Title

The Eternal River

Authors

Roger Anis
Margo Veillon

Files

Description

The Photographic Gallery in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, AUC Library’s Rare and Special Books Collection and the Center for Applied Research on the Environment and Sustainability CARES, have collaborated to present The Eternal River, a cultural program dedicated to the Nile. In this program, we looked at the Nile river through archival images alongside contemporary photography to bring to the fore the hydro-politics of this natural wonder.

Dating back to Pharaonic Egypt a long tradition continues to this day that inspires artists, both Egyptian or foreign, to be inspired by this vast waterway in North-Eastern Africa. The Nile river had been a key compositional element featured in the murals of ancient Egypt, and later seen in paintings, photographs and as a backdrop to films and as a silent protagonist in literary narratives.

The Eternal River exhibition brought together a selection of archival photographs of the Nile shot between the 1950s and 1970s by Swiss painter Margo Veillon, along with contemporary photography by Egypt’s emerging photojournalist Roger Anis on the river. The exhibition featured a series of landscape photographs with striking compositions, which depict water and land textures and colors, and life and activity on the Nile banks. The exhibition was also an intersection between local and foreign gazes and connecting the past with the present.

The Nile has played a key developmental role in Egypt’s history from the Delta basin to Upper Egypt as the population grew on its shores. It remains to be the lifeline of Egypt, providing 95% of this desert country’s water. In light of the rising tensions between riparian countries over the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and the recent filling of the dam’s reservoirs, the exhibition program included a panel discussion by experts in water diplomacy who discussed the dispute and the ramifications of GERD on Egypt’s water supply and environmental consequences and to raise questions about the future.

Co-Curated by Dina ElDeeb & Ola Seif

Publication Date

Spring 3-27-2022

Keywords

Eternal River, Photographic Gallery

Disciplines

Environmental Studies | Photography

Recommended Citation

APA Citation

Anis, R. & Veillon, M. (2022).The Eternal River.
https://fount.aucegypt.edu/the_eternal_river/1

MLA Citation

Anis, Roger, et al. The Eternal River. 2022.
https://fount.aucegypt.edu/the_eternal_river/1