DUST
Wall Decoration, al-Shams CafĂŠ, Cairo, 2008
DUST Egypt’s Forgotten Architecture photographs by
Xenia Nikolskaya with an essay by
On Barak
dewi lewis publishing
We entered by the back door, into complete darkness. My heart was beating loudly, I felt scared, but when the caretaker switched on the light I saw a magical place – totally untouched and covered with a soft layer of dust – a wonderful marble-paved hall dating back to the early 20th century. Here was Sleeping Beauty’s palace. Yet it looked as if it was still occupied, as if the owners had only just left. Beneath a glass ceiling, books and photographs lay scattered around. On one side was the library and a salon and on the other the dining room. A pink marble staircase, led up to a galleried balcony and to the bedrooms: at its base stood two griffins. Marble, silk, polished wood, crystal, mirrors and paintings – the place seemed transformed into a theatre in which a drama had just been acted out – a very private drama – one that fills you with curiosity and guilt, rather like reading someone’s personal letters. It now seems appropriate that my photographic exploration of empty space in Egypt should have started when I stepped into this building, the Serageldin mansion in Cairo. Since then, I have entered many abandoned places, halls of decay and vanishing beauty. Initially, I was looking in these places for traces of the St. Petersburg of my early adulthood. Gradually, however, I found myself drawn by their own stories.
Serageldin Palace, Cairo, 2006
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I was born in the Soviet Union (a name which, like that of my hometown Leningrad, no longer exists), and studied Ancient Egyptian Art on cracked black & white slides with a teacher who had never been to Egypt. The first time I came, in 2003, was as a part of an archaeological mission to Memphis run by The Russian Egyptology Institute. That first trip was overwhelming. I was too busy photographing artifacts and excavations to see much of the country, but nevertheless I felt a connection. I returned again, this time on my own, in 2006, with the help of the Egyptian Embassy in Moscow. It was an adventure and as Roland Barthes has written – “there is no photography without adventure”.
After returning to Russia, the Director of the Egyptian Cultural Centre in Moscow was keen to exhibit my work, but at his office, looking through my pictures, he seemed to become more and more upset. Finally he asked: “Where are the Pyramids?” I told him that I hadn’t found them very interesting, and consequently hadn’t photographed them. That was the end of the meeting. He never called me back. I have been photographing in Egypt for the last five years, but only when I left the country could I formulate my vision for the project. It was during a trip to the USA, in 2009. In New York, I met photographer Jason Eskenazi, who was working temporarily as a security guard at the Metropolitan Museum. Jason took me there on a Monday, when the museum is closed to visitors. The deserted building projected me back to childhood and evening school visits to the Hermitage Museum. That day also revealed something to me that I had seen before but felt I was encountering for the first time: The Milkmaid, the famous painting by Jan Vermeer was on display. During visiting hours it was simply impossible to even get close to it. In the picture she is alone (and in a closed museum even more so), but she doesn’t appear sad. In the background, on a fine ceramic tile, we can see Cupid shooting his arrow. The story is complete: she is thinking of her lover. At that moment I realised my theme: absence. It was what I had been thinking about all along. … And so when I finally stepped out of the Serageldin mansion in to the present darkness time begin again. Only later did I discover the stories beneath the dust… This work took five years. Strangely, the last pictures were taken just before the Egyptian revolution of January 17 and the final selection was completed on February 11 – the day Mubarak stood down. Xenia Nikolskaya, Cairo 2011
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PLATES
House near The Citadel, Cairo, 2009 10
Wild Cats, Agricultural Museum, Cairo, 2010
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Agricultural Museum, Cairo, 2010
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Rhinoceros, Agricultural Museum, Cairo , 2010 14
Abandoned Palace, Manial, Cairo, 2010 17
Bar, Pension Vienuasse, Cairo, 2010 18
Pension Crillon, Alexandria, 2010
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Bathroom, Pension Crillon, Alexandria, 2010
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Tuson Pasha Villa, Alexandria, 2009
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‘Marie Antoinette’, Pension Normandie, Alexandria, 2009
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Empty Apartment, Mahmoud Bassouni Street, Cairo, 2010
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Kitchen, Empty Apartment, Mahmoud Bassouni Street,Cairo, 2010
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Atelier, Alexandria, 2009 26
Diwan al-Hozayen, Esna, 2010
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Diwan al-Hozayen, Esna, 2010
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Afro-Asian Writer’s Association, Cairo, 2010
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Amin Hagagy Palace, Esna, 2010
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Tirinig Department Store, Cairo, 2010 32
Tailor’s Workshop, Tiring Department Store, Cairo, 2010
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Tirinig Department Store, Cairo, 2010
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Radio Cinema, Cairo, 2010 36
Dressing Room, Radio Cinema, Cairo, 2010
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Radio Cinema, Cairo, 2010 40
Simon Artz Department Store, Port Said. 2010
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El Dorado Theatre, Port Said, 2010
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Prince Said Halim’s Palace, Cairo, 2007
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Blue Room, Sakakini Palace, Cairo, 2007 48
Sakakini Palace, Cairo, 2007 49
Amin Hagagy Palace, Esna, 2010 50
Amin Hagagy Palace, Esna, 2010
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Palace Hotel, Minya, 2010
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Looby, Palace Hotel, Mynia, 2010
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Wall Decoration, Palace Hotel, Mynia, 2010 56
White Bedroom, Hela Faris Palace, Delta, 2010
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Living Room, Hela Faris Palace, Delta, 2010
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Living Room, Hela Faris Palace, Delta, 2010
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Villa Casdagli, Garden City, Cairo, 2010.
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Villa Casdagli, Garden City, Cairo, 2010 65
Mohammed al-Qarniya Palace, Cairo, 2010 66
Barbie Room, Villa Casdagli, Garden City, Cairo, 2010
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Abandoned School, Helmeya, Cairo, 2010 71
Commercial School For Girls, Helmeya, Cairo, 2010
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Abandoned School, Helmeya, Cairo, 2010
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Former American Consulate, Port Said, 2011 75
Library, The Geographical Society, Cairo, 2010
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‘Casa Italia’, Port Said, 2010
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Staircase, Verivo Building, Port Said, 2010
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Al-Gawhara Palace, Citadel, Cairo, 2011
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Bathroom, Baron Palace, Heliopolis, Cairo, 2011
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Sultana Malak Palace, Heliopolis, Cairo. 2011
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Staircase, Baron Palace, Heliopolis, Cairo, 2011 84
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Ballroom, Sultana Malak Palace, Heliopolis, Cairo. 2011
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Classroom, Sultana Malak Palace, Heliopolis, Cairo. 2011
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Souad Sabah Palace, Garden City, Cairo, 2011
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Bagous Palace, Cairo, 2011
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Broken Piano, Bagous Palace, Cairo, 2011
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Bagous Palace, Cairo, 2011 93
Baron Palace, Heliopolis, Cairo, 2011 94
Baron Palace, Heliopolis, Cairo, 2011
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Red Dining Room, Serageldin Palace, Cairo, 2011
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Photographs, Serageldin Palace, Cairo, 2006
Serageldin Palace, Cairo, 2009 101
Qasr al-Doubara (Mahmoud Sabit House), Cairo, 2008
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Sakakini Palace, Cairo, 2007 104
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Serageldin Palace, Cairo, 2006 106
Serageldin Palace, Cairo, 2006 109
Classroom, Prince Said Halim’s Palace, Cairo, 2007
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On Barak Egyptian Dust: The Social Life of Endangered Spaces
I missed the ease and simplicity of shopping malls: their clean, controlled, virtual-reality environment… I longed for a world in which you did not constantly lose the battle against dust and baksheesh… Samia Serageldin, The Cairo House
There are two ways one could read dust: the generic and the specific. In the first, dust is the stuff of history, marking a present disintegrating into the past. This association of dust and history is nicely captured by the affinity between the Arabic verbs ghabara (to go by, to pass), and ghabbara (to cover with dust). Dust spells disuse: a movement stopped; progress halted; falling asleep under a blanket of soft particles. It functions as a chronometer of sorts, piling up whenever motion is stopped, like sand trapped in an hourglass. If dust marks a dearth of human activity, the absence of people who would stir, clean, or unsettle the grimy powder, it is exactly such efforts, the Sisyphic war against the gray accumulation, which comes to define modernity in this perspective. It is impossible to destroy dust. All that one can do is to try preventing it from settling, move it around, redistribute it, and keep it in constant circulation. This circulation allows the modern to be seen as an awakening, brushing off, and resurgence from layers upon layers of all that burdens and suffocates. It distinguishes the energetic and alive from the frozen, traditional, and unmoving. The modern city, as La Corbusier envisioned it, should be dust-free, a space of clean streets and sharp corners, unpolluted (but also un-softened) by the past; a sterile metropolis of complete and uninterrupted visibility. But in Egypt such dust-free modernity has always been still to be attained, certainly when measured against a Western yardstick, as implied Samia Serageldin’s quote, taken from a semi-autobiographical memoir written about one of the houses in the pictures. As André Aciman has put it in Out of Egypt, “too many vagrants, too much dust, so few Europeans…”. In such renditions of nostalgia for Egypt’s belle époque, contemporary dust colours the pre1952 cosmopolitan rainbow grey. After the revolution, modern efforts to banish dust, often undertaken with technologies such as carpets and dusters (the latter sometimes made of brightly
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coloured plastic, but bamboo is always better), can seem obsolete, traditional. The clap of dusters on rugs slung over art deco balcony railings rhythmically punctuate the cacophony of mechanically amplified calls for prayer, taken as another instance of a modernity that produces its own antithesis. In this first reading, to sum up, dust hangs in Egypt like the undrawn curtain in modernity’s theatre. It is best captured by the long red and heavy curtains of the Serageldin house. There is a second way of reading dust, however, one which entails looking carefully at the powder itself rather than at what it supposedly covers. In such a perspective dust is specific; it is itself historical, and not a generic marker of historical time. It changes its composition from time to time and from place to place. Is there an Egyptian dust? Can we sketch its history? Can we think of dust as a presence rather than an indicator of absence? One possible place to start would be pointing out that modernity – equated above with dusting and cleaning – can also be seen as an intense process of producing dust. Another semantic affinity now comes to mind: dust and inDUSTry. In this second reading, dust is not only the nemesis of the modern city but also an important factor in its development. Since the second half of the nineteenth century dust became a key driving force influencing urban planning in Egypt’s growing urban centers. During this time members of Alexandria and Cairo’s middle and upper classes started experiencing moving through their streets as an inconvenient, even dangerous activity. Especially during the summer, passing carts and the frequent winds would raise clouds of dust that penetrated the nose and eyes. Dust itself, of course, was nothing new in Egypt. In al-Jabarti’s first hand account of Napoleon’s invasion during the end of the eighteenth century, the dust seems to actually take part in the fighting. However, new notions of public health and hygiene amplified the anxieties stirred up by
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dust as the following century progressed. In the medical theories of the nineteenth century, dust, and especially road-dust, which contained dried particles of animal and sometimes human faeces – was considered a carrier of lethal diseases. During this time the theory of miasmas or ‘thick airs’ informed new legislation that sought to promote public health and new notions of urban space intended to make the modern city a safer and cleaner place. Old dirt roads were gradually replaced with modern streets, newly paved with hard and durable surface such as granite blocks in Alexandria, stones that were exceptionally resistant to erosion by narrow-tired, horse-drawn vehicles, horseshoes, and steel wagon tyres, consequently producing hardly any dust. The modern streets, fitted with tram-rails, lined with poles, illuminated, and built over a network of drainage and water supply pipes, were meant to reduce dirt, mud, and dust. These high-speed arteries were less and less welcoming to animals and their faeces, and facilitated the cleaning of it before it dried, disintegrated, and became airborne. Even as the theory of ‘thick airs’ gave way to new ideas about the agents of disease (e.g. microbes and germs), dust continued to be seen as a crucial vehicle for contamination. For example, avoiding domestic and road dust was included in 1928 as one of the ‘Twenty Two Advices on How to Reach the Age of Hundred’ published by the Cairo based periodical kul shai’ wa-al-’alam. Yet medical understandings of dust were not the only things that were changing. Fluctuating too was the composition of dust itself: if once it contained mostly organic dried animal excrement, the modern roads (gradually covered with asphalt) and the new vehicles that replaced mounts (automobiles appeared in Egypt in 1903) started producing new kinds of oil-based pollutants, which are nowadays an important component of road-dust in places such as greater Cairo. The same paradoxical history characterizes the fight against
domestic dust, composed in the past mostly of organic stuff such as dead human skin. While carpets have been an important means for fighting this dust, the growing use of synthetic rugs increases the quantity and concentration of the inorganic components of house dust, and especially a variety of allergenic and carcinogenic chemicals and petroleum products that make up the new carpet fibers. At home and in the street, fighting dust ended up producing more of it, changing its composition, and modifying the related health risks and anxieties along the way. Finally, the dust amassed on these pictures is not produced only in cities and certainly not just in Egypt. Consider cotton dust. Long-stapled cotton, which, since the beginning of the nineteenth century, fueled an Egyptian modernity of industrialized agriculture and cash-cropping, is a significant and continual source of a dust whose dangers are both fast (as it is highly inflammable) and slow (as an agent of upper respiratory tract disease). Cotton dust pays as little heed to city/village divides as it does to international borders. Furthermore, weather conditions in the Mediterranean place Egypt amidst flows of dust and pollutants from both Europe and the Sahara. These mixtures of Africa and Europe, old and new, city and countryside, domestic and public, local and foreign, nostalgic and forward-looking, suggest that the two aforementioned readings of dust are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Re-fused, these seemingly contradictory filters inform one of the clichéd yet so compelling images of Egypt: a romantic crimson sunset whose evocative powers owe much to the unacknowledged screen of modern polluted dust.
documenting urban space and the struggles around it. Resisting the ethnographic impulse to “capture” indigenous people in traditional or exotic postures, Egyptian people are by design absent from the photos that follow. Instead, the book offers a body of images of empty places, creating a typology of absence in overpopulated settings such as metropolitan Cairo or Alexandria. But rather than discounting the ongoing and vibrant quotidian life that takes (or took) place in these endangered spaces, Xenia Nikolskaya seeks to reveal the traces that human lives leave on urban space, aiming thereby to indirectly divulge the traces such urban environments leave on the people who inhabit them. Dust was conceived and completed before the so-called January 25 revolution that toppled President Hosni Mubarak at the beginning of 2011. It will take years to determine whether this popular uprising has attained its key goals and especially the expressed desire for real regime change. But even before the dust settles and history passes its judgment, the winds of change have already left some discernable marks. For many Egyptians, dusting emerged as a political action. Scenes of men and women cleaning Tahrir Square with palm-tree brooms during the first eighteen days of the revolt fused together an anti-corruption campaign and calls for transparent government with a new impulse toward actual cleaning, a refreshing attitude to the shared environment. In both respects, their job has just begun. What they begin to uncover, however, is the possibility that under the dust a new Egypt is waiting.
This project probes the relations between spatial constraints and human history, examining how the built theatres of this history shape the human dramas that take place in them. The state of Egypt’s colonial architecture – rapidly succumbing to time, realestate frenzy, and an ongoing overpopulation crisis that necessitates much re-appropriation and improvisation – lends urgency to
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Wall Decoration, al-Shams Café, Cairo, 2008 Al-Shams café, located in central Cairo, off 26th of July Street, is a popular meeting point and a favourite cinema location. The walls are covered with paintings of pharaohs and ballerinas.
Serageldin Palace, Cairo, 2006 Built in 1902 by Italian architect Carlo Prampolini for Karl (Charles) Heinrich Beyerls, owner of Credit Foncier Egyptien. Beyerls died eight days after moving in. It was then designated as the residence of Kaiser Wilhelm II for state visits to Egypt, though these never took place because of World War I. In 1924 it became a school for well-bred girls.
House near The Citadel, Cairo, 2009 A simple wooden chair is a feature in every coffee shop in Cairo – they are very similar to the No. 14 or bistro chair, the iconic chair of Parisian cafés made by the Thonet Company.
Wild Cats, Agricultural Museum, Cairo, 2010 Opened in 1938, this is the world’s oldest agricultural museum. As well as a collection of stuffed animals, there are exhibits of traditional and modern agricultural equipment and of techniques. It is a favourite attraction for school visits and for foreign artists who often incorporate it in their projects.
Agricultural Museum, Cairo, 2010 The Palace of Princess Fatima, named for the daughter of Khedive Ismail, was chosen to be remodeled as the museum building. Construction of the museum began in November 1930.
Rhinoceros, Agricultural Museum, Cairo, 2010 The complex contains several buildings, laboratories, themed halls, botanical gardens, cinemas and greenhouses. Little has changed since it was first established – including the admission charge of ten piasters, raised to five pounds this year (less than a Euro).
Abandoned Palace, Manial, Cairo, 2010 Manial is an island in the Nile near central Cairo. Here a fairytale-looking palace, heavily decorated with gold, is hidden behind a petrol station. Spacious and formerly luxurious interiors are the last thing you would expect in the middle of this Soviet-style neighbourhood.
Bar, Pension Vienuasse, Cairo, 2010 Giant bottles of Sport Cola, no longer produced in Egypt, and old fashion Stella bottles are indicators that this place was abandoned at least ten years ago and awaits its destiny. It may be restored, but the most likely outcome is that it will be demolished like other city centre ‘pearls’.
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Pension Crillon, Alexandria, 2010 A popular and fashionable summer destination for many Egyptians, Alexandria was built in the top modern architectural style by foreign architects. There are still many pensions and guesthouses on the Corniche facing the sea. The lobby of the famous Pension Crillon no longer looks like this. In February 2010 the hotel was renovated and its original interior was lost.
The social rent system established by Nasser still exists in Cairo. Relatives inherit a token rent as low as 5-10 US dollars for two generations, but are unable to sell or sublet the property. It means that landlords usually wait for the death of the rent owner before putting the property back on the market.
Diwan al-Hozayen, Esna, 2010 The furniture in this room was ordered by Mohamed al-Hozayen’s grandparents directly from Paris and still has a company label on it.
Tailor’s Workshop, Tiring Department Store, Cairo, 2010 Currently, the Tiring building is partly abandoned and partly squatted, used mainly for tailors’ workshops.
Bathroom, Pension Crillon, Alexandria, 2010
Empty Apartment, Mahmoud Bassiouni Street, Cairo, 2010
Afro-Asian Writers' Association, Cairo, 2010
A distinctive round window located in a shared bathroom facing the Mediterranean. Pension Crillon is a landmark in Alexandria; to get a bed here is a matter of great luck, and more likely if you happen to know the owner.
This abandoned apartment exemplifies an element of the Egyptian real estate frenzy: furniture and dishes have been left, as if someone had been using the space just minutes earlier.
The Afro-Asian Writers’ Association was established in Cairo in 1962, then moved to an unknown palace on Kasr al-Aini Street. I tried to photograph the building several times; twice I was kicked out by staff, but, on the third try, I snuck in knowing that it took at least ten minutes for staff members to get down to the ground floor.
Tuson Pasha Villa, Alexandria, 2009
Atelier, Alexandria, 2009
Amin Hagagy Palace, Esna, 2010
Radio Cinema, Cairo, 2010
The bathroom is the only remaining original interior left in the villa of Tuson Pasha, now occupied by the Art & Architecture Department of Alexandria University.
The Atelier featured in Lawrence Durrell’s Alexandria Quartet. Built in 1893, it was owned originally by an Italian named George Tanzico, then by a Syrian (or, by some accounts Lebanese) Jew. Later the building was given to the artists of Alexandria. It is still used as an artist’s studio and by the Children’s Union of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.
Built in 1942 by Italian architect Pallo Eddini for local merchant Amin Hagagy, the palace is in the small town of Esna located 55 km south of Luxor, and best known for the remains of a Ptolemaic temple on the west bank of the Nile, in the town centre. Cruise boats often make this their first port of call after leaving Luxor.
Radio Cinema used to be one of the premier movie theatres of Middle Eastern Bollywood. Since cinema production in Egypt has dropped from four hundred to four films per year, there is no longer a need for so many cinemas in the city.
‘Marie Antoinette’, Pension Normandie, Alexandria, 2009
Diwan al-Hozayen, Esna, 2010
Tiring Department Store, Cairo, 2010
The family of Mohamed al-Hozayen, respected merchants of Esna, built this enormous guesthouse at the beginning of the 20th century. In the red salon, guests can chill out and also learn about the family history. The walls are covered with photographs of deceased family members.
Designed by Oscar Horowitz for Les Grands Magasins, the Tiring Department Store opened its doors in 1912. The luxurious store matched the elegance of similar establishments in Paris, such as Galeries Lafayette. After the revolution of 1952 the Egyptian government nationalised it.
Dressing Room, Radio Cinema, Cairo, 2010
A reproduction of the well-known portrait of Marie Antoinette à la Rose by Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun aims to bring a ‘royal’ atmosphere to this cheap pension where you share the room, bathroom and an amazing view over the Mediterranean.
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Empty Apartment, Mahmoud Bassiouni Street, Cairo, 2010
Tiring Department Store, Cairo, 2010 If you can find your way to the stairs hidden between the many kiosks and small shops that surround Tiring, you can take the opportunity to enjoy the glory of the interior décor.
The Ismailia Group for Real Estate Investments has a goal to preserve and maintain central Cairo. They buy property, restore it and find new owners. Radio Cinema on Talat Harb Street is one of their current major projects.
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Radio Cinema, Cairo, 2010 The nightime appearance of Radio Cinema must have been truly impressive, as there is still a considerable amount of neon tubing on show. Built by architect Max Edrei, Radio Cinema used to house Cairo’s largest screen.
The Sakakini Palace was the creation of Habib Sakakini Pasha, a businessman from the Levant. An inscription above the Western entrance states that it was built in 1897. It is a perfect location for movie sets, and the film Yacoubian Building was shot here. It is said that the house revolves around the sun.
Palace Hotel, Minya, 2010 For twenty-five Egyptian pounds a room is available to Egyptians in this remarkable hotel. Foreigners are not allowed because tourist police are not present there. High ceilings, handpainted Pharaonic murals, old tourism posters and a time-warp atmosphere characterise the space.
Sakakini Palace, Cairo, 2007
Lobby, Palace Hotel, Minya, 2010
Located at the crossroads of major Cairo roadways, the palace has 50 rooms and halls with over 400 windows and doors, and a decor boasting in excess of 300 busts and statues.
The façade of this hotel reflects a Western Belle Époque influence, whilst the interiors reflect the New Pharaonic style very popular during the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.
El-Dorado Theatre, Port Said, 2010
Amin Hagagy Palace, Esna, 2010
Built by a Greek businessman as an opera house to serve the population of foreign nationals in the newly founded cosmopolitan city. In 1922, a cinema was added to El-Dorado. Both the cinema and theatre were active until 1970 when the building was added to the Omar Effendi department store and completely forgotten.
The staircase in the Amin Hagagy palace. Located on the west bank of the Nile, the palace is an absolute landmark of the architectural landscape of Esna, second only to the well-known Ptolemaic temple situated in the town.
Wall Decoration, Palace Hotel, Minya, 2010
Prince Said Halim’s Palace, Cairo, 2007
Amin Hagagy Palace, Esna, 2010
Simon Artz Department Store, Port Said, 2010 This was once a famous department store on the waterfront in Port Said. Artz was a Jewish merchant, who had a chain of department stores in Paris, Dehli and Port Said. Today the space is used as storage by a small nearby shop. On the rooftop of the building, you can still find remnants of old stock and broken mannequins.
Designed by Antonio Lasciac in 1896 for Prince Said Halim, it has a similar story to many other Cairo palaces. The British, in the wake of WWI, confiscated it as Halim, had sided with the Ottomans. Rumours circulate in Cairo, now and then, that it might be torn down or developed into an Arts Centre. Both scenarios seem very possible.
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Blue Room, Sakakini Palace, Cairo, 2007
Traditionally these types of houses use the ground floor as a reception area and the bedrooms are always above.
This wall decoration reflects the mixed style of the early 20th century: ancient Egyptian ornaments with lotus and oriental subjects – peasants with water jars, for example.
White Bedroom, Hela Faris Palace, Delta, 2010 This beautiful three storey palace, built by an unknown Italian architect, belongs to the Hela Faris family. It is protected by huge walls and hidden in the middle of the countryside on the way from Cairo to Alexandria.
Living Room, Hela Faris Palace, Delta, 2010 The Faris family were once owners of an enormous tract of land in the Nile Delta. Today their landholding has been reduced to one villa and a farm.
Living Room, Hela Faris Palace, Delta, 2010 The villa is empty all year, except during the holy month of Ramadan when the large family gathers together.
Villa Casdagli, Garden City, Cairo, 2010 It took nearly eighteen months to get permission to be able to photograph this villa because its status was unclear, and a matter of dispute between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Tourism.
Villa Casdagli, Garden City, Cairo, 2010 Villa Casdagli was built at the turn of the 20th century by Austrian architect Edward Matasek for Emanuel Casdagli, a British-educated Levantine merchant with dealings in the lucrative textile trade in Manchester. It is also possible that the house was originally built for the banker Felix Suares and, following his death in April 1906, sold to the Casdaglis in 1909.
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Mohammed al-Qarniya Palace, Cairo, 2010
Abandoned School, Helmeya, Cairo, 2010
Staircase, Verivo Building, Port Said, 2010
Staircase, Baron Palace, Heliopolis, Cairo, 2011
Little is known about the palace housing al-Qarniya primary school, in the Falaky area of central Cairo. The only available information is that it used to belong to Mohammed al-Qarniya, a rich merchant, and was built by an unknown Italian architect. The building still contains beautiful wall paintings and has coloured glass in the windows.
Remnants of the educational process, such as this grasshopper picture, can still be found in the classrooms.
A remarkable apartment building in central Port Said, famous for its coloured glass decoration.
After its sale in 1952, the new owners were plagued with legal problems and unable to do anything with the Palace, It was then left to decay for over 40 years. Belgium and Indian construction companies tried to maintain the building and garden; but only succeeded with the latter. The palace seems to be a ‘mission impossible’ for conservators.
Barbie Room, Villa Casdagli, Garden City, Cairo, 2010
Former American Consulate, Port Said, 2011
Al-Gawhara Palace, Citadel, Cairo, 2011
Ballroom, Sultana Malak Palace, Heliopolis, Cairo. 2011
For many years the Villa was used as a secondary school named after the Sudanese revolutionary – Ali Ibn Abdel Latif. The children tried to make the place ‘cozy’ by decorating it with Barbie stickers.
The former American Consulate in Port Said is on the Suez Canal side next to the lighthouse and the Simon Arzt department store. Hand prints on the wall called Khamsa wa khmesa are part of the Eid al-Adha celebration. People put their hands into the fresh blood of animals slaughtered at the end of the fast and leave marks everywhere for luck.
Also known as The Jewel Palace, it is in the Citadel, near Mohamed Ali Mosque. Built by Mohamed Ali in 1814 to house his administration, receive guests and as his residence. Named after Gawhara Hanem, Ali’s last wife, its popular name, ‘The Jewel Palace’, comes from its use as a museum for the jewels of the Khedives after the 1952 revolution. Gutted by fire in 1972 during a robbery attempt, it is now closed for renovation.
Abandoned SchooL, Helmeya, Cairo, 2010
Library, The Geographical Society, Cairo, 2010
Bathroom, Baron Palace, Heliopolis, Cairo, 2011
Classroom, Sultana Malak Palace, Heliopolis, Cairo. 2011
Located in Helmeya, a district of Cairo, this abandoned school was once a small villa. As in many other cases, children decorated the classroom to their taste.
The Society was founded by Khedive Ismail in 1875, for European explorers and missionaries. It is best known for its library, a cartographic collection, and a series of relief maps of Egypt. The building luckily survived a fire in the next-door L'Institute d’Egypte in December, 2011, during violent clashes between protestors and military police.
The Baron Palace in the Heliopolis suburb of Cairo, was built as the private residence for the creator of Heliopolis, ‘The Baron’, a Belgian businessman who envisioned modern Heliopolis as a desert paradise. He, and his son, lived in the palace until after the 1952 revolution when they left and the villa was sold.
Like many other palaces, Sultana Malak Palace was turned into a school, and all the spacious rooms on the second floor were used as classrooms. You can still see blackboards and other remnants of the classes.
Commercial School For Girls, Helmeya, Cairo, 2010
‘Casa Italia’, Port Said, 2010
Sultana Malak Palace, Heliopolis, Cairo. 2011
Souad Sabah Palace, Garden City, Cairo, 2011
H.M. Sultana Malak’s Palace in Heliopolis is located just in front of the Baron palace. It later became Masr el Gedida School and is currently abandoned.
This palace now hosts the headquarters of one of the new Egyptian political parties that have emerged after the revolution of January 25th, 2011. It is difficult to imagine what the interior renovations are like, but outside, the only façade that faces the street was painted.
A giraffe painting and busts of Nefertiti create a strange combination in the décor of the Commercial School for Girls.
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Benito Mussolini inaugurated the former Italian Consulate or ‘Casa Italia’ in Port Said in 1937. The building is now abandoned and has a huge crack down the middle.
Malak Palace is hidden behind high walls and from a distance can be easily mistaken for a mosque, as the central part is built in the Oriental style. The rest of the palace reflects the peculiar and expensive tastes of the former owner.
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Bagous Palace, Cairo, 2011
Baron Palace, Heliopolis, Cairo, 2011
Bagous Palace in Cairo is located near the train station because Bagous was a builder of Egyptian railways and the entire surrounding area used to belong to him. More recently, it became the Sharabeya school, but now it is abandoned, like many other palaces.
The plan of the building is very complicated, with many rooms, corridors and stairs that connect with each other in most peculiar ways. You never know which door will lead you where. Knowing the strange history of this place, you expect to find a skeleton behind closed doors such as this one.
Broken Piano, Bagous Palace, Cairo, 2011
Red Dining Room, Serageldin Palace, Cairo, 2011
A new school building was built near the palace, the school moved and the old one was abandoned and locked up for years. The school administration didn’t even bother to take the piano.
This image, taken in June 2011 was the final photograph I took for the project. I started in 2006, in Garden City and managed to return to this place twice. Unfortunately, over the six years I worked on this project, every time I returned, I noticed that more objects or items of decoration were missing.
Bagous Palace, Cairo, 2011
Photographs, Serageldin Palace, Cairo, 2006
The trashed main entrance and dangerous looking staircase discouraged my companions from entering the building. The only way to the second floor was to climb through the back stairs that are half-covered by bricks. The sign on the left says ‘Art Studies’ and explains the two broken pianos in the building and many forgotten art works.
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On the wall are portraits of the brother of Fuad Serageldin, patriarch of the Serageldin family and last of Egypt’s prerevolutionary pashas, and his wife. The Pasha died, aged 90 in 2000, months before publication of his niece Samia Serageldin’s novel ‘The Cairo House’, which depicts Egyptian history of the last century that took place in the family house.
Qasr al-Doubara (Mahmoud Sabit House), Cairo, 2008
Classroom, Prince Said Halim’s Palace, Cairo, 2007
A wonderful, frozen-in-time house in Qasr al-Doubara district. It belongs to the historian, writer and documentary producer, Mahmoud Sabit. Related to King Farouk, his family is linked to many important events in Egyptian history. It looks just like a museum, and was built for his grandmother – Fatima Sabit, a cousin of Farouk’s mother, Queen Nazly.
After WWII the palace was became Al-Nassiriyah secondary school for boys. Many government officials were educated there. Drawings still remain on the walls. Located in central Cairo, it has played an active role in Cairo’s art life. Artist-residents of the Townhouse gallery frequently use it for their art projects. When I returned in May 2011, the room looked exactly the same as in 2007, except that Mubarak’s portrait was now on the floor…
Sakakini Palace, Cairo, 2007 The palace was a part of the Medical Museum for a while. Leftover plastic chairs still remind you of this former use. One of Sakakini's grandsons gave his share of the property to the Ministry of Health when the Pasha died, because he was a doctor, and it was his way of contributing to the profession.
Serageldin Palace, Cairo, 2006 In 1924, the house was transformed into a school for well-bred girls under the care of a Swedish headmistress, Ms. Dagmar Berg. It was not a very successful project and the house had to find a new owner, this time a rich feudal landowner, Shahin Serageldin Pasha.
Baron Palace, Heliopolis, Cairo, 2011
Serageldin Palace, Cairo, 2009
Serageldin Palace, Cairo, 2006
Baron Empain palace (Qasr Al Baron) was inspired by the Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia and Hindu temples in Orissa, India. Built by French architect, Alexander Marcel, and decorated by Georges-Louis Claude, construction was completed in 1911. It is rumoured that all the Hindi pieces were brought from India.
The house still looked occupied, or as if the owners had just left. A lot of things, such as books or photos, were scattered around and covered with dust – the trademark of Cairo – remnants of a glorious past and the drama that took place inside these walls… I felt both shamed and curious, as if I was reading someone’s personal letters…
The Serageldin residence acquired its unique historical significance with the rise in political prominence of the Pasha’s eldest son Fuad. It became the unofficial headquarters of the Wafd party. Fuad Pasha Serageldin became Secretary-General and held cabinet posts before the 1952 Revolution. He died, aged 90, in 2000, since when the house has remained abandoned as the heirs to it could not agree on its future.
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Acknowledgments Firstly, I would like to thank On Barak for his moving words about Dust. Alex Krol for the ‘key’ to the first door. My dear friend Jason Eskenazy for faith, knowledge of magic and for wonderful editing sessions. Andrew Moore for the light. Michel Borisoff for the title. Sergey Ivanov, Elena Tolmacheva and Galina Belova for true friendship and great support. Dr. Hassan El Hemaly for the first trip. Nick Powell for the English. UNESCO Cairo, Snezhana Ambrosimova, Tamara Mitina, Ayman Monged, Paul Geday, Walid Ramadan, Pierre Alfaroba, Waleed Montazer, Sherif Sonbol, Ahmed Hosny, Lara Balady, Angela Harutyunyan, Maxim Adelman, Michael Friedman, Alexandr Glydelov, Hala Faris, Mahmud Sabet, Mohammed Hozayen, Rustam Habibulin, Gerda Panofsky, Eddie Coucou Idriss, Shady El Mashak, Sherif Sonbol, Michel Shenuda, Kamal Eldin Eltazi, Iman Hamam Amgad Nagib, Asunsion Molinos, Mohamed El-Sheikh, Yuri Nikich, Katya Gandrabura, Gunilla Heden, Thomas Werner, Diane Newmaier, Kirill Kobrin – for inviting me to their houses, sharing their opinions and helping me with my work. And my husband Thomas Lundh for everything.
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First published in the UK by Dewi Lewis Publishing 8 Broomfield Road, Heaton Moor Stockport SK4 4ND, England www.dewilewispublishing.com All rights reserved Š 2012 for the photographs: Xenia Nikolskaya for the texts: Xenia Nikolskaya and On Barak for this edition: Dewi Lewis Publishing ISBN: 978-1-907893-19-3 Design and Layout: Dewi Lewis Publishing Print: EBS, Verona, Italy