In Lieu of a Prism – Showcase in Alexandria, Egypt, June 1-8

Onassis Stegi in collaboration with partners from the “Alexandria: (Re-)activating common urban imaginaries” network, is presenting a showcase featuring the artistic outcomes of the residency programs “School for Sonic Memory” and “Caravan” hosted in Athens, Alexandria, Marseille, Nicosia, Brussels, and Biella in 2022.

In Lieu of a Prism

The artworks of “In Lieu of a Prism” are clustered around three themes: geographies, belonging, and ruins. Geographies are seen as a collection of layers, each with a unique chemical composition, physical state, and impact, much like Alexandria’s many layers, cultures, and identities throughout history, from the Ptolemaic city until today. The city has shifted, twisted, and molded through many narratives, at times serving as an extension of Europe on the African continent, and as a revolutionary city in other narratives.

To which imaginary does Alexandria belong? Can it, just like other Mediterranean cities, be freed from the romantic and colonial gaze? To whom does Alexandria belong? Thinking of belonging as the entanglement of fragments of collective/personal memories, historical narratives, and alternate imaginaries, the compilation of these moments makes up the lenses and prisms through which the city can be seen. Alexandria’s ruins are the visual, sensory, and sonic collapse of the past, as seen in its physical manifestation in the city’s urban fabric and many other cities all around the Mediterranean. A never-ending process of destruction or preservation in service of specific historical and cultural narratives.

“’In Lieu of a Prism’ embraces the residency artists' fractured and nomadic experiences; it showcases artworks that range from meditations on water and climate change to critical aesthetic explorations of nostalgia and memory as a form of sonic knowledge production. Presenting in three venues, the exhibition offers another way of thinking about/through the city – giving prompts for the visitors to engage with Alexandria’s urban landscape before entering the next venue – layering upon the knowledge, experience, and exploration of the exhibiting artists.”

- Marwa Benhalim, curator of exhibition “In Lieu of a Prism”

About “School for Sonic Memory”

“The School for Sonic Memory” residency program, curated by Theatrum Mundi in collaboration with Onassis Stegi, invited six nomadic artists and nine local artists and researchers to form a ‘school’ for sonic memory, investigating the ways that Athens, Alexandria, and Marseille resonate with one another, and how elements of a connected and conflictual past are made audible within these three cities across the Mediterranean. The residency started in Athens in November 2021 and culminated in a public presentation of the residency outcomes in June 2022 in Athens.

About “Caravan”

“Caravan: Thinking with Alexandria” residency embarked in February 2022 on a complex and multifaceted research quest to unravel and discuss artistic, sociopolitical, historical, and spatial challenges faced by the arts and heritage sectors across Europe and cities that interconnect via the Mediterranean Sea, through the prism of the contemporary and historical city of Alexandria. Conceived and organized by the UNIDEE residency program at Cittadellarte – Fondazione Pistoletto in Italy and curated by Sarah Rifky in conversation with Edwin Nasr, the “Caravan” residency program was co-shaped by 16 selected participants. Five of them were hosted by Onassis Stegi in Athens and in December 2022 they presented their research and artistic works at a public event at the Onassis AiR among other showcases in Biella, Marseille, and Aarhus.

The showcase takes place from the 1st to the 8th of June in Alexandria, Egypt and is accompanied by a symposium, a walking tour, and live performances in B'sarya for Arts, Institut français d'Egypte à Alexandrie, and 6 Bab Sharq.

Participating artists and researchers

Ahmed Saleh, Akoo-o, Asmaa Jama, Chiara Cartuccia, Elena Biserna, Fag Tips (Virgil B/G Taylor), George Moraitis, Islam Shabana, Latent Community, Lodovica Guarnieri, Mahmoud El Safadi, Maria Ilia Kastrouni, Maria Sideri, Mark Lotfy, Mohamed Adel Dessouki, Monai De Paula Antunes, Natassa Dourida, Neja Tomšič, Nina Kurtela, Omnia Sabry, Onur Çimen, Post Disaster, Sam Karpienia, Sara Fakhry Ismail, Stella Ioannidou, Yasmine Hussein, Zeynep Kaserci, Zoé Le Voyer.