Alexandria’s connection to the Maghreb is often overlooked. But the cosmopolitan port city developed through centuries of migration and influence from the western side of the Mediterranean, up until the colonial era and the building of self-centered nation states.

The first of six fictional short stories from our inaugural fiction series. This piece is on the ashwa’iyet (unauthorized shanty dwellings) of Egypt.

January 25, 2013, a Friday – a day of prayer – was supposed to be the peaceful 2nd anniversary of Egypt’s revolution. But it ended up in chaos and violence.

ENCODE est plus qu’un studio de designers, c’est un laboratoire de recherche explorant de nouvelles techniques informatiques appliquées au design.

It was the ongoing revolutionary phase in Egypt that inspired ENCODE to start working with patterns from traditional Islam. The design studio and research lab in Alexandria is developing new ways to present traditional Islamic patterns using mathematics and digital tools.

La réalisatrice française Emmanuelle Demoris a filmé pendant 2 ans la vie du quartier de Mafrouza à Alexandrie, résultant d’un documentaire de 12 heures.

Emmanuelle Demoris spent two years in Alexandria shooting in Mafrouza’s back-alleys. In an interview with Mashallah News she speaks about her visions with the documentary, the filming and the relations between actors, viewers and the director.

“This is fiction, right? Because we grew up in Alexandria, and we had never heard of a neighbourhood called Mafrouza.” A documentary from Egypt.