Forever Is Now 03: How Centuries-Old Heritage And The Contemporary World Unite At This Renowned Exhibition

Forever Is Now 03 takes place on the Giza Plateau from the 26th of October until the 18th November, 2023

Art D’Egypte’s Forever Is Now – the first exhibition of contemporary art to ever take place at the 4,500-year-old Pyramids of Giza and its surrounding plateau – returns for a third edition this month. After welcoming over 800,000 visitors from around the globe last year – and half a million the year before – the upcoming iteration will see 14 artists trace our ancient past to the present day, reviving the spirit of old Egypt.

Themed ‘play’, the Giza Plateau will be transformed into a space of chance and experimentation, home to several sculptural works that reveal a playground of possibilities. Each installation is interactive – we become the creators of our own experience, blurring the line between the artist and viewer.

Founder and curator of Art D’Egypte, Nadine Abdel Ghaffar, is certain this year will be the most ambitious yet. “Compared to previous editions, this time there has been huge organic interest and interaction from the audience,” she enthuses.

“The way we repurpose historical sites through the lens of contemporary artists is what engages the public. A lot of people fly in from around the world to witness this.” The democratisation of art is at the beating heart of Nadine’s mission. “The artists become the storyteller of ancient civilisations through a lens which you and I can understand.”

While in the beginning Forever Is Now served as a platform exclusively for Egyptian artists, today it has garnered international interest. “So many artists told me their work has been inspired by ancient Egypt,” Nadine recounts. “As a curator I started questioning, ‘Why is this so?’ I found that even Picasso stated very clearly that he was influenced by ancient Egypt as well. The civilisation has fascinated the entire world, and it does not only belong to the Egyptians, it belongs to all of humanity.”

The art comes alive through the eyes of the onlooker – honouring the enduring legacy of one of the world’s most mysterious wonders. Arne Quinze’s circular Lupine sculpture shares an isolated view of one of the pyramids and its invisible axis lines; Dionysios’s geometrical installation uses artificial intelligence to imagine different prayers on light; and Carole Feureman’s hyperrealist sculpture evokes Hathor – the ancient Egyptian goddess of love and fertility. The large-scale works masterfully merge with the masonry structures to juxtapose the distant past with the present moment while, aptly, making new history. “Curatorially speaking, there’s a real dialogue between historical fact, and it’s not imposed,” Nadine explains. “It’s not just something that is thrown there, it is purposed in a certain way.”

Beyond the exhibition, perhaps what’s most crucial is for us to perpetuate the power of art education through personal connection. “For us to go forward, we need to look at history and respect it,” Nadine emphasises. “It is only through humans that this will happen. These sites have a soul and the people around them tell the stories. It’s so important to preserve heritage, whether you’re Egyptian or from any other country in the world. When humans come together, is when real magic is possible.”

Forever Is Now 03 takes place on the Giza Plateau in front of the Pyramids of Giza from the 26th of October until the 18th November, 2023.

Images courtesy of Art D’Égypte

From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s October 2023 issue