A Project by Magdalena Kallenberger
After having experienced the tumultuous days and weeks following the events of the Egyptian Revolution and its aftermath, “scenes” re-adjusts the spotlight towards the ordinary, cleaning of surfaces, hopes and dreams. ‘Did I not tell you…’ the women recounts while her friend patiently keeps on listening. The Everyday will take over. It is already here. Italo Calvino writes “Perhaps everything lies in knowing what words to speak, what actions to perform, and in what order and rhythm.” Did we not know? I am here, standing still. I am waiting at the corner during lunch break. I am waiting at the side of the street for the bus to come. I am waiting. The rooster turns his head to the side. He decides to look away. An old man tries to untangle the blinders, the kid keeps on counting. One, two, three, four … The cat looks at him, he looks at the cat. Daily actions and routines took over, gazes and gestures disencumbered from any double-meaning. My foot tips restlessly on the ground. I am pouring some juice. Maybe we have lost our voices and are to exhausted to perform any action. Our bodies keep on functioning and daily routines took over. Stephen Johnston declares in 2008 “The celebration of the everyday has oppositional and dissident overtones, offering a voice to the silenced and proposing possibilities for change.” I want to believe him.
Scenes found and produced in Cairo, Egypt between 2014-2016.
// Assistant: Abla Mohamed
exhibited at CAIROTRONICA, Festival for Electronic and New Media Arts, Palace of the Arts, Cairo, Egypt, 2016.
exhibited at Fak’ugesi, African Digital Innovation Festival, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2016
[tribulant_slideshow gallery_id="24"]