Susan Hefuna. EdgwareRoad@Cairo 2010/1431

Susan Hefuna in London and Cairo 5 December 2010 to 13 February 2011

The Serpentine Gallery in London and Townhouse Gallery in Cairo present new works by artist Susan Hefuna as part of an ongoing exchange between London and Cairo. Produced as part of the Serpentine Gallery’s Edgware Road Project, Hefuna has created a series of video portraits of the Edgware Road. These works will be screened in the Antikhana neighbourhood surrounding Townhouse Gallery in Cairo at the same time as they appear in the Serpentine Gallery Lobby and at the Centre for Possible Studies, home to the Edgware Road Project. Hefuna, whose work frequently moves between worlds, has also created a set of limited edition postcards to be sent between the two cities.

In Cairo, four monitors - each featuring a different location on the Edgware Road - have been placed in the street outside the Townhouse Gallery. These new works, collectively titled Edgware Road @ Cairo 2010/1431, were shot from windows in four different apartments in the Edgware Road neighbourhood in London. Together, they confuse the touristic perceptions of the area, frequently referred to as ‘Little Cairo’ or ‘Little Beirut’. Instead, pausing to make in depth visual studies of particular locations such as the Edgware Road tube station, Waitrose, the Lebanese café Al Arez and the Market at Church Street. Together they reveal the Edgware Road neighbourhood as a crossroads of different – even competing – cultures and interests.

In London, these four works and works shot in Cairo will be screened on alternate days in the Serpentine Gallery Lobby and at the Centre for Possible Studies.

EdgwareRoad@Cairo 2010/1431 runs 5 December 2010 to 12 December 2010 at the Townhouse Gallery and the Serpentine Gallery from 5 December 2010 to 13 February 2011

Susan Hefuna
EdgwareRoad@Cairo 2010/1431