Second edition of Tale of Two Cities links Milan and Alexandria - Visual Art - Arts & Culture

Al-Ahram Weekly

01-07-2025

CulturVator's Art D'Égypte has launched the second edition of Tale of Two Cities, a cross-continental exhibition taking place in Milan, Italy, and Alexandria, Egypt.
Tale of Two Cities functions not only as an exhibition but also as an initiative aimed at reconnecting various Mediterranean cities with Alexandria through art, history, and human dialogue.
The initiative's first edition, held in 2024, was hosted by Greece's Acropolis Museum and Egypt's Bibliotheca Alexandrina. It reaffirmed Alexandria's historic role as a cultural bridge and celebrated the exchange between the two nations.
This 'curatorial pairing' featured Greek artists such as sculptor Costas Varotsos (born 1955) and visual artist Danae Stratou (born 1964), alongside their Egyptian counterparts, including the late painter Mahmoud Said (1897–1964), Alexandrian sculptors Omar Touson (born 1972) and Said Badr (born 1965), and Cairo-born interior architect and photographer Karim El-Hayawan.
The second edition of Tale of Two Cities runs from 30 June to 31 July 2025 at Galleria Fumagalli in Milan, where it is co-curated by Art D'Égypte and Maria Vittoria Baravelli.
Inspired by the ancient Milan Papyrus—one of the oldest known documents of poetry, discovered in 2001—and structured around three poetic fragments from the text, the Milan segment of the exhibition offers a lens through which artists contemplate the transience of cities and the enduring power of art.
Contemporary Egyptian and Italian artists and designers engage with the papyrus's poetic themes in innovative and multidimensional ways. Participants include Jamal Bassiouni, Hassan Ragab, Ahmed Farid, Luca Boffi, Giacomo Cossio, Clarulecis, and Luigi Pensa.
The exhibition also features designers from the Designer Circle by Art D'Égypte, including Kahhal 1871, Ahmad Elsherif, and Shewekar, whose projects reinterpret heritage and materiality within the context of contemporary design.
In addition, a segment of this year's Tale of Two Cities will be presented at the MA*GA Art Museum in Gallarate—a city in the Milan metropolitan area—on 1 and 2 July.
Titled Geography and Mystery, the MA*GA showcase presents Italian photography that explores identity and the spirit of place. These works go beyond documentation, offering meditations on the unknown and the hidden within nature and human history.
Following its time in Italy, the exhibition will travel to Egypt, where works by artists from both countries will be displayed at several venues in Alexandria in October and November 2025.
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