New competition to choose Egypt's representatives for Venice Biennale

CAIRO – 23 September 2017: Mohamed Abo See'da, the director of the National Organization for Urban Harmony, announced a competition for choosing Egypt's representatives for the 16th edition of Venice Biennale.

The competition will display architectural designs, following the same idea of the 16th Venice Biennale, which is "Free Space".

The aim of the competition is to choose the best Egyptian architectural project to represent Egypt at Venice.

The director of the National Organization for Urban Harmony announced that there is a jury formed from a large number of experts to evaluate the projects.

The jury includes Ayman Wanas, the vice dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the Arab Academy for Science, Technology, and Maritime Transport; Jihan Zaki, the head of the Academy of Arts in Rome; Sahar Attiya, architecture professor at the Faculty of Engineering at Cairo University; Saif Abo El Naga, the director of the Association of Egyptian Architects; Safia El Qabany, the dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts at Helwan University; and Mohamed Tawfik Abdel Gawad, the architecture professor, in addition to Abo See'da.

Participants should check the agreements and terms that the organization will announce through official media. Then, they should register at the organization's location at Salah Din Citadel.

Abo See'da added that the winner of the project will represent Egypt at Venice Biennale. The serious participants will be awarded as well.

The Ministry of Culture will provide the winning project’s team with travelling costs and accommodation for four members.


Venice Biennale is one of the oldest architectural biennales around the world. Organized every two years, it symbolizes the glory of contemporary architecture.

A large number of countries participate annually in the biennale, in addition to more than half a million visitors.

Egypt is one of the earliest participating countries in Venice Biennale. It won the Golden Lion prize in 1995.