Georgescu finds an artistic moment in dust CAIRO: The Townhouse Factory was transformed into the Champollion Palace with the video installation "Dust Monument by artist Ioana Georgescu projected on the ceiling and on the floor, pulling the viewer directly inside the historic palace. The installation features Georgescu sweeping away the dust in the Champollion Palace. In her performance, she takes the viewer into the palace with her; you can practically smell the dust as it flies into the air while Georgescu sweeps it off the floor with her broom. To me, this dust was a witness of the palace and a live memory of the palace. This idea of having the dust as a live body and a live memory of the palace and the installation is a meeting between three bodies, my body, the palace and dust in a search for memory, says Georgescu. Georgescu chose to show the installation at the Townhouse Factory because she had noted that Townhouse often shows projects that incorporate the neighborhood surrounding it. "Never has anyone made that connection between these two buildings right next to each other. One of them is not open to the public while the other one is and for free, says Aida El Torie, a master's student at the American University in Cairo, who visited the installation. The artist explains that both the palace and the factory have parallel columns lining up the buildings that suggest two parallel realities, with one a contemporary art gallery and the other an old palace. She feels, however, that both have "the same narrative theme and rhythm. As Georgescu is sweeping the palace, she is occasionally joined by common Egyptian sweepers; according to her this was a magical moment, as there is no social hierarchy between her and them. Even the viewer cannot tell the difference between them, or determine who is performing and who is working. In contrast to the palace s darkness, Georgescu wears a golden coat over a bright red shirt. She comments that The palace has a golden history attached to it, so using this golden dress, I m going back in time using gold as a sign of a lost era. Georgescu deliberately shot late in the afternoon to make the light more ghostly, thus creating a darker, more mysterious type of atmosphere. Georgescu had passed the Champollion Palace many times, however, it was not until last June that she looked up and the idea of going inside came to her. When she went in, she sat there in silence amidst the dust filling the palace when it occurred to her that she had to come back again and sweep up the dust. There is lots and lots of footage, what you are seeing now is the essence of what we captured; it's been a long process, says Georgescu, who added that this project is not finished yet. It is just at one station in a long process as her work is about processes, always going onto something else. The exhibition will be running until July 19 at the Townhouse Gallery, 10 Nabrawy St., off Champollion St., Downtown Daily from 8:30pm to 10:00pm. Click here for our gallery listings.
