ALONG THE LINE: ART, CULTURE & PLAY
Won the Cairo Design Award 2024 in the Architecture and Landscape Category
Location: Giza, Egypt
Scope: Program
The opening of the Along-the-Line was planned around a series of events/ activities that would unleash the full potential of the project elements and set example to the park’s administration in order to have the knowledge necessary to plan future activities. CLUSTER’s selection of the opening activities was based on the purpose of adding a learning value through fun to the children’s experience in the park. A puppeteer was first to perform in the mini kiosk space “Creativity Box”, a talented narrator was second to perform an engaging story telling session, then Origami Graffiti was the third activity, performed by The Arab Origami Center. The opening event was attended by Gareth Bayley, the British Ambassador, Hind Abdel Halim, Deputy of Giza Governorate, Yasser Sami, District Head of Agouza, and Ruth Cocks, Vice-President, and Cathy Costain, Head of Arts, from the British Council in Egypt.
Driven by the success of the event, the municipal authorities requested CLUSTER to sign an MOU with an assigned responsibility to manage an ongoing program for the Along-the-Line project. Partnering with art curator Heba ElCheikh, CLUSTER developed an ongoing cultural program that utilized the design as a stage or framework for various activities, which ranged from puppet and clown shows, musical concerts and solo performances, movie and animation screenings, reading and narration sessions, as well as children’s crafts workshops. Today, six months after the project’s inauguration, Along-the-Line is recognized by the art scene as one of the only available venues for art in public space in Cairo. It builds on the long tradition of music kiosks in public gardens, thus reviving the notion of Arts in Parks, in a city that suffers from eroding public space due to both securitization and commercialization policies. As of August 2023, Along the Line has welcomed around 430 adults and 180 children.
