Bettina Camilla Vestergaard

In the fall 2010 I traveled to Cairo with the intention of examining the public spaces of one of the Worlds most densely populated cities. The majority of the parks and gardens were fenced, guarded or simply not accessible for the public. As a part of my research I decided to talk to different people about this, finishing all conversations by asking them to describe the most beautiful place in Cairo. In the work these personal testimonies are accompanied with photos taken by me retrospectively. The texts and images do much more than describe beautiful places, they unfold a variety of personalities, voices and stories that relate to living in Cairo. In addition, the revolutionary events that took place after the conception of this project create a close tie to the current state and possible future of the city. Notes on the Most Beautiful is dedicated to one of the narrators, Ahmed Bassiony, who died during the revolution in February 2011. He was the only one describing the most beautiful place as people.