Dar al-Hiwar

In 2002, the Goethe Institute Cairo/Alexandria started the project series "Dar al-Hiwar – The House of Encounter." Since then its results are presented every year in conjunction with the "German Festival". Artists from Egypt and Germany come together within a work and communication process meant to serve the mutual understanding of similarities and differences, individual positions in the arts and daily life, as well as the mechanisms, boundaries and chances for the dialogue between people from different cultural circles. Exhibitions, site specific installations, performances, artists’ talks, and other events, welcome the participation of the art-interested public. For three years already, the Goethe Institute Cairo on Bustan Street – naturally a "house of encounter" all along – becomes a kind of universal artwork for several weeks at a time.

As posted on the project’s website, the Dar al-Hiwar is a "conscious answer to the numerous conferences, seminars, and discussions that try to promote the so-called ‘dialogue between the Islamic countries and the west’. The Dar al-Hiwar relies upon a dialogue of emotions in the field of art. It confidently inspires an intensive and deep awareness of the other, and makes ideas, concepts and feelings evident." Hopefully the official website will soon convey more of the diversity and exciting nature of the art projects from the previous three editions of the "Dar al-Hiwar" and the great public response they attracted.

>> Projects - selected examples
We thank the Goethe Institute Cairo/Alexandria and all the artists who made the photographs and information available to us.

Participating artists 2002 - 2004,
information from the official website:
Ahmed Abdel Karim
Oliver Doerell
Isabel Haase
Mahmoud Hamdy
Mahmoud Hanafy
Iman Issa
Mahmoud Khaled
Stephan Köperl
Chris Nägele
Haytham Nawar
Mahmoud Refat
Mohamed Shoukry
Khaled Sirag
Sameh El Tawil
Florian Thalhofer
Bruno Wank
Sylvia Winkler
Martin Wöhrl
Nesreen Youssef
Marwa Zakaria

Summary by Gerhard Haupt and Pat Binder

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