Located behind ‘The Egyptian Olympic Centre’, on the amorphous line separating the upper middle class neighborhood of New Maadi and the Arab Al-Basateen informal area, ‘The Olympic Centre Garden’ has come to replace ’Al-Ahram Coop Complex’, which burned down completely in May 2007. The circumstances surrounding the fire were described then in Al-Gomhureya newspaper as 'mysterious'. Less mysterious accounts of the story still circulate amongst the residents of the surrounding area who are fathoming the nature of the new space in transience… a front-yard, a backyard, grass to grow, image to conserve…
“The Olympic Center Mission: … was opened since 1990 for serving the Egyptian, Arabian and Foreigners Sports teams. And also for serving the neighborhood community.”
The Olympic Center Garden is designed & maintained by:
* The Egyptian Authority for Highways and Bridges
* Cairo Governorate - Albasateen and Dar Alsalam Region
* Egypt’s Ministry of Electricity and Energy: (Electric Box: ARAP – Alahram Market 3284)
Cairo Cleaning and Beautification Agency:
* the total amount of green areas in Cairo is around 300.000 feddans; this amount increases by 100.000 feddans of gardens yearly * the number of trees in Cairo’s public streets and gardens is 2 Million. 400.000 new trees are planted yearly
* the number of palm-trees is 8350 “fructuous palm trees” in Cairo’s streets and gardens
* the number of lampposts in Cairo is 2.5Million lampposts of different heights, connected by 65.000 km of cable length
Please turn on FULL SCREEN mode.
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Channel A, B & C scripts are based on & quoted from texts/ conversations with: Algomhureya Newspaper, Almasry Alyoum newspaper, The Egyptian Gazette Newspaper, the Olympic Center official website http://www.olympic-center.com, Cairo Cleaning and Beautification Agency, youtube, conversations with the garden frequenters, conversations with the surrounding area residents and employers, the Olympic Center employers and the municipality employers
Rana ElNemr, born in 1974, studied photojournalism, advertising and arts at the American University in Cairo. Her internationally exhibited work focuses on urban fabric, class structures, and social change. ElNemr has contributed to exhibitions including ARCO, Madrid, 'Metro' at Cairo's Townhouse Gallery of Contemporary Art, 'Coastline', in 'Gallery Image' in Aarhus, Denmark and 'Telekinesis' as part of Lumo -'Us' 7th International Photography Triennial in Finland, and to the 2009 Bamako Encounters, African Photography Biennial. In 2003, ElNemr won awards from the Canon Digital Creators Contest in Japan and the Nile Salon Photographic Exhibition in Egypt and received the Grand Prix of the Bamako Biennale 2005.
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