American University in Cairo
AUC New Cairo Campus, Tel 02 2615 2694/012 80009077
The Photographic Gallery
“New Cairo, Do You Love Me?” is a photographic project about the experience of living in New Cairo City. Growing up in this city, we were always struck by how commercial, lifeless and anti-human it felt to us. The city was established 25 years ago, promising luxury, safety and a refuge from Cairo congestion, but it ended up treating its residents as economic prospects rather than human beings and faltering on all its promises. The project attempts to document this gap between promise and reality through this body of work. The entire collection was shot on 35mm black and white film to revisit analog techniques in an overwhelmingly digital environment, signifying the rejection of the shallow modernity that New Cairo tries to impose on its residents. It also includes many awkwardly composed photographs. This is due to the fact that a large part of the shooting process took place through car windows to mimic the experience of the average resident.
Judi Yassin is an aspiring photographer who has been living in New Cairo for the past 12 years. Not a single photograph in her portfolio, which spans six years of work, is set on the streets of New Cairo. Tia Khalil is an aspiring photographer who has been living in New Cairo since she was three years old. This is her debut photographic project, choosing to focus on a rather bleak subject rather than something shiny and pretty. She dreads every moment she has to drive past an upcoming "luxury" compound, and this project is her way of conveying that feeling (3- 17 May).
Dai
24 Hassan Assem St, off Brazil, Zamalek, Tel 0100 1115433
“Taqaseem” painting exhibition by Osama Nashed and “Solo Resonance” painting exhibition by Alaa Hegazi
(26 April- 10 May).
Difaf
37 Mohamed Mazhar, Zamalek, Tel 0102 7365252
“Journey to the Core” exhibition by Mahmoud Hamdi
takes us on a journey to the core, exploring what lies beyond the visible and unveiling the secrets of the microcosm (5- 25 May).
District 5, Marakez
New Cairo
After captivating millions across North America, Europe and Asia, “Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience” exhibition makes its Egyptian debut at District 5 by Marakez in New Cairo. The internationally acclaimed exhibition transforms more than 300 masterpieces by Vincent van Gogh into a fully immersive digital spectacle, projected in a stunning 360-degree immersive way onto walls, floors, and ceilings. You’ll see famous paintings like “The Starry Night,” “Sunflowers,” and “Terrace Café at Night” come to life with light and sound, accompanied by the artist’s own words and music. The experience is directed by the Canadian-French artist Mathieu Saint-Arnaud and his team at Studio Normal in Montreal (Tickets for the exhibition are now available. New opening times have also been added to accommodate more visitors.
This is the first time the exhibition has come to Egypt, and those interested in booking can visit beyondvangoghegypt.com
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(7 April through June 2026).
Al-Fustat Centre for Ceramic
Old Cairo district, Tel 0111 8575573
The permanent exhibition of the centre’s handcrafted products including ceramic, brass, jewellery, and khayamia.
Grand Egyptian Museum
Cairo-Alexandria Desert Rd, Giza. 11 km, Tel 02 35317344
The Empower Her Art Forum (EHAF) is a premier international festival dedicated to championing women artists globally. Hosted annually in Cairo, the forum serves as a vital bridge between creative expression and social advocacy. Since its 2023 debut, EHAF has evolved into a significant cultural movement, gaining the patronage of multiple Egyptian Ministries and international organizations (From 2 to 5 May, 10am to 10pm).
Mashrabia Gallery of Contemporary Art
15 Mahmoud Bassiouny St, Downtown, Cairo, Tel 02 2578 4494, open daily from 11am to 8pm except Fridays
“My Favorite Things 10” group exhibition started in 2016 as a small group exhibition, showing the artworks of three chosen women artists; featured by Mashrabia as the revelation of the season. In due course, “My Favorite Things” became an inclusive annual exhibition promoting and supporting up and coming women artists in Egypt. This year’s selection includes 25 female artists such as Aya El-Hussieny, Habiba El-Gazzar, Hana Gawad, Nadine Abdel-Khalek, Mariam Essam, Heba Tarek, Rehab Ayman, Fatma Al Zahraa Hassan, Nada El-Ramly, and Reem El-Hefnawy (closing 30 April).
Misr
4A Ibn Zankai St, from Hassan Sabri, Zamalek, Tel 02 2735 0604
“Veiled Tremble” painting exhibition by Rania Abu Elazm
(closing 14 May).
Picasso
30 Hassan Assem off Brazil St, Zamalek, Tel 02 2736 7544
Hall I
Exhibition of painting by Enaam El-Shahed (closing 4 May).
Hall II
“Eyes Full of Dreams” exhibition by internationally recognized painter Lina Osama is a series about hope and the privilege of dreaming with a nostalgic twist. Osama believes that in a changing world, one must not overlook the power of dreaming of a better tomorrow whilst holding onto the sweetness of memories
(closing 4 May).
Safarkhan
6 Brazil St, Zamalek, Tel 012 70169291
“Songs of the South” in his third showing at Safarkhan, established talent Omar Abdel-Zaher employs his signature brand of Nubianesque expressionism to deliver another candid and impassioned meditation on the quaint yet enrapturing traditions of the rural regions of the Egyptian south. Abdel-Zaher’s painting invites us to escape the concrete jungle of the Cairene metropolis, whose sounds and sights we drown in daily, it is a glimpse into these far-flung communities from which a certain jubilance emanates (29April - 20 May).
Swailam
14 El-Saleh Ayoub St, Zamalek, Tel 02 2735 8900/0111232 4002
“Lighting” exhibition by the artist Mohamed Abdalla Otaybi presents the artist’s latest collection, which is an attempt to dispel the darkness that currently dominates the world. It is an effort to plant seeds of goodness, beauty, and love—symbolized by the soaring bird that appears in most of the works, as well as by the presence of a woman as a symbol of fertility and life
(closing 7 May).
UBUNTU
20 Hassan Sabry St, (entrance from Ibn Zinki St), Zamalek, Tel 0100 2792223
Ground Floor
“River Guardians” exhibition of painting by Ahmed El-Badawy (closing 2 May).
First Floor
“Cinema is Cinema 6” exhibition by Hany Rashed, delves into the visual archive of Egyptian cinema, reworking its familiar language through a process of fragmentation, repetition, and subtle disruption. Including painting and installations, the exhibition revisits film stills, subtitles, and commercial posters—primarily from the 1970s through the 1990s, alongside more recent titles
(closing 2 May).
Yassin art gallery
159, 26th July St, Behind Diwan Bookstore, Zamalek, Tel 01271170035
“Born of the Moment” exhibition of painting by Walid Nayif
(28 April – 21 May).
Zamalek art gallery
11 Brazil St, Zamalek, Tel 02 2735 1240
“Terra Cantus: A Trajectory” exhibition of painting by Nazli Madkour (21 April- 7 May).
ALEXANDRIA
Bibliotheca Alexandrina
Port Said St, Chatby, Alexandria 21526, Tel (03) 4839999
Archaeological Museum
A permanent exhibition on the results of the Archaeological Mission of the University of Turin in Nelson Island.
Goethe Institute
Temporarily 27 Marouf El Rassafi Street, Kafr Abdo, Alexandria
“Photograph Explorers” photography exhibition is the result of a workshop held from April to November of last year, participants in the workshop photographed and experimented together, discovering Alexandria from a new perspective. Participants including among many others: Ahmed Ramadan Ahmed, Ahmed Walid Sami, Aya Ahmed Mehran, Aya Mohamed Mahmoud Ali, Reem Farag Gomaa, Ziad Hassan Mostafa, Salwa Hamdi Mohamed, and Abdullah Mougy (closing 31 May).
* A version of this article appears in print in the 30 April, 2026 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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