Cairo, Egypt, July 12, 2020 – Al Ismaelia for Real Estate Investment is shaking up the art scene as the realities of Covid-19 began to hit home in late March, where exhibitions or art installations have either been postponed or moved online. Al Ismaelia used the lockdown to challenge artists through competitions such as “Downtown on Canvas” to showcase the beauty of Downtown Cairo.

Engaging with artists and designers to reimagine the heart of the city with a splash of color. Inviting them to let their creatively blend landmark settings in Downtown Cairo with paintings from across art history, be it classical, modern or contemporary art. The artists’ creative submissions re-imagined Cinema Radio building standing tall to the backdrop of one of Monet’s classics, and another one imagined Talaat Harb statue fused with pop art imagery. Each of the contenders found their muse in the city’s victorious’ heap of aesthetics, styles, streets and icons.

“Downtown on Canvas”, which was announced early in March, has drawn over 110 submissions by more than 80 artists. With this remarkable participation from young and budding artists who presented such outstanding designs, Al Ismaelia intends to print the winning works on canvas to decorate their headquarter offices and showcase them for the world to view. In addition, we are planning a virtual exhibition to present these artworks online, along with printing them and placing it at various locations in Downtown Cairo.

The judging panel included Founder of Art D’Égypte Nadine Abdelghaffar, Marwa Abou Leila Co-founder and Managing Partner of Photopia and founder of Cairo Photo Week, Karim El Hayawan the acclaimed architect and visual artist, Hussein El Chahat Visual Artist and Art Director of El Beit Magazine, and Sawsan Mourad Editor in Chief of El Beit Magazine and from Al Ismaelia side Karim Shafei Co-founder, Chairman and CEO, Eman Hussein Deputy CEO and Head of Marketing and Public Relations Yara Salib.

Al Ismaelia announced the “Downtown on Canvas” winners, earlier in June, on their social media platforms. In the first place came Mina Refaat, in the second place came Mirna Shoukry, and third place was a tie between Marie Armany and Salma El Sherbiny whose artwork was acclaimed as the cover of the Beit Magazine for the month of June. Congratulations to the talented young and talented winners, we cannot begin to express how proud we are of you and your work. The winners are receiving exclusive access to the dynamic Egyptian image and photography festival Cairo Photo Week by Photopia, which will be held in Downtown Cairo in February 2021.

Due to the remarkable success of “Downtown on Canvas” and in keeping with its vision of bringing art to the people, this and upcoming competitions are initiating unique opportunities that seek to engage housebound youth and up-and coming artists in our ongoing Art &Culture program. Al Ismaelia will continue to foster engagement with the art community with an attempt to beautify Downtown Cairo, as the scale of online engagement efforts has significantly increased in recent days.

The whopping results of the earlier competition has inspired Al Ismaelia to launch another one called “Downtown Graffiti” to keep bringing out the innovation in artists. Competition is now open and entries can be submitted until July 16. Results will be announced by July 30 on our Downtown Cairo social media platforms. We hope this competition will help inspire the nation’s art enthusiasts to put pencil to paper and encourage many to submit their creations, while helping us give something back to our wonderful Downtown Cairo.