On Sunday evening, the closing ceremony of the fourth “Forever Is Now” exhibition was held at ESCĀ CUEVA Restaurant, which took place for a month at the Giza Pyramids and surrounding plateau. The exhibition is organized by “Culturvator – Art D’Égypte” under the auspices of the Ministries of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities, Foreign Affairs, and the Tourism Promotion Authority. Furthermore, the exhibition gathered 14 artists from different countries of the world to engage artistically with one of the most ancient historical monuments and present contemporary artworks blending the past with the present. At the same time, these artworks simulate history, land, environment, and humanity, to remain one of the most significant exhibitions in the world. Moreover, it is one of the artistic events that attract tourism to Egypt by inviting about 400 international figures, including businessmen, ambassadors, celebrities and public personalities.
Besides, this year’s exhibition has invited audiences to embark on a discovery journey through art which is regarded as a bridge between history and the present day. Both artists and visitors were like modern archaeologists by using creativity as a tool to uncover the hidden layers of meaning embedded in the ordinary. « Forever Is Now 4 » brought together a rich diversity of cultural perspectives, with artists from the United Kingdom, Italy, South Korea, South Africa, Belgium, Lebanon, France, Egypt, India, Greece, Spain, and Canada, each contributing their unique narrative to this extraordinary artistic dialogue. These artists included: the British Chris Levine, Italian Federica Di Carlo, Italian Luca Boffi, Korean Ik-Joong Kang, South African Jake Michael Singer, Belgian artist of Lebanese origins Jean Boghossian, French Jean-Marie Appriou, Egyptian Khaled Zaki, Canadian-Lebanese Mary Khoury, Indian Shilo Shiv Suliman, Greek Nassia Inglessis, and Spanish Xavier Mascaro. For the first time, Asia has participated in the exhibition. Additionally, artistic projects based on artificial intelligence were presented for the first time.
The artists’ participation promoted the cultural and artistic diversity of the exhibition, which gave audiences the chance to become contemporary « archaeologists » and explore the hidden treasures and innovations that merge the past with the present. Hence, the exhibition’s visitors exceeded one million people, as well as over 100 school and university trips, and over 6 million followers on social media. It was also covered by over 1000 local, Arab and international channels, newspapers and websites. The visitors included VIPs from all over the world, such as the Creative Director of Missoni Fashion House, « Emily in Paris » series star, French artist Kevin Diaz, Turkish actress Neslihan Atagül, Turkish actor Burak Deniz, young actress Mai El-Ghaity, Saudi artist Mohsen Mansour, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence in the UAE, Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahyan, UAE Ambassador to Egypt, Mariam Khalifa Al Kaabi, English football legend Michael Owen, and media personality Jory Bakr.
Art D’Égypte founder, Nadine Abdel Ghaffar, mentioned that the fourth « Forever Is Now » was a celebration of exploration and the artists’ ability to discover exceptional meanings and associate them with ancient Egyptian civilization. Abdel Ghaffar confirmed that the exhibition develops every year and gains global momentum. It has been placed on the annual agenda of foreign tourists, university and school students. It also included the participation of artists from South Korea and India for the first time.
Abdel Ghaffar added, « As part of our commitment to community engagement, we’ve collaborated with UNESCO to launch the Art Guides programme and hosted exhibitions for refugee artists. We offered them a platform to showcase their talents and exciting stories. We are proud of fostering collaboration with our partners, through deliberate integration across media, events and creative initiatives. We ensure that your support becomes an invaluable part of the broader conversation of our work. We look forward to continuing to achieve exceptional achievements in the future ».
As part of the closing event, five participating artists were invited to join a live drawing session in collaboration with Samir & Aly; Egypt’s leading supplier of high-quality stationery and art supplies. The objective of the session was to transform the beetle sculpture into a vibrant artwork. Each artist had about 30 minutes, within the framework of their exclusive partnership with « Nevskaya Palitra » paint factory. Indeed, this partnership marks the official launch of Nevskaya Professional Artists Group in Egypt.
