Monumental art displayed in shade of Egypt's pyramids

Cairo: Installations by renowned international artists including Italy's Michelangelo Pistoletto and Portugal's Alexandre Farto have been erected in the sand under the great pyramids of Giza outside Cairo.
The fifth edition of the contemporary art exhibition 'Forever is Now' is due to run to December 6.
The 92-year-old Pistoletto's most famous work, Il Terzo Paradiso, comprises a three-metre-tall mirrored obelisk and a series of blocks tracing out the mathematical symbol for infinity in the sand.

'We have done more than 2,000 events all around the world, on five continents, in 60 nations,' said Francesco Saverio Teruzzi, construction coordinator in Pistoletto's team.
'There is an estimate that it's more or less five million people reached by the message of the Third Paradise.'
The Franco-Beninese artist King Houndekpinkou presented 'White Totem of Light', a column composed of ceramic fragments recovered from a factory in Cairo.
'It's an incredible opportunity to converse with 4,500 years — or even more — of history,' he said.
South Korean artist Jongkyu Park used the measurements of the Great Pyramid of Giza to create the geometric structures of his installation 'Code of the Eternal'.

A thousand small cylindrical acrylic mirrors planted in the sand compose a Morse code poem imagining a dialogue between Tangun, the legendary founder of the first Korean kingdom, and an Egyptian pharaoh.
Farto, better known as Vhils, collected doors in Cairo and elsewhere in the world for a bricolage intended to evoke the archaeological process.
Six other artists, including Türkiye's Mert Ege Kose, Lebanon's Nadim Karam, Brazil's Ana Ferrari, Egypt's Salha Al-Masry and the Russian collective 'Recycle Group', are also taking part.
Forever is Now invites viewers to explore the mythic and historical layers of the Giza plateau, allowing contemporary voices to reinterpret the meanings of endurance and legacy.

As we walk among these timeless monuments, the exhibition asks: What stories will we leave behind? What truths and myths will define us in the future? In a world constantly transforming, the Pyramids stand as eternal witnesses, challenging us to consider how our present will be woven into the legends of tomorrow.
The overarching vision behind this annual exhibition is to build a culture of interconnectivity and care, one where perspectives shift, and interpretations evolve. Bringing together people from around the world, the exhibition includes cross-cultural exchange with local communities, encouraging a high level of engagement with different publics, not just visitors but also craftspeople, students, and labourers, thus providing new ways of accessing contemporary art for the uninitiated.

Forever Is Now is an ode to the enchantment of ancient Egypt’s cultural heritage while the contemporary installations are a testament to the continual evolution of art. Taking place during a tumultuous time that sees our present disturbed in myriad ways, the exhibition is guided by the enigmatic wisdom of ancient Egyptian beliefs, delving into themes of transcendence, hope and faith that are anchored within our knowledge and constant discovery of the past and in the unwavering belief that there is no conception of the future without history. We look at the narrative of past achievements to question, find inspiration and understand the nature of the successive generations. Forever is Now.05 is not simply a revival of this history, however, for the past can never be complete in the present. Rather, it is a contribution to a contemporary artistic legacy in a place of worldwide historical significance. — AFP