Exhibitions
The Rare Books and Special Collections Library mounts regular exhibitions of items from its collections. Material displayed includes rare books, photographs, archival documents and publications, architectural plans and models, maps, artifacts, artwork, and audiovisual media (original as well as documentary works produced specifically to accompany exhibitions). Exhibitions are collaborative efforts drawing on the expertise and creativity of the head of public services, subject specialists and other staff throughout the library, and assembled and installed by the library’s Conservation Laboratory staff. Some exhibitions are joint efforts with other units at AUC or outside institutions or individuals. All are intended to be informative and educational through spotlighting the library’s special collections.
RBSCL exhibitions are open to the public and free of charge. See Visiting and Access to the Library to plan your visit. The RBSCL’s main exhibition spaces are the Abdallah S. Jum’ah Exhibition Room as well as the Nadia Niazi Mostafa Lecture Room often used for events associated with exhibitions. Other display cases throughout the library feature revolving displays of books, images, maps, artifacts and other library holdings.
RBSCL materials are frequently exhibited at The Photographic Gallery (formerly known as The Sony Gallery for Photography) in Abdul Latif Jameel Hall, The Sharjah Art Gallery in AUC’s Center for the Arts, and the foyer of the Main Library building. Library materials are also periodically exhibited in other locations in Cairo like the Cairo Opera House complex, and at venues abroad like the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, Brighton Photo Biennial, and the Deutsches Architektur-Museum in Frankfurt.
Creswell's Cairo Collection
AUC Main Library Foyer
February 2020
Princess Fawzia: The Duality of Egyptian Womanhood Through Western and Egyptian Eyes
July 2019
Ramses in Tahrir
Legacy Gallery, AUC Tahrir Campus
September - October 2019
Preserving Architectural Heritage: Highlights from the Regional Architecture Collection (Salah Lamei architectural conservation collection, Hassan Fathy Collection)
Future Gallery, AUC Tahrir Campus
September 2019
Sketching Harrania Exhibit (Student Projects)
AUC Main Library Foyer
May 2018
Hassan Fathy’s New Gourna (with Egypt National Organization of Urban Harmony)
Cairo Citadel
November 2017
Gamal Bakry, 1931- 2006: Between Time and Affection
Supreme Council of Culture
April 2017
Verdi and Egypt
AUC Sharjah Art Gallery, AUC Main Library
March 2017
Romance in the Egyptian Cinema
AUC Sharjah Art Gallery
January 2017
Exploring the Rare Books and Special Collections Library: The Hidden Treasures
October 2016 - May 2019
When Art Becomes Liberty: The Egyptian Surrealists 1938-1965 (Van-Leo portraits)
The Palace of the Arts, Opera House Complex
September - October 2016
Sanduq el-Dunia (The Cairo Wall)
Danish-Egyptian Dialogue Institute, Cairo, various sites
July 2016
Women’s History Archives at AUC’s Rare Book and Special Collections Library
March 2016
The Private Papers of Wedad Mitri: Pioneering Unionist
The Women and Memory Forum Exhibition at RBSCL
March 2016
Palmyra: A Cultural Heritage Going . . . Going?
November 2015 - September 2016
Egypt Stereoviews
The Photographic Gallery (AUC)
October - November 2015
Ex RBSCL Libris: The Golden years of Egyptian cinema, 1936-1967
April 2015 - June 2017
Boutros Boutros-Ghali Collection
February 2015 - June 2017
Echoes II: Photographs from the Collection
The Photographic Gallery (AUC)
December 2014 - January 2015
Treasures in the Archives (Postcards)
AUC Main Library foyer
November - December 2014
Here and Elsewhere (Van-Leo portraits)
New Museum, New York City
July - September 2014
Aziza Hussein: An Egyptian Feminist and a Diplomat
May - June 2014
Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here (Memorial to destroyed Baghdad book market, book arts)
March - August 2014
See You at the Movies: Egyptian Cinema Stills 1930s-1970s
The Photographic Gallery (AUC)
March - April 2014
Anis Mansour Collection
March 2014 - January 2015
Sanduq el-Dunia (The Cairo Wall)
Museum of Copenhagen, Denmark
August - September 2013
Rencontres de la photographie (Van-Leo portraits)
Arab Image Foundation (Beirut, Lebanon) entry, Arles, France
July - September 2013
Ex RBSCL Libris: Curtis's Botanical Magazine
March 2013
Studio Viennoise (Van-Leo portraits)
Former Viennoise Hotel, Downtown Cairo
November 2012
Face Time (Van-Leo portraits)
The Photographic Gallery (AUC)
October - November 2012
Van-Leo: A Rare Look
The Photographic Gallery (AUC)
March 2012
Ramses Wissa Wassef: An Exhibition of his Architectural and Artistic Legacy
The Palace of the Arts, Opera House Complex
November 2012
Ramses Wissa Wassef: An Exhibition of his Architectural and Artistic Legacy
February 2008 - December 2009
Hassan Fathy, An Egyptian Ambition
Gezira Art Center, Cairo
June 2011
Spotlight on Youssef Chahine: Selections from the Rare Books and Special Collections Library
February 2008 - December 2009
Naguib Mahfouz: Child of the Alley, Writer for the World: An Exhibition of AUC Press Publications, Foreign-Language Editions, and Selections from the Rare Books and Special Collections Library
December 2006 - December 2007
Van-Leo Self Portraits
Brighton Photo Biennial, Brighton, England
October 2006
Cairo and Its People: Selections from the Rare Books and Special Collections Library's Van-Leo and Creswell Collections
September - December 2005
Traumbilder der Architecktur: Gouachen und Zeichnungen von Hassan Fathy (Architectural Visions: Gouaches and Drawings by Hassan Fathy)
Deutsches Architektur Museum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
February - March 2005
Nubia: Before the Flood
February - March 2005
Kairo Damals und Heute: Mamlukenbauten in den Fotografien von K.A.C. Creswell und im Heutigen Aussehen (Cairo Then and Today: Mamluk Buildings in the Photographs of K.A.C. Creswell and as Seen Today)
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Pergamonmuseum, Museum für Islamische Kunst, Berlin, Germany
July - September 2005
Hajj: On the Pilgrimage
November - December 2004
Nazar: Photographs from the Arab World
Fries Museum, Leeuwarden, Netherlands
September 2004 - January 2005
Creswell's Cairo: Then and Now: A Joint Exhibition of Photographs from the Creswell
Collection and the Islamic Art Network (IAN) Photo Archive
December 2002 - February 2003
Hassan Fathy, Un Architecte Égyptien (Hassan Fathy, An Egyptian Architect)
Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France
December 2002 - February 2003
Berber! An Exhibition of Imazighen Silver: The Jewelry of the "Free People" of North Africa and the Maghreb Postcards of Lehnert & Landrock and their Contemporaries
October - December 2002
Photo Cairo: Van Leo
Townhouse Gallery of Contemporary Art, Cairo
September - October 2002
Van Leo: Tentation/Temptation
Centre Francais de Culture et de Cooperation, Cairo
April - May 2002
Egypt Described: La Descripton de l'Egypte
February - March 2005
Sacred Rivers: Featuring the Works of Anna Boghiguian
October - November 2001
Van Leo: The Chronology 1940-1969
March - May 2001
ARTAS: Portrait of a Palestinian Village Then and Now
May 2001
Photographs by Van-Leo
Townhouse Gallery of Contemporary Art, Cairo
December 2000 - January 2001
Hassan Fathy Centennial Exhibition: Selections from the Hassan Fathy Archives
March - July 2000
Islamic Inscriptions: an Exhibition of Illustrations from the Collection Depicting the Varied Uses and Forms of Epigraphic Arts in Islamic Culture
February - May 2000
Going, Going, Gone: Conserving Rare Materials at the RBSCL
1999
Van-Leo: A Moveable Feast
October 1998 - January 1999
Ancient Nubia: The Land and its Legacy
June - September 1997
Glamour as Genre: Portrait Photography of Van Leo
November - December 1996
Animals in Egyptian Art
October - December 1996
Through Others Eyes: An Exhibition on Travelers Accounts of Egyptian Life
March-May 1996
Passage to Eternity: An Exhibition on Ancient Egyptian Funerary Customs and Beliefs
October - December 1995
AUC Building History: Views from the Archives
October 1994 - January 1995
In Search of Blessings: Egypt's Holy Places
May - September 1994
Cairo Revisited
February - May 1994
Joy of Egypt, Exploring the Nile Flood throughout the Ages
October - November 1993
Naguib Mahfouz in Many Languages: An Exhibition of More than 175 Published Translations of the Works of Naguib Mahfouz in over Twenty Languages
February - May 1993
Max Debbane
September - December 1992
The Art of Paper Marbling: History, Samples, Techniques
May - July 1992