May 13 – June 3, 2021

Yazan El Zubi

A mirage which lies in the desert. Magic eyes 1999, 2015

Mixed media – moving image. Canon G9 video + photo (stills), a projector, an iphone 4s, and a JVC mini DV recorder, 07:59 min, Format p1080 HD video, Soundtrack: Alaa Abdullatif. Exhibited as part of the group show “A Worthy Degenerate” at the Townhouse Gallery in Cairo back in 2015, show was curated by Sara El Adl.

Selected by Tiago de Abreu Pinto

Chapter 4

How can a recontextualization occur?

The work was made in 2015 and here we are in 2021. In a totally different time warp in Cairo. Are the key points from before maintained? They are there for sure but there are additional points to discuss regarding the subject matter.

What do you want to go over?

It focuses on the infamous Hindhou style palace; a landmark estate constructed in the neighborhood of Heliopolis which is one of the earliest urban extensions of modern Cairo back in 1911.

But, what is the main question?

I am presenting this estate based on a timeline of accumulated of rumor and mystery; I am questioning whether this alienating colonialist architectural style lead to how it’s been perceived in urban memory throughout the ages; this style being straight up commissioned by the original owner based on the buildings presented in the Paris Exposition of 1900 as part of “Panorama Du Tour De Monde” by architect Alexandre Marcel.

But, what is the main thing here?

Hedonistic and “Hyper-Orientalist” spaces and how they perform in the postcolonial world of today or/and how cosmopolitan relics operate in urban memory, a range of perceptions between former grandiosity, nostalgia, to urban legends, hauntings, drug lord meetings, squat parties leading into accusations of satanic practises in the premise, neglect then fast forward to seeing the state’s ability to renovate and open it for the public; for the ghosts to rest and for people to see it in a different light. It’s a game of power when you are able to shift people’s perceptions of their city overnight.

So, you called these spaces that have these aesthetic features (a hindhou temple erected in the middle of Cairo desert), hyper-orientalists, why?

It has to do with colonial visual politics and full access to be able to cross pollinate visual styles and resources from different parts of the world from which references, resources and inspirations are withdrawn, it can just be considered a form of eclecticism.

You mean that it’s not a museum, right?

I mean in the urban context of today and even with the state’s invasive public concrete works, it will still perform as an eerie and atmospheric monument. I would say this is an odd kind of museum, because the museum here is the house itself and not what it might display or contain. Restoration of the derelicte can be a form of exorcism too.

How can a recontextualization occur? Before you raised questions related to how an image has value? What kind of transition images go through? And, in that process, how does it render her value or the complete opposite? What does it mean in today’s perception?

What he knew was that during that recording it was all agreed with the State guard on site: neither him or the camera should be visible. Two very difficult tasks on a very busy and surveilled street. For him: still a mirage in the desert but on the flip side: a hollow pop up of its first cosmopolitan manifestation.

It’s funny how one day it was denied to enter and photograph, and today; since it’s public opening it is permissible even encouraged for the visitors to engage with the palace and create online content. Generating pixels; from a liminal space to a refurbished tourist attraction.

In the video I am tracing that kind of data creation during the time before its public opening. Its last years as a “haunted” house or a gateway to another realm.

So were these exotic architectural styles and eclectic styling choices the reason why this palace went from being the icon of Cairo’s first suburban extensions in the desert into an estate which only generated fear and mystery to the viewer?

Mr Allfours: The answer is in the negative.
For each time pocket its own set of values and public perceptions.

Yazan El Zubi, A mirage which lies in the desert. Magic eyes 1999, 2015