Co-produced by Darb 1718 and Al-Safar Association, the second edition of Cairographie will kick off on 10 November under the name of Cairographie - Carte Blanche and carrying the theme The Multiple States of Youth.
The month-long festival held at Darb 1718 Cultural centre brings together photographers and artists at different stages in their careers – emerging, mid-career and established – in an exhibition paralleled by workshops and artistic debates.
The Carte Blanche project was developed by Al-Safar Association with an aim to embrace and support Egyptian or Egypt-based artists developing an artistic practice around the photo medium. The winner of Carte Blanche receives support to carry out a photographic project around the theme.
In its second edition, Cairographie will showcase works by 20 artists and will dedicate a special segment to the product of the Carte Blanche project including the winning artwork of Amina Kadous, who was announced the winner of the production grant. The complete list of the artists and programme details are yet to be revealed.
According to the Cairographie organisers, this year s choice of theme – The Multiple States of Youth – invites the artists to ponder on the different concepts of youth and to explore "what it means to be young in one of the most exciting areas of the world today: an extremely diverse region that is currently going through massive change and sees the development of an emerging artistic and cultural scene blending global references and a genuine national identity. From privilege to deprivation, tradition to modernity, conservatism to rebellion, the multiple states of youth are a defining yet uniting feature of those countries as well as a key to understand tomorrow s world."
The first edition of Cairographie also featured an art exhibition and a programme of talks and workshops, jointly organised by Darb 1718 and Photopia. The event took place between 9 November and 9 December 2017, under the theme of Transitions.
The Darb 1718 festival s aim is to "raise awareness of contemporary topics through different forms of photography and video. The exhibition creates opportunities for artistic expression and engagement between participants and attendees."
