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The When, Where, and Why of Intimacy: in Egyptian Contemporary Art

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“Codes of Coupling” is a group exhibition that opened in 2020 at Gypsum Gallery in Cairo, and features the art of Hassan Khan, Jonathas de Andrade, Mohamed Al-Bakeri, Mohammad Shawky Hassan and nasa4nasa. Curated by gallery artist Mahmoud Khaled, the show takes the use of “coupling” bodies as a subject and an aesthetic tool to explore intimacy, gender, power and societal codes through video, film, dance, audio and photographic installations. This chapter seeks to investigate Egyptian contemporary art as it pertains to queer identity narratives in the Middle East. Avant-guard exhibitions like “Codes of Coupling” can help interrogate the performance of gendered identities within Egyptian society in addition to contributing to a decolonial aesthetic practice that reframes queer intimacy. Through the exhibition and deep readings of the artworks within the show, this chapter analyzes the acceptability, permissibility, and illegality of same-sex intimacy within Egypt's modern sexual identity, its relationship to imperialism, and how contemporary queer visual artists disrupt normative identity narratives.

Keywords: Arab Art ; Contemporary Art ; Egyptian Art ; Gallery Exhibition ; Gay ; Gender and Sexuality ; Homosexuality ; Human Rights ; Imperialism and Homocolonialism ; Islamic Art ; Middle East ; Postcolonialism ; Queer ; Queer of Colour Critique ; Visual Culture

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The When, Where, and Why of Intimacy: Codes of Coupling in Egyptian Contemporary Art
Intellect , 77 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1386/9781835950265_7
/content/books/9781835950265.c05
/content/books/9781835950265.c05
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  3. Dryden, OmiSoore H., and Suzanne Lenon. Disrupting Queer Inclusion: Canadian Homonationalisms and the Politics of Belonging. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2016.
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