GIZA — For centuries, the Pyramids belonged to antiquity. Now, thanks to Nadine Abdel Ghaffar, they’ve become a stage for contemporary art and global fashion — a juxtaposition unthinkable until she made it real.
In 2021, the French-Egyptian curator became the first person to mount a contemporary art exhibition at the UNESCO World Heritage site — a feat that required years of navigating government bureaucracy, convincing skeptical archeologists and proving that modern art could honor rather than diminish one of humanity’s most sacred monuments. Now in its fifth edition, her Forever Is Now has transformed the Giza plateau into the world’s most storied open-air gallery, drawing blue-chip artists, fashion houses and collectors to a site where permits remain notoriously difficult to secure.
Giza at night.
This year’s exhibition, running through Dec. 6, features 10 international artists including Arte Povera pioneer Michelangelo Pistoletto, whose Third Paradise installation represents a career highlight for the 92-year-old Nobel Peace Prize nominee. The work — a mirrored obelisk surrounded by blocks tracing the mathematical symbol for infinity — has traveled to 60 nations, but Pistoletto considers the pyramids its most resonant home. “The pyramids are the base, the origin of our whole story,” the artist said. “They represent the human being’s desire for survival in terms of immortality.”
Portuguese street artist Vhils presents Doors of Cairo, assembled from doors collected throughout the city that become vessels of collective history. Lebanese architect Nadim Karam’s Desert Flowers rises as lotus-like sculptures forged from reclaimed materials. The opening drew designer Angela Missoni, Turkish actress Esra Bilgiç, Egyptian cinema icon Hussein Fahmy and members of the Cairo International Film Festival jury.
Desert Flowers by Nadim Karam
“What I was doing was completely unorthodox,” Abdel Ghaffar told WWD. “We don’t have contemporary art in Egypt, we don’t have public art spaces. I said, OK, let’s show the transcendence we have with our past, because most contemporary Egyptian artists are influenced by ancient Egypt in one way or another.”
Her influence extends well beyond the art world.
Abdel Ghaffar was instrumental in bringing Christian Dior‘s historic 2022 men’s show to the Pyramids — a collaboration born when chief executive officer Pietro Beccari attended the first Forever Is Now in 2021.
“The Dior experience really touched my heart,” she said. “I’m not from the fashion world, but when I met Maria Grazia and Kim Jones and saw the research and how careful they were about cultural authenticity, I had so much respect. We worked for two years.”
That December 2022 show, with Naomi Campbell, Lewis Hamilton and Robert Pattinson among the 800 guests, shifted how luxury brands view Egypt as a cultural destination. “It is a big step for the government to authorize Art D’Égypte and Dior to organize events at the foot of the pyramids,” she said. “Promoting the country’s culture must be a priority.”
Models pose in the Dior men’s pre-fall 2023 collection in Giza, Egypt.
Henar Sherif and Adel Essam/Courtesy of Dior
The exhibition arrives at a pivotal moment for Egypt. The $1 billion Grand Egyptian Museum opened this month just 2 kilometers from the Giza plateau, bringing European and Arab royals to Cairo and putting over 100,000 artifacts on display, many never seen before. But Abdel Ghaffar has been building toward this cultural renaissance since 2016, starting at Cairo’s Egyptian Museum before expanding to historic sites across the city.
Her path was shaped by an unconventional upbringing in Alexandria among artists, archeologists and intellectuals. Before founding Art D’Égypte, she managed portfolios for important Egyptian artistic families, working with Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Bonhams from her Cairo base.
What distinguishes her approach is treating art as social infrastructure. Her guides program trains local youth with paid honorariums and UNESCO-endorsed certificates, while openings welcome the public before VIPs. “You see a minister, and you see the guy from the shop next door, and you see the little kid wandering behind barefoot,” she said. “We don’t create any segregation. It is really public art.”
Her influence has expanded through CulturVator, her Dubai-based consultancy working across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Greece. As luxury brands seek cultural credibility, she sees opportunity for deeper fashion partnerships.
“We’re open,” Abdel Ghaffar said. “People still talk about that Dior show. Art can change the world. Finding the space where people come together as humans — doesn’t matter where you come from, who you are, or what religion you follow.”
