Yasmine El Meleegy on Craft, Memory, and Colonial Histories

Yasmine El Meleegy, an artist from Egypt, develops performative and conceptual installations based on her extensive research into the nation’s craft sectors. A significant turning point for her was the restoration of a doll that had been given to her mother, which inspired Rites Of Passage (2016–18). This project involved gathering replicas as a means to cope with her mother’s passing in 2014. At Stephenson Pharmacy in Cairo, her 2021 work, Scaffolding A Familiar Epoch, integrated performance with renovation, where she cleaned the venue and recreated a chandelier. El Meleegy works alongside artisans to safeguard their expertise. She encountered sculptor Fathy Mahmoud through a porcelain cup; Mahmoud was known for creating public sculptures and a porcelain factory in the mid-20th century. Her solo exhibition, To Mend Is To Shatter, featured shattered Mahmoud dinnerware. Additionally, her ongoing project, A Cup Of Tea With Fathy Mahmoud, includes fictional letters from 2019 to 2022. In 2023, she presented Future Farms (Organic) at For space in Basel, showcasing fibreglass tomatoes.