Garden of Cairo
![© Najla Said - 30°03 03.3"N 31914 43.2'E[translated from Arabic] Entrance of the Groppi Garden, at night, when no one is on the street.](https://img.phmuseum.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJpbWcucGhtdXNldW0uY29tIiwia2V5IjoidXNlcnMvQmVYODdBZS9wcm9qZWN0cy9hT1lsUkdkL2Jsb2Nrcy9heHk1RW5iLTIiLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsiZml0IjoiY292ZXIiLCJ3aWR0aCI6NjAwfSwiYW8iOjEsInJvdGF0ZSI6bnVsbH19)
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Dates2022 - 2022
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Author
- Location Cairo, Egypt
The Garden of Cairo was launched through an open call where I asked residents of Cairo to anonymously submit locations of their sexual fantasies. I shot some of the locations with a bitten apple, an invitation to collectively shift the narrative on shame.
How do you feel when you experience desire? Do you feel guilt or shame? I always struggled to be in touch with my desires, for I was taught, through the Story of Creation, that it makes me weak. However, I never felt strong in self-restraint. I always felt condemned by Cairo, be it by the scarcity of private spaces or by the transformation of its urban fabric. A remorse I found is to reclaim the city through collecting sexual desires in public spaces. Imagining an alternative Garden of Eden: the Garden of Cairo.
The project was launched through an open call where residents and ex-residents of Greater Cairo were invited to anonymously submit locations of their sexual fantasies, thus indulging unapologetically as a community of Eves. At a selected number of submitted public places, I shot a still life of an eaten apple, as a reappropriation of a symbol of shame.
The series focuses on the places rather the content of the fantasy, which was an optional entry during the open call. My intention with the project was to document Cairo as it is being reshaped under the Sisi Regime, with its latest development, the New Administrative Capital. Only 45km apart, the government paints a fantasy of a modern future - a city built from scratch, and its counterpart, Cairo, disfigured for its revolutionary reminiscence (in reference to the Arab Spring of 2011). Gentrification becomes the perfect method to obliterate collectivity, public space, past and potential revolutions. Simultaneously, censorship became increasingly more obvious, affecting one's agency down to the personal level. The idea of the Garden of Cairo was to subtly poke around this political context, and emphasising the power of our imagination in our journey towards true autonomy. Using our desire to reclaim our city. To fantasize is an act of resistance. To fantasize is an act of strength.
![© Najla Said - 30°03 03.3"N 31914 43.2'E[translated from Arabic] Entrance of the Groppi Garden, at night, when no one is on the street.](https://img.phmuseum.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJpbWcucGhtdXNldW0uY29tIiwia2V5IjoidXNlcnMvQmVYODdBZS9wcm9qZWN0cy9hT1lsUkdkL2Jsb2Nrcy9heHk1RW5iLTIiLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsiZml0IjoiY292ZXIiLCJ3aWR0aCI6ODAwfSwiYW8iOjEsInJvdGF0ZSI6bnVsbH19)
