Gizeh-Blankenberge

Ria Pacquée returns to Egypt, showing some of the sights and sounds which follow the sea of tourists which descends on Egypt every year. Against a back-drop of familiar gods, stylised figures and hieroglyphs, a steady stream of behatted, sunglass-wearing figures take photographs and record video footage. Following a path marked out with rope, fencing and stairs, they see only the Egypt shipped here for their benefit – souvenir shops, markets, camel rides, chip stands and tour-guides with clipboards. Pacquée draws comparisons between the mass-produced souvenirs and the original works that inspired them, contrasting the authentic with the synthetic experience.