The Art Lounge An annex to Al MASAR gallery, Behler's Mansion, 157b, 26 July St, ground floor, Zamalek, Tel 2736 8537/010 067 070 “Table of Life”, paintings by Tarek Montasser (11-30 May).
Ceramic and Traditional Handicrafts Centre 1 Al-Imam St, behind Amr bin El-Aas Mosque, Al-Fustat, Old Cairo. Tel 2364 3103 A permanent exhibition of the centre's ceramic, brass, jewellery and khayamiya products.
Contemporary Image Collective (CIC) 22 Abdel Khalek Tharwat St, 4th Floor, Downtown, Cairo, Tel 2396 4272 “Objects in Mirror are Closer than they Appear”, the film and video works in this exhibition expose the fracture between what we are shown on screen and what we see. Borrowing from various cinematic conventions, as well as formats including lecture, documentary, rehearsal and found footage, they examine the limits of our imagination and credulity. With a variety of approaches, their references move between the black boxes of movie theatres and the ‘black mirrors' of our TV screens, computers and smart phones. The exhibition blurs the boundary between depiction and deception and questions the logic of storytelling. Does the illusive charm of the moving image undermine its authority as a visual record? And what role does the viewer's imagination play in constructing a narrative? The show explores the tension between image, narrative and the viewer's perception. It brings together works by seven international artists: Herman Asselberghs, Manon de Boer, Sherif Al-Azma, Patricia Esquivias, Lars Laumann, Maha Maamoun, and Ján Mančuška (15 May - 12 June).
Darb 1718 Kasr El Sham3 Street, Al Fakhareen, Old Cairo, near Mar Girgis Metro Station, Tel 2361 0511 “Fashion Reincarnated: Recycling Identities & Memories”, from a multi-disciplinary arts perspective using an assemblage of different mediums and materials, the artists and designers in this unique exhibition reflect on fashion design and visual arts in light of the recycling process - from the pattern and the finished good, to fashion “leftovers” and the reincarnation of styles and materials. Different garments, items and installations will be used to express and question identity, androgyny, consumerism and waste. Experimenting with forms and focusing on the stories, memories and history connected to the items, each one-of-a-kind piece celebrates and commemorates the life events, relationships and passions of those who made it, wore it, or tore it apart. In the spirit of reincarnation, the artistic works presented seek to evoke their own storytelling. (9-31 May).
Gezira Art Centre 1 Al-Sheikh Al-Marsafi St, Zamalek. Tel 2737 3298 “Covering One's Back”, a photography exhibition by Yasser Alwan, George Awde, Goran Galie, Gian-Reto Gredig, Hassan Khan among others (9-23 May).
Hungarian Cultural Counsellor Office 13 Gawad Hosni St, Abdin, Downtown, second floor, Tel 2392 6692 “Hungary and the Olympic Games”, a photography exhibition (Closing 16 May).
Khanalmaghraby 18 Al-Mansour Mohamed St, Zamalek, Tel 2735 3349/01000 694940 “Different Dialogue”, a miscellaneous exhibition of painting, drawing and sculpture by artists Ahmed Askalany, Al Zaeem Ahmed and Refki Al-Razzaz (9-18 May).
AL MASAR Behler's Mansion, 157b, 26 July St, ground floor, Zamalek, Tel 2736 8537/010 067 0705 “Taha Hussein | Latest Works on Paper (2011 – 2013)”, is a solo exhibition featuring renowned artist Taha Hussein's latest works on paper produced between 2011 and 2013. The exhibition is dedicated to the artist's 84th birthday (Closing 9 May). “Urban Diversity”, paintings by Ahmed Farid (11-30 May).
Mashrabia 8 Champollion St, Downtown. Tel: 25784494-Mob. 0100 1704554 “Journey Around My Living Room”, a project by Hala Al-koussi borrows its title from the book “Journey Around My Bedroom” by Xavier De Maistre in which the author undertakes a journey of two weeks in his own bedroom proceeds to describe it as if he has never seen it before. In spring and summer of 2012, the artist went back to her beginnings as a street photographer. She photographed every day in her neighbourhood of Downtown Cairo; her interest being in the mundane, the banal, the here and now with its wealth of small traces and the gaps that don't offer unilateral meaning. The resulting installation on offer in this exhibition offers visual indices for the larger context, a detailed portrait of a city in waiting (9 May-4 June).
Picasso 30 Hassan Assem off Brazil St, Zamalek. Tel 2736 7544 “Nostalgia”, paintings by Samir Fouad (Closing 10 May). Sculptures and graphic works by Serriya Sedki (12 May-4 June).
El Sawy Culturewheel End of 26th of July St, underneath the 15th of May Bridge, Zamalek, Tel 2736 8881/6178/2737 4448 *Earth Hall Oil paintings by Islam Magdi (11-19 May). *Word Hall “Did you sense the spirit of Gandhi in Tahrir Square?”, an exhibition of posters displays the top entries and underscores the continued relevance of Gandhi's message of bringing social and political change through nonviolence and peaceful resistance (Closing 9 May). A photography exhibition by Lebanese artist Rashad Shebeib (11-19 May).
Talaat Harb Cultural Centre Al-Sayyeda Nafissa St, Zeinhom area. Tel 2362 2647 An exhibition of the book covers issued by the Cultural Development Fund (9-16 May).
