We collaborated with the curator Mohammed Elshahed (photo credit) for the design of the Egypt exhibit at this year’s London Design Biennale at Somerset House #LDB18 go see it from tomorrow.
Suzanne Gaballa says, “Egypt’s exhibition at the 2018 London Design Biennale reflects on the impermanence of architecture and subsequent historical loss to society. Visitors are invited to explore whilst unknowingly contributing to the erasure of Al Emara’s title inscribed on the floor, reinforcing the themes of Modernist Indignation.”
Modernist Indignation is curated by Mohamed Elshahed, former British Museum curator for the Modern Egypt Project and author of the forthcoming book Cairo Since 1900: An Architectural Guide, published by the American University in Cairo Press in early 2019. Elshahed says “Sayed Karim’s story shows the precarious position of being Egyptian and modernist in the years of nationalist politics, he is excluded from the international narrative of modernism, and his career and legacy are denied a place in national history when he no longer served a political purpose for the Nasser regime. Al Emara and Sayed Karim illustrate the vulnerability of design culture.”
Commissioned by Zein Khalifa (Tintera)
Lighting design by www.seam-design.com
Fabrication by Westby and Jones Ltd