Spotlight on the Gezira Art Center and its amenities

The Museum of Islamic Ceramics was basically planned to contribute to the cultural aims of the Gezira Art Center, which preserves the nation's memory and is a medium through which arts integrate and interact with each other.

In addition to the Museum of Islamic Ceramics, the Gezira Art Center in Zamalek includes:

1-Four galleries for rotating exhibits. The galleries in the basement are named after four trailblazing artists: Ahmed Sabri (1889-1955), Ragheb Ayyad (1892-1883), Al-Hussein Fawzi (1905-1996) and Kamal Khalifa (1926-1968).

2-A gallery for temporary exhibits (on the ground floor) named after the doyen of Egyptian contemporary ceramists Said al-Sadr (1909-1986). 
 
3-Cinema and lecture theatre .
4-Open-air theatre in the park .
5-Information and Communication Center .

Location

• The Gezira Art Center with its amenities occupies the palace of Prince Amru Ibrahim in the fashionable residential area of Zamalek, Cairo.

• The palace's main entrance is on Gezira Street

• The palace's eastern side overlooks the Marriott Hotel at Zakaria Rezk Street; its western side overlooks  al-Marsafi Street.

• Landmark buildings in the area are Marriott Hotel, the Gezira Sporting Club, the Italian Cultural Center, Cairo Tower and the Cairo Opera House.

• The palace occupies 874 square metres surrounded by a 3,560 square mretre park.

Following a thorough and ambitious modernisation and development programme the palace's amenities now include:

1-The Museum of Islamic Ceramics (490 square meters)

2-Galleries of fine art (360 square meters)

3-About 155 square meters are earmarked for the Information and Communication Center (graphic department), the Cinema Hall, the Video Library, the Art and Thought Salon

4-About 228 square meters are allocated for Reception and Support Services (cafeteria, terrace, storehouse, bathrooms and administrative offices)

Aims and Message

In respect of the ambitious strategy of the Ministry of Culture and its Fine Arts Sector, the Gezira Art Center is projected to take charge of the following aims:

1-Increasing the public awareness about artistic and cultural experiments and trends to help consolidate civilisation and progress.  In this respect, the Gezira Art Center was carefully planned as an integrated part in society. It positively contributes to the country's artistic movement by laying the ground for fruitful dialogue among the intelligentsia, artists and critics on the one hand, and by stimulating the curiosity of its visitors to actively participate in such dialogue on the other.

2-Consolidating the unity and integration of the arts by forging the mechanism of cultural activities.

3-Encouraging gifted artists to produce innovative ideas and forge new symbols. The Gezira Art Center is the appropriate medium for conveying these experiments through generations by staging exhibitions, literary and cultural salons and artistic programmes.

4-Strengthening cooperation with the international community by organising exhibitions featuring the accomplishments of different schools of art in foreign countries.

5-Shedding more light on domestic and international heritage treasures in the field of fine arts.

6-Preserving the history and value of Islamic ceramic works by projecting the Museum of Islamic Ceramics as a cultural, educational and enlightenment institution.