Challenging Dominant Narratives Through the Art of Getting Lost

The Art of Getting lost residency, seminar and exhibition took place in Alexandria from 15 April to the 30 May 2017.

With the support of Gudran, CeRCCa invited Ro Caminal and Marta Vallejo to be part of a residency framed in the context of the Nassim el Raqs Festival.

The residency was accompanied by the seminar ´Getting Lost in the City´coordinated by Ali Al-Adawy, bringing together 9 participants from Alexandria and Cairo to work on the idea of the Flâneur as described by Walter Benjamin.

With a first session where Benjamin´s proposals on the flâneur were discussed, the Seminar developed with individual detours in Alexandria. During the final exhibition, the outcome of these detours was presented to the public.

The second stage of ‘The art of getting lost in Alexandria and Barcelona’ took place from the 15 to the 30 June in Barcelona with CONTEMPORARY CINEMA FROM EGYPT: Counter/hegemonic visualities from Alexandria, about Alexandria.

In the aftermath of branded cities, our societies are left with a territory in constant digestion and reconstruction, where bodies carry the contradictions about being and staying in the urban experience. From a Mediterranean perspective, the team of ‘The art of getting lost’ has launched a debate about the many ways that can be used to challenge dominant narratives of the city in Barcelona and Alexandria, digging in the potential of disorientation, practicing the art of getting lost.

The screenings were curated by Ali Hussein Al Adawy, film curator, editor, and writer devoted to the critique of the moving image and urban, artistic and cultural practices. Ali Hussein Al Adawy was accompanied by the Egyptian writer Ahmed El Serougui.