The historic city of Cairo, boasts of a dynamic landscape. Dotted with several heritage sites of Pharaonic, Islamic and Coptic significance, it is also home to modern architectural additions. In her recent exhibition, currently on at Tashkeel, Dubai, Nora Zeid, an Egyptian illustrator, designer and visual artist brings alive Cairo seen through the eyes of its residents as digital and hand-drawn illustrations.

Titled, ‘Cairo Illustrated: Stories from Heliopolis’, Nora has gathered memories from the neighbourhood of Heliopolis, (The City of the Sun). “To walk in a busy street in Cairo, is to have your senses saturated and overwhelmed as you scramble to process the immense amount of data before you. Every inch of the city, demands your constant and undivided attention. My practice is driven by a desire to re-establish my relationship with Cairo through close observation. In order to understand my hometown better, I wish to bring the bustling city to a momentary standstill. Illustrating is a way to do so,” says Nora.

Over the past year, Nora researched regional perceptions through illustrations, design and psychology, exploring how one might change the narrative of stereotypes and provide a new perspective that could change behavioural  development. The artist who is currently based in Dubai, has illustrated spaces in the neighbourhood of Heliopolis with dialogues drawn from the personal experiences of Cairenes including Nora’s own grandmother along with Omniya Abdel Barr, an architect specialising in heritage conservation and Mahy Mourad, who teaches architecture design in Cairo.

“A virtual layer of historical facts is added to these personal experiences, creating a duality between the personal and the general, the small and the big picture, in an attempt to make heritage more accessible to those who live alongside it,” says the artist.

Nora holds a bachelors in visual communication from the American University of Sharjah. She has participated in exhibitions such as Sikka Art Fair and her comic titled ‘East of Home’ has been published in Sharjah Art Foundation’s anthology Corniche 2020. She is a participant of Tashkeel’s Critical Practice Program 2020.

Nora’s work throws light on several aspects of Cairo’s architecture. In times of rapid development, her illustrated series capture history, modernity and personal experiences through a rich artistic lens.

#cairo, #dubaiexhibitions, #illustrations, #norazeid, #tashkeel