Egypt International Art Fair is now called Artcu Cairo

Art Cairo, previously known as the Egypt International Art Fair, will host its fourth edition at the Grand Egyptian Museum from February 11 to 14 and will be held at the capital’s hottest new venue, the Grand Egyptian Museum.

Mohamed Younis, the founder of the Fair mentioned the reason behind changing the name to Art Cairo and limited participation to galleries is in order to better align with international art fairs.

This year’s show will include 12 galleries from Egypt, including Arcade, ArtTalks, Azad Art Gallery, Gallery Misr, Le Lab, Mashrabia Gallery of Contemporary Art and Medrar.

Moreover, Motion Art Gallery, Picasso East Art Gallery, Shelter Art Space, Tintera and Zamalek Art Gallery will take place in the show.

Lebanon will join the exhibition through Art on 56th, Kaf contemporary art gallery, Nadine Fayad Art Gallery, Saleh Barakat Gallery and Zaat.

The Emirates is represented by Dubai’s Fann A Porter and Abu Dhabi’s Khawla Art & Culture, acentre founded by Sheikha Khawla bint Ahmed Khalifa Al Suwaidi, wife of Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed, National Security Adviser.

Younis said that “majestic venue” of the Grand Egyptian Museum, which partially opened for events in December, will also elevate the show’s profile.

The contemporary art enthusiasts will notice three major changes to this year’s Art Cairo; only galleries are featured, rather than independent artists, and will feature 30 galleries from around the Middle East with works by more than 150 artists.

Younis further added that last year has marked the beginning of true success, with 11,000 people visiting the fair over five days. “We’re getting to a new maturity level,” Younis told The National.

The organisers are expecting visitors for the exhibition to be between 15,000 and 18,000.

Previously, the exhibition was held at the Dusit Thani LakeView hotel in east Cairo. In 2021, Covid-19 health and safety measures still presented a challenge to attracting a large number of visitors.

Established in 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown, the art fair displayed the works of hundreds of Egyptian artists and dozens of renowned art galleries.