DUST
Xenia Nikolskaya
May 6th – June 13th, 2012
Townhouse First Floor Gallery
May 6 – Exhibition opening and book launch, First Floor Gallery
May 12th – Symposium, Rawabet Theatre
With: Shaimaa Ashour, Dr. Vittoria Capresi, Mohamed Elshahed, Xenia Nikolskaya, Ola Seif
On view at the Townhouse First Floor Gallery from May 6 through June 13, Xenia Nikolsaya’s “Dust” is both a
photographic exhibition exploring Egypt’s abandoned architectural heritage, and a publication of texts and images
that will be launched at Townhouse on May 6. “Dust” will be accompanied by a symposium* at the Rawabet
Theater on May 12th, where historians, architects, artists and theorists Shaimaa Ashour, Dr. Vittoria Capresi,
Mohamed Elshahed, Xenia Nikolskaya and Ola Seif will discuss a myriad of issues relating to the architectural
legacy of the region in light of their individual research and projects.
“Dust” explores the conditions and relevance of empty architectural spaces in Egypt, presenting an entwined
dualism: dust as materiality that layers the city, literally tracing the passage of time upon urban objects – but also
as a temporal metaphor that registers these changes on the level of memories, both past and present.
Architecture constructed in Egypt in the late 19th and early 20th centuries – usually referred to as ‘Cosmopolitan
Architecture’ – is rapidly succumbing to neglect, a real estate frenzy and the overpopulation of the cities. These
factors lend particular urgency to Nikolskaya’s documentation of these spaces. Since she first initiated this project
in 2006, a number of the locations depicted in her work have been demolished, while others have gone through a
process of renovation and modernization.
Nikolskaya's ”Dust” is complex and multi‐layered in that its qualities not only span the artistic, but also have the
added value of documenting Egypt’s fading and forgotten architecture. In addition to the aesthetic value, her
series is also a valuable source of in‐depth information, baring long‐term witness to a country’s ongoing economic
and social changes. When the artist first embarked on this project in 2006, she was driven by curiosity. But with
Egypt coincidentally progressing though a momentous shift in its history, ”Dust” has come to illustrate an
economic stagnation, which has engulfed Egypt over the past three decades. Nikolskaya's project underlines the
significance of documenting a country in its transformative phase, and highlights the urgency of reflecting on
Egypt’s history in order to understand its future.
“Dust” was completed in January 2011. The accompanying book has now been released by Dewi Lewis Publishing
and contains a total of 70 images from thirty locations in Egypt, including Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor, Minya, Esna,
Port Said and villages around the Delta, as well as an essay by On Barak of Princeton University.
Curated by Alexandra Stock
With special thanks to the Swedish Embassy in Cairo.
Thank you also to the Goethe Institute Cairo, FfAI and Townhouse.
Версия для печати