The exhibition was organized by Art D’Egypte under the auspices of the Ministries of Tourism, Antiquities and Foreign Affairs with a closing ceremony attended by key figures from the cultural community and artists has achieved great success and a wide public turnout over the past weeks, as more than 520,000 Egyptian visitors visited the exhibition, and a large number of local and international artists participated.

The closing ceremony, on 22 November was held in the presence of Dr. Bisher Imam, Officer in Charge of the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Sciences in the Arab States, artists including Khaled El-Nabawy and Jumana Murad, and a number of public figures.

Dr. Bisher Imam gave a speech at the beginning of the ceremony expressing his pride and happiness for holding this global event on the land of Egypt, as "Forever is Now" is the second exhibition of Art D’Egypte under the auspices of the National Commission for UNESCO in Cairo.

The ceremony has highlighted the most important features of the success achieved by the exhibition at the local and international levels, and the extensive media coverage of the exhibition in more than 800 media outlets, including 500 international media such as CNN, Forbes and France 24, and more than 300 local media outlets including newspapers and television programs achieving 2.5 billion views.

The ceremony also featured the presentation of a creative documentary film by artist and architect Karim El-Haywan with the soundtrack presented by musician Mohamed Nawara and performed by international soprano Fatima Said, winner of the Opus Klassik Award for 2021, one of the highest awards in the field of classical music.

The documentary has told the world the story of the emergence and hegemony of the contemporary art scene in Egypt and honored for the first time 14 Egyptian artists who have made clear marks in the art scene, including Abdel Hadi Al-Gazzar, Adam Henein, Ahmed Asqalani, Effat Nagy, Ghada Amer, Hani Rashid, Hamed Abdullah, Hazem Al-Mestakawi, Hoda Lotfi, Ibrahim Khattab, Inji Aflatoun, Mahmoud Saeed, Mohamed Nagy and Seif Wanly.

Moreover, a composition titled “Evolve” by musician Mohamed Nawara was played at the opening of the exhibition recounting the development of art in Egypt since the creation of the universe until the modern era.

Nadine Abdel Ghaffar, founder of Art D'Égypte, who leads a women team said: "The support from the Egyptian state and His Excellency president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi for women's empowerment had a great impact in stimulating the team's efforts to realize this wonderful achievement that confirms the support of the New Republic in Egypt for women."

She also expressed thanks to the Ministries of Tourism, Antiquities and Foreign Affairs for supporting the efforts to organize the global event, which included holding several press conferences in different countries in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Abdel Ghaffar said: “Today we celebrate the success of an innovative and pioneering artistic experience that blended historical and heritage art with modern and contemporary art, as contemporary artists from all over the world showcased their work with the archaeological background of the Pyramids of Giza in a wonderful creative scene. The event hasproved the deep global influence of ancient Egypt, and the continuity of this influence through contemporary cultural arts. We at Art D’Egypte have succeeded in proving that there is a strong passion among the Egyptian audience for arts of all kinds. This was evident in the first demonstrationof its kind in the history of art performances in Egypt, which attracted more than half a million Egyptian visitor, all of whom went to the pyramids to witness this wonderful blend of ancient and contemporary art in a distinguished artistic scene.”

She added: "Art D’Egypte success with its exhibition, Forever is Now, will represent a milestone in the Egyptian art scene. It is the product of a series of art exhibitions that were held in preparation including the exhibition Cairo International Art District, which was held in 12 different locations in the streets of the historic downtown Cairo and was a great success with the attendance of more than 25,000 visitors. It included works of contemporary art by local and international artists, including photography, paintings, and sculptures, in addition to a number of lectures and workshops. It also came within the framework of the community participation program that Art D’Egypte planned in the region to work on providing access to culture and artto audiencesof all ages.”

The leading local and international participating artists included Russian artist Alexander Ponomarev; Brazilian artist João Trevisan; French Artist JR; Italian American artist Lorenzo Quinn; Egyptian artist Moataz Nasr; Egyptian born, Los Angeles- based artist Sherin Guirguis; British artists Shuster and Moseley; British artist Stephen Cox RA; and Saudi Arabian artist HRH Prince Sultan Bin Fahad.

Abdel Ghaffar expressed her thanks for the support of the famous Egyptian archaeologist, Dr. Zahi Hawass, and for the partners of Art D’ Egypte including: US Embassy in Egypt, Badia, Dior, Afrixim Bank, Hany Saad, M4 Network, Eastern Tobacco Company, Orange, Sawiris Foundation, Our Cultural Partner Abu Dhabi Festival, Alex Bank, Orascom Pyramids Entertainment (OPE), Ismailia Group, EgyptAir, Vermont, TV5Monde, DHL, Savills, Lipton, Ashmand, Beretta, French Embassy in Egypt, British Council, CC-plus, Abou Ghali, Mobil Sharq, Barta & Co., Dagash, Dina Iskandar, Travco Group, Marmonil and Alserkal Consulting.

For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture