Formed by Dialogue: when the present meets ancient Egypt
In November 2026, the historic Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square becomes the setting for a conversation across millennia. «Formed by Dialogue» places contemporary works right beside objects from the ancient collection – and asks how ideas, techniques and materials have always travelled between cultures.
The exhibition
From 5 to 14 November 2026, the Egyptian Museum in Cairo presents around 20 Egyptian and international artists and designers (Ahram Online). It is the second edition and the largest so far. Each participant shows a work that enters into dialogue with an archaeological object or element from the collection (Ahram Online).
The range extends from art and design to fashion and jewellery (Flair Magazine).
The idea
Art does not arise in isolation but through exchange – and influences move in many directions. This is how the organisers put it (Ahram Online). Egypt stands at the centre: with fundamental contributions to architecture, ornament, material culture and storytelling that have been reinterpreted around the world for centuries (Art D'Égypte).
Photo: Jason Leung / Unsplash
The project also marks the century since the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, which gave Art Deco its name (Ahram Online). A fitting connection: after the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb, Art Deco drew strongly on Egyptian forms.
The venue
The Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square opened in 1902. It was designed by the French architect Marcel Dourgnon, who in 1895 won one of the first international architectural competitions of its kind (Egyptian Monuments). With more than a hundred halls on two floors, it remains one of the most important institutions for ancient Egyptian art (Egyptian Monuments).
Photo: Abdullah Elhariry / Unsplash
The organiser
«Formed by Dialogue» is organised by Art D'Égypte, the multidisciplinary art platform founded by Nadine Abdel Ghaffar, which since 2019 has realised projects around Egyptian art and heritage in Egypt and abroad (Ahram Online). For her, the exhibition is an opportunity to explore connections between past and present, heritage and innovation. The first edition featured works by India Mahdavi, Charlotte Colbert and Omar Shakil, among others (Ahram Online).
The artist Lisa Lesunja von Keyserling in Cairo
Among those invited is the artist Lisa Lesunja von Keyserling. Her work moves between painting, mixed media, drawing and jewellery. For her, jewellery is not an accessory but a sculpture worn on the body. Rough surfaces meet luminous stones, traditional casting techniques meet modern settings, nature meets symbol.
Egypt has accompanied her since childhood: the artefacts, the talismans, the signs of protection and transformation. For Cairo, this has become «Khepri», a cycle of works around the scarab, the ancient Egyptian symbol of becoming and rebirth. Five pieces take up the motif of flowing and translate it into a contemporary language of form.
Her jewellery appears under her label Lesunja Fine Jewellery, designed in Zurich. In Cairo, the pieces enter the very dialogue the exhibition carries in its title: between an artist of today and the formal repertoire of a civilisation that has always inspired her.
Photo: Craig Manners / Unsplash
An autumn full of art
«Formed by Dialogue» is part of a larger season by Art D'Égypte:
Forever Is Now 06 at the Pyramids of Giza, 4 to 28 November 2026, with eight artists, including Bernar Venet, Charlotte Colbert and Jiang Qiong Er (Flair Magazine).
Cairo International Art District, 11 October to 8 November 2026, at three venues in Downtown (Flair Magazine).
Crafts Re-Imagined, 23 October to 8 November 2026, at Bait Al Suheimy in historic Cairo – contemporary designers meet master craftspeople (Flair Magazine).
If you travel in early November, you can combine all four exhibitions in one week.
Practical information
Dates: 5 to 14 November 2026
Venue: Egyptian Museum, Tahrir Square, Cairo; the nearest metro station is Sadat (Egyptra)
Museum: daily from 9 am, last admission 4 pm (Egyptian Monuments). Please check exhibition hours with Art D'Égypte.
«Formed by Dialogue» is a reminder that design never travels in one direction only. What Egypt gave the world returns in new forms – as furniture, as a dress, as a piece of jewellery. A conversation without end, and for ten days one of the most beautiful in Cairo.
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