How Nadine Abdel Ghaffar Brought Contemporary Art to Egypt's Pyramids

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.