Zamalek: Dahshur villagers' marble mosaics of Egypt's wildlife at Safarkhan from 28 October
Nature in Tesserae, the second Safarkhan show by the Mosaics of Dahshur atelier, runs from 28 October to 17 November with hand-cut marble scenes of Egypt's birds and animals.
Safarkhan Art Gallery in Zamalek opens Nature in Tesserae: Mosaics of Dahshur on Wednesday 28 October, and it runs until Tuesday 17 November. It is the second show at the gallery for the Mosaics of Dahshur atelier, five artisans from one family circle (Mohamed Abu Basil Metwalli, Basil Metwalli, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Fatma Aboul Gheit and Rehab Aboul Gheit) who work in a village at the foot of the Dahshur pyramids. Their first show there, King's Lake, in April 2025, was devoted to Egypt's birds.
This time the gallery says they have widened their view: hoopoes, bee-eaters and the northern bald ibis now share the walls with ibex, hares among doum palms, genets, gazelles and oryx, many of them animals that once roamed Egypt and now survive mainly in rock art and on the tomb walls of Saqqara. Every scene is cut by hand from marble, piece by piece, with simple tools and a tightly fitted method the gallery traces to Alexandria in the third century BC. The atelier was founded by American art historian Charlotte Sullivan.
The gallery is at 6 Brazil Street in Zamalek (gallery phone 02 2735 3314). The exhibition page lists no ticket, and opening hours are not on the page, so call before you go. The works are for sale through the gallery, which has not published prices. The show ends on 17 November.