
“Nothing Vanishes, Everything Transforms”
Curator Nadine Abdel Ghaffar’s decision to stage this exhibition in the newly reopened Manial Palace is a clever historicizing gesture. Built in the early twentieth century under the watchful eye of Prince Mohammed Ali Tewfik, the palace is a sumptuous mélange of stylistic influences ranging from Rococo and Art Nouveau to Ottoman and Persian. A horror vacui that is both awe-inspiring and disorienting in its anachronist appropriation, the palace proves an arresting environment for a take on the modern Egyptian canon.
Ghaffar includes members of the old guard of Egypt’s fine arts community like