Wekalet Behna

“On movement, displacement and settlement” continues in 2025 with the aim to develop a new edition of artistic programs in collaboration with expatriate artists and practitioners currently residing and working in Alexandria and Egypt, individuals whose practices intersect with Behna's diverse artistic interests. These partnerships aim to cultivate an integrated approach within the sector, shifting paradigms of significance and interrogating the privileges of citizenship determined solely by birthright.

Modern Egyptian history is punctuated with numerous watershed events that found large crowds gathering for varied reasons and under various circumstances. These can be seen as transformative moments in the trajectory of public consciousness, implicit arenas where the masses assumed control of the public sphere with its material and moral representations, redirecting it beyond the roles predefined by the state. This project aims to utilize shared resources and available knowledge to delve into and critically examine the occasions and moments when large crowds of the masses gathered in their various forms and manifestations throughout the history of post-independence Egypt. The project focuses on five central moments in the history of crowds in Egypt, from 1970 (Nasser’s funeral) until 2011. It traces these moments of mass gathering with their various romantic, political, and social connotations, and their relationship to the momentary and extended notion of public sphere, as well as their achievements, potentials for progress, and defeats. It also examines the questions of collective coexistence, participation, material and symbolic solidarity, friendship, civil work, and mutual understanding that occurred in the history of the nation state in Egypt. Within this framework, the project relies on collective work by inviting a number of researchers, artists, filmmakers, jurists, activists, writers, musicians, and architects to discuss, read, watch, and listen to archives, sources, and commentaries related to those moments and ideas around crowds and masses. It aims to produce a pamphlet containing a collective text, as well as a reading program and a film program about the representations of crowds in Arab cinema and the global South. The project concludes by launching a publication containing the collective texts and an open studio for the public to access the sources, archives, and works they relied on during the research period.

Map 24 aims to build models for collaboration among active institutions in the cultural sector to improve working conditions, foster resource sharing, and explore possibilities for interdisciplinary and cross-border collaboration.
Map 24 is a continuation of the Map 23 project, building on its two core tracks: enhancing the ecosystem for cultural workers and institutions in Egypt and transnational joint programming. The first track focuses on expanding equitable healthcare systems, improving legal and accounting frameworks, and strengthening archival infrastructure. The second track aims to reshape regional collaborations in joint programming, navigating current regional challenges.

Behna's project proposes the development of three artistic programs in collaboration with expatriate artists and practitioners currently residing and working in Alexandria and Egypt, individuals whose practices intersect with Behna's diverse artistic interests. These partnerships aim to cultivate an integrated approach within the sector, shifting paradigms of significance and interrogating the privileges of citizenship determined solely by birthright.