Cairoscape Images, Imagination and Imaginary of a Contemporary Mega City www.cairoscape.org A project curated by Marina Sorbello and Antje Weitzel 30/08-12/10/2008 Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien, Berlin, and other venues Opening Weekend: 29/08/2008, 19:00, Opening, Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien 30/08/2008, 19:30-open end, Performances and concerts, Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien and Westgermany Cairoscape - Images, Imagination and Imaginary of a Contemporary Mega City introduces the dynamic situation of contemporary art and culture in Egypt to the Berlin public. Taking the Arab-African megalopolis of Cairo as a starting point, Cairoscape proposes a different way of looking at the modern city and at the phenomenon of contemporary urbanization. In the project Cairo is held up as an emblematic place, catalyst and generator of new narrative series that ultimately transcend local context: Cairo as translocal place, simultaneously recipient and origin of a set of cultural influences and ideas floating in the region, and privileged observation point that as such may disclose unexpected yet familiar scenarios. Cairoscape features artists and practitioners who in their work reflect a certain contemporary and existential urban condition connected to the city of Cairo, its suggestive power and urban imaginary, using mainly photography, video and new media. Works by artists both from Egypt and artists who have recently completed residencies in Egypt are included, allowing differing views of Cairo to be juxtaposed. At the same time, Cairoscape examines the possibilities, the potentialities and the paradoxes of Cairo as a site of artistic production today. Artists Doa Aly (Cairo), Gilles Aubry (Berlin), Nermine El Ansari (Cairo), Sherif El Azma (Cairo), Hala Elkoussy (Cairo/Amsterdam), Rana El Nemr (Cairo), Shady El Noshokaty (Cairo), Maia Gusberti (Vienna/Bern), Khaled Hafez (Cairo), Hermann Huber (Vienna), Iman Issa (Cairo/New York), Ahmed Khaled (Cairo), Susanne Kriemann (Rotterdam/Berlin), Maha Maamoun (Cairo), Christoph Oertli (Basel/Brussels), Hany Rashed (Cairo), Katarina Sevic (Budapest), Randa Shaath (Cairo) Off-Site Projects Hassan Khan (Cairo), Lust, solo exhibition at uqbar projectspace, Berlin, 26/08 - 18/10/2008, Opening 26/08/2008, 19:00. Opening Hours Fr.-Sa. 14:00-19:00 and by appointment: http://projectspace.uqbar-ev.de eps51 (Berlin) & Ganzeer (Cairo), Poster projects in public space, Dresdnerstr. 8, 10997 Berlin (gegenüber /in front of Möbel Olfe); Micamoca, Lindower Str. 22, 13347 Berlin, 29/08-12/10/2008 Exhibition Venue Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien Mariannenplatz 2, 10997 Berlin 0049 (0)30 90298-1455 U1/U8 Kottbusser Tor Opening hours Daily: 12:00 - 19:00 Thursdays: 12:00 - 22:00 Guided tours on request info@cairoscape.org www.cairoscape.org www.kunstraumkreuzberg.de Cairoscape - Images, Imagination and Imaginary of a Contemporary Mega City is funded by: Hauptstadtkulturfonds (Capital Cultural Fund), Berlin And ifa - Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen; Goethe-Institut Ägypten; Ministry of Culture - Sector of Fine Arts, Cairo; Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin; Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Berlin; Collegium Hungaricum, Berlin; Pro Helvetia Partners Art Swap Europe, Berlin; Berlin Tapete, Berlin; Eiszeit Kino, Berlin; Egyptian Film Center, Cairo; Freunde der Arabischen Kinemathek, Berlin; Koschwitz Plakat, Berlin; Literaturwerkstatt Berlin; Micamoca, Berlin; NGBK, Berlin; uqbar projectspace, Berlin; Westgermany, Berlin Media Partners Babelmed, Roma; Die Tageszeitung, Berlin; Le Monde Diplomatique; Qantara, Bonn; Umelec, Praha/London/Berlin Press Contact Projektbüro Cairoscape Schwedenstr. 16, 13357 Berlin 0049 (0)30 46069107 / 0049 (0)177 3738683 presse@cairoscape.org info@cairoscape.org