Alexandria - Past Futures

Founded in 331 BC by Alexander the Great, Alexandria's unique urban, political and religious organization evolved alongside the numerous scientific innovations and philosophical expressions that shaped the city into one of the ancient world's civilizational centres. Located at the intersection of art and history, this book revisits the former Egyptian megapolis of Alexandria with the aim of going beyond the usual depictions of the city - focusing on the Greeks, the Egyptians, the Lighthouse and the Library - to take a journey of discovery into an ancient city that is full of nuance.

Several recent discoveries have enabled us to refine our knowledge of the lost city of Alexandria. By examining the city's multi-layered temporalities, this book echoes dominant accounts of Alexandria as a city through which successive civilisations and political formations of the past (Byzantine, Arab, Modern) have rehearsed visions of futures that are either no longer present or remain felt through Alexandria's remaining material culture and built environment. This book also features a series of contemporary artworks which develop a critical and poetic association with the themes it covers.

Exhibition Schedule:
BOZAR, Center for Fine Arts, Brussels: 29/09/2022 - 08/01/2023

MUCEM, Musée des Civilisations de l'Europe et de la Méditerranée, Marseille 08/02/2022 - 08/05/2023

About the author

Arnaud Quertinmont is curator of Egyptian and Near Eastern antiquities at the Royal Museum of Mariemont, Belgium
Nicolas Amoroso is curator of Greek and Roman antiquities at the Royal Museum of Mariemont, Belgium
Edwin Nasr is an independent writer and curator
Sarah Rifky is a curatorial advisor and curator at the Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University and PhD candidate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Product details

• Authors: Rifky Sarah
• Assisted by: Nicolas Amoroso (Editor), Edwin Nasr (Editor), Arnaud Quertinmont (Editor)
• Publisher: Yale University Press Ltd
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.03.2023
• EAN: 9780300270181
• ISBN: 978-0-300-27018-1
• No. of pages: 240
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > General, dictionaries; European History, HISTORY / Middle East / General, HISTORY / Europe / General, Ancient Greece, ART / History / Ancient & Classical, HISTORY / Ancient / Greece, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Archaeology, History of art / art & design styles, History of Art, Archaeology, Middle Eastern history, Ancient History, Ancient history: to c 500 CE, BCE to c 500 CE, BCE period – Protohistory, c 2686 to c 323 BCE (Ancient Egyptian period)