I don't think that by any means that El-Hagg - whom I never knew his name by the way- who built this little cafe under the takaeba (the pergola), would ever expect it to be one of Cairo's most important cultural centres. 

In Mansi Street, behind an abandoned mansion that was once an old school in Downtown Cairo,  lies El-Takaeba.

A cultural spot which shaped the collective consciousness of the Egyptian cultural community during a very critical period, and has become a fundamental pillar of the Egyptian cultural community, who themselves have become artists and directors of major institutions worldwide.

Ahmed Lipton, who managed the cafe for a long time until he left and the café was abandoned, never expected the success and fame it reached. It was not anticipated by El-Hagg, the founder, or even Ahmed himself, who expanded the café to include nearby shops, then lost it in succession due to a dispute with one of the institutions.

The Egyptian cultural movement has grown so large that it was on the verge of collapsing. But that's a different story I can explore some other time.

I'm writing this while I’m in Beirut, far from El-Takaeba, which has always been my go-to brainstorming spot. As usual, I puff on an apple shisha, while for years, I smoked Saloum tobacco. The severe changes in Cairo have led me - and many others - elsewhere; to study, to seek more vastness and opportunities; the scene in Cairo has changed, possibly to the point of halting any activity.

El-Takaeba served as a focal point for a huge number of Egyptian cultural actors, adventurers, pleasure seekers, and the unconventional in Cairo. Everything led to this point at the conclusion of a millennium and the start of a new era. Where serious and hilarious arguments took place, while official institutions were preoccupied with bridging the gap and entering the game of global cultural mobility for political and social reasons. The necessity for formal institutions to open up to the world and launch the space for civil society - perhaps for the first time in Egypt - accompanied the post-Gulf War period. Foreign cultural institutions started collaborating more with the general audience.

The advent of the Internet has opened up a new territory to the rest of the world. So we discovered that there are other realms, music, and art, and we knew then that the odds are endless. This period, in my opinion, is one of ideological composition, self-discovery, and the emergence of various actors in the cultural scene. Because of the café's location with most new and old showrooms, it has been able to maintain its momentum. Both international and domestic... There were even representatives from government agencies. Destiny also wanted to build the world's most important independent cultural centre within metres of the impetus space, making it a focal point for everyone. It started as a showroom, then grew into an important cultural centre that touched all areas later, until it was narrowed down, until the doors were closed.

El-Takaeba is a project that attempts to recount the story in five concepts while also addressing modern cultural mobility. I can declare without a doubt that these terms originated in this area and were acknowledged by the cultural community. The meaning of these terms, the causes for their creation, and their importance in contemporary cultural society have been the subject of endless discussions here.

 Artists have been influenced, and some have chosen to disregard them; the difficulties of modernization and modernity were of significant concern to everyone at the time, both consciously and inadvertently; modern artists were perplexed by the location of their work. Do they have to respond to current events through the development of their work, or do they have to create new ones that are in some way consistent with the violent and unusual changes that are occurring around them, from the emergence of trends and ideas dictated by foreign financing, as well as the multiple polarizers created at the time on the Egyptian movement, such as video art,  space processing, conceptual art, and other unsuspecting terminologies and styles.

Because of chance or shared interests, it has also aided in the formation of artistic connections and partnerships. The contemporary field and art scene is formed by everyone sitting next to each other.

Everyone I met at this café had my respect. Whether he's left this life and gone to other parts of the globe to find himself.

Everyone dealt with the following phrase in one of three ways: understanding, lack of knowledge, productive or utilitarian.

These concepts were reintroduced to the general public by this effort, which was artificially rebuilt as a game, with each term being labelled via a random Internet search.

Now, thanks to large-scale production and a wealth of information, anyone can get exactly what they want from these ideas and utilise them whatever they want. Geopolitical realities, and the rule of capital with economic developments, drove us to abandon the place, stripped the place of its owners, and entirely wiped out the old spirit.

There were no plans or reasons for this movement, but the creation and effects of this frigid coincidence that occurred in this location cannot be denied to anybody, So I went to the store and got the right term for you, and let's not forget that where we are now is the same spot where we all congregated and helped us become who we are.

We travelled all over the world from here and returned several times. Major initiatives and dreams that have been accomplished in the past are yet to be realized in the future.

I give this effort a standing ovation, as well as an objection and proof that something happened here one day.