Balacona

2018, installation

The wall installation recreates the backdrop of a façade that becomes a projection screen for possible social interactions. The metal sculptures are replicas of the balcony railings that adorn the balconies of my aunts in a middle-class neighborhood in Cairo. The work explores the spatial structure and social significance of the balcony: visually exposed to the street but spatially protected by its elevation, the balcony is a space that simultaneously demarcates the interior from the exterior and provides a transition between private and public spheres. In Egypt, the balcony is a strongly gendered space where domesticity can be lived out in public. In a visual ellipse, the fragments of balustrades on the exhibition wall materially evoke the liminal state of the façade and the social surveillance at play in a neighborhood. The publication is a collection of fictional dialogues that take place on or around balconies. These dialogues are based on interviews as well as Egyptian television series.

Saadia, metal, 60 x 185 cm
Awatef, metal, 30 x 150 x 50 cm
Magda, metal and rope, 45 x 180 cm
Noura, metal, 30 x 180 x 30 cm
Droite Gauche, c-print (framed) 59.4 x 42 cm
Scenes for Balconies, publication, 64 pages