AUC’s first public arts festival brought music, theatre, film, visual arts and creative workshops to New Cairo
For the first time, AUC’s New Cairo campus hosted Artozium, a three-week public arts festival held in the summer of 2026, featuring free concerts and plays, film screenings, art workshops and exhibitions.
The festival’s name is a portmanteau of “art” and “symposium,” with the “z” emphasizing its focus on developing Gen Z artists and creatives. “We merged the five programs in our department — graphic design, visual arts, film, music and theatre — into one big project,” said Wael El Mahallawy, music professor, chair of the Department of the Arts and general manager of Artozium.
Cairo’s historic art scene is centered downtown, and with more people moving to New Cairo, Artozium aimed to make AUC’s campus a hub for an emerging arts scene east of the Nile, explained El Mahallawy. “Artozium covers not only New Cairo but also the New Capital and Al Shorouk,” he said. “There are very few theaters, exhibition venues or galleries in this area.”
The festival brought together collaborations with cornerstones of Cairo’s art scene, including film shorts shown at the renowned Zawya Cinema, screenings from the Manassat Film Festival, a performance by the Cairo Arab Choir, and performances by the Reda Egyptian Folklore Dance Troupe and the all-women Egyptian drum band Tablet Elsitt.
Attendees also experimented with their creative talents through workshops on ceramics, filmmaking and puppetry, taught by AUC faculty and professionals in the field. Actor Tarek El-Ebiary ’12 presented an interactive standup comedy show, while drummer Mostafa Abbas led a percussion performance.
The festival also showcased visual art through A Title Resembling an Unstable Image, an exhibition curated by artist Ahmed Shawky Hassan that featured emerging artists exploring the city as a living structure.
Artozium turned the spotlight on AUC’s own artistic community too. Mashrou’ 26 showcased the creativity of the University’s 12th and largest graduating class in graphic design. Alumni performed in Gat Salima and El Masyada, while undergraduate students featured in Hekaya Bel Maqloub play. The Theatre Association performed Neseet El Cheque, and student organizations Musicana and the AUC Egyptian Folklore Troupe brought music and traditional dances to the festival, further showcasing the breadth of the University’s artistic community.