We arrived in Cairo, the day after bombs began to fly across the Middle East. 

There, we encountered some of the most fascinating contemporary designers shaping how we view art from Egypt. These forward-looking creatives revere the ancients while embracing Egypt’s current, multi-ethnic world as a vital source of inspiration.

One of them, Nadine Abdel Ghaffar, is the Egyptian-French art curator and founder of Art D’Égypte. She will soon mount the ninth edition of its annual design exhibition, Forever Is Now. Staged in and around historic sites across Cairo, last year’s edition—set beside the Pyramids of Giza, — gathered Egyptian design talent from around the globe. Drawing on Egypt’s past, their works offered a striking contemporary foil. Art D’Égypte aims to provide “an alternative view of Egypt to the world,” Ghaffar says.

Photos by FUSEPROJECT