Parks Under Siege
Cairo, Amman and Tunis, 2014-15
Wedged between overpasses, highway exits, and subway stations, the under-siege parks of Cairo feature carousels and Ferris wheels that appear like set pieces from dreams, starkly contrasting the concrete reality surrounding them. Despite the widespread notion that Cairo does not have enough public spaces, such spaces are, in fact, plentiful and diverse – but due to their precarity, they are being wrestled from the city again and again. In this photographic series, I wanted to portray the tensions in the city between private and public spaces. These small fairgrounds are among the many informal initiatives that breathe life into Cairo's streets and yet face an uncertain future. Often oddly placed under bridges or between buildings, these parks offer a flash of color amidst the greyness of cement and exhaust fumes. The work presents a view of sometimes neglected public spaces, highlighting their fragility and threatened existence. I offer both a quiet celebration of these areas and a mourning of their eventual and not far-off disappearance.