curfew.

According to Bakry, ‘Missing Pieces’ represents the fragmentation of the revolution: “The spirit of the revolution ended up breaking down and as time passed the sense of unity was lost and divided into different sects.” He captures this fallout by projecting the photos onto staggered, cardboard boxes, forcing a metaphor blankly contrived.

“The boxes represent two things. First, they give a feeling of waste and consumption that exist in cities like Cairo. Also, the brown boxes when laid out together give a sense of Cairo and its brown, box-like buildings. The images projected onto the boxes are broken down by missing pieces,” Bakry explains.

Every five seconds, a new image emerges. Some pictures appear amateur and blurred; others are purposefully blotched by shadows from the boxed skyline. In one image, a bearded face is framed over a Nescafe box, and in another a woman is split by a gap between the cardboard. Below her it reads: “This Side Up.”

“That was the hard part. I had to go around to supermarkets, the huge markets like Carrefour and no one understood why I wanted old boxes. Here in Cairo, it was actually easy to just buy them. But in Gothenburg you had to be there at the right time and the right place before they recycled them,” Bakry says.

Outside the curtained room at Mashrabia Gallery are mounted images from Bakry’s Gothenburg exhibition for sale but not worth the bill. A free postcard by the entrance makes a better souvenir.

At first glance the installation looks like a haphazard stack of used boxes with a random mess of photos overlaid. And at second glance, the fact remains. But if we overlook the artist’s form, one can empathize with his statement on the aftermath of the revolution and the re-emerging protests to date. “A lot of missing pieces needed to be complete again. They made the mistake of dividing, that’s why the results now are terrible. People need to reunite again,” Bakry says.

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Townhouse Gallery: 'Dust' by Xenia Nikolskaya

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