Mohamed Gohar

Newsletter 11. November 2025

It was a pleasure to be invited for a fifth consecutive year to conceptualise and design the visual identity of the Cinema Festival: Les Bobines Alexandrines, an annual event that highlights Alexandria’s culture and heritage, cinema, and francophone cultures. The visual identity of Alexandria has been shaped over the years by cinema. The combination of successive images and the city’s soundscape in one video creates a richer and more comprehensive representation of this complex city, which is rich in history, values, and identities. This context presents a challenge for me when trying to capture Alexandria in a single still image. In my design, I aimed to understand and depict the city not through a two-dimensional map, which often tells an incomplete story. Instead, I sought to explore Alexandria as a volume, a three-dimensional space, where the various influences that shape the city’s experience come from more than just the ground level. My goal was to combine multiple layers of the city into one dynamic image that allows the audience to not only see but also hear and experience the city’s unique soundscape. Through this visual representation, I tried to produce art that tells a genuine and inclusive narrative of the social dynamics in the city, without falling into the trap of nostalgia or the authorised heritage and cultural discourse surrounding the city. The event is organised by Institut français d’Égypte, Alexandrie, Lycée Français d’Alexandrie MLF, and Université Senghor.

I am honoured that my work, “Alexandria Architectural Details: Little Venice Building”, has been published by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina – مكتبة الإسكندرية, Alexandria and Mediterranean Research Center (Alex-Med). This documentation work was commissioned in 2022 by the Alexandria and Mediterranean Research Centre of Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Alex-Med) to document all exterior ornaments of the Najib Farah & Salem Dovek registered heritage apartment building located on the Corniche of Alexandria, Egypt. The aim was to survey and document all motifs and ornaments that adorn the four facades of the building. The project involved field inspections, a photographic inventory of the character-defining architectural elements on the facades, and the production of detailed and scaled two-dimensional AutoCAD drawings. The publication includes 30 plates featuring manual artwork and representing a selection of the documented ornaments. The documentation techniques employed combined image-based methods and traditional terrestrial surveying, including rectified photography and hand measurements.

I extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped make this project a reality, especially Mohamed Mehaina and Mohamed El-Awwad.

This publication will be featured alongside several other works from Bibliotheca Alexandrina at the Sharjah International Book Fair, which will take place from November 5 to 16, 2025.

In the framework of “Alex Med Cultural Forum: Mediterranean Bonds That Unite Us” organised by Alexandria and Mediterranean Research Center (Alex-Med) in parallel with Alexandria hosting the 2025 1st Mediterranean Capital of Culture and Dialogue MCCD, I was invited to discuss my Dissertation as the first academic research on the MCCD, sharing insights from Alexandria with the future host cities of the event. The panel was shared with the Anna Lindh Foundation, the Union for the Mediterranean, and representatives of Matera, Italy and Tétouan, Morocco, the MCCD host cities for 2026. My Dissertation, “Alexandria as the First Mediterranean Capital of Culture and Dialogue: Comparative Insights on Mega-Events and Heritage from Liverpool and Marseille”, was submitted to the University of Liverpool in 2025 and supervised by Dr Ataa ALSALLOUM. This research extends the academic debate on cultural mega-events and heritage to the Mediterranean Capital of Culture and Dialogue, questioning the event’s potential to move beyond symbolism towards generating sustainable, heritage-led regeneration.

Newsletter 10. May 2025

Excited to share that I will be participating in the Liverpool Arab Arts Festival (LAAF) in 2025. My Exhibition “The Alexandrian” aims to connect Alexandria with a broader community beyond the Mediterranean, while still honoring its strong historical and contemporary ties.. In my research and artwork, I examine the Alexandrian Heritage through the dynamics of present-day Alexandrian society and its influence on the evolution of the city’s urban and built environment. 

Additionally, on the 16th there will be an informal artist talk about the work and the very vibrant city which has been recently designated as The 1st Mediterranean Capital of Culture and Dialogue. 

I would like to thank my friends in Cairo’s British Council for their support. I am also grateful to the (LAAF) team in London and Liverpool. 

Newsletter 09. January 2025

As we step into 2025, I want to extend my heartfelt wishes for a prosperous and fulfilling year. I hope this newsletter finds you well and in good spirits. Since my work is deeply connected to Alexandria (and other cities), a place that constantly inspires and challenges me, I’m thrilled to share my recent work with you:

The Alexandria and Mediterranean Research Center (Alex-Med), Bibliotheca Alexandrina, has officially published my documentation work on the Little Venice Building at Ramleh Station, in Alexandria. The publication is currently at the Cairo International Book Fair, Hall 1. It will also be available at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Bookshop starting next week. It was an inspiring project that gave me a chance to dive into the intricate details of the iconic building. It allowed me to understand how the architect designed it in his time. Through this process, I discovered that hidden within its aesthetic charm are imperfections and asymmetries that contribute to the building’s overall beauty.

Newsletter 08. November 2024

It is a delight to be reaching out to you once more.  I am pleased to take this opportunity to share with you some updates since my last communication in May. In July 2024, I was awarded the Chevening Scholarship from the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) to study Sustainable Heritage Management at the School of Architecture, University of Liverpool. I will be there for one academic year, after which I hope I will be able to contribute to the safeguarding of the Alexandria cultural heritage and share the acquired knowledge.

In addition to my studies, I am still managing some of my work|projects in Alexandria and the Mediterranean. The Alexandrian artwork|research is also ongoing, and you can find the latest updates on my web page. Currently, I am conducting my artistic visual investigation on the city of Liverpool and developing written materials on the city’s culture and heritage. The theme of the artwork could be either “Miniature of Liverpool” or “Forgotten Entries, Places and Spaces of Liverpool”. I was also very pleased to have designed the visual identity of the Film Festival Les Bobines Alexandrines for the 4th consecutive year. The festival is set to commence this month in Alexandria. 

Finally, I wanted to take this opportunity to let you know that I will be in London from the 22nd to the 24th of this month. I would be delighted to meet up if anyone happens to be in town.

Newsletter 07. May 2024

My essay, “A Proustian Alexandria,” was recently published in The Markaz Review in early May. In this piece, I explore the role of nostalgia in Alexandria and its impact on the city’s identity throughout history to the present day.

Recently, I completed a course taught in collaboration with Dr. Muriel Girard, a sociology professor at the ENSA – l’École nationale supérieure d’architecture de Marseille, IMVT – Institut Méditerranéen de la Ville et des Territoires. The course, tailored for architecture master 2 and 1 students, focused on reexamining Alexandria as a dynamic Mediterranean metropolis by exploring the correlation between social behavior and its impact on the built environment. You can also have a look at my previous collaboration with the ENSA.

In March, I collaborated with Janaklees for Visual Art in Alexandria, Egypt, to inaugurate my artwork and research “The Alexandrian” exhibition. This artistic exploration delves into the dynamics of modern-day Alexandrian society and its impact on the city’s urban and architectural evolution. 

The exhibition not only raised thought-provoking concerns regarding the factors that influence the user experience in Alexandria but also showcased the feasibility of implementing the same research methodology in different cities and communities. This work garnered significant media attention, highlighting its potential impact and relevance beyond its immediate context. I’ve included below a selection of articles and interviews for your reference.

– Interview on France 24 Arabic by Lyana Saleh

– Article in The Markaz Review by Malu Halasa

– Interview Monte Carlo Doualiya by Samira Ibrahim

– Article in Bab Masr by Amani Ibrahim

The Alexandrian Exhibition 23 March 2024

I am delighted to extend an invitation to the opening of my exhibition “The Alexandrian” on March 23, 2024, at 8:00 PM at Janaklees for Visual Art in Alexandria, Egypt.

In my Artwork and Urban Research, I employ artistic visual language to explore the dynamics of present-day Alexandria society and its impact on the city’s urban and Built Environment evolution. My goal is to observe and analyze the communal behaviors of the city’s inhabitants, with a focus on fostering an impartial understanding of shifting values and cultures. Through this endeavor, I strive to facilitate communication and knowledge-sharing among diverse groups of individuals engaged in contemporary Alexandria.

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Newsletter 06. December 2023

As we approach the end of 2023, I want to extend my warmest greetings and appreciation for your constant support, collaboration, and friendship throughout this eventful year. And, I would like to share a few 2023 updates with you:

– My book chapter “Alexandria: A Built Heritage Under Threat” in “AN ATLAS OF CONTEMPORARY EGYPT” is released in English, CNRS Éditions, Paris 2023.

– As a member of The River Cities Network (RCN) I have participated in the insightful Revitalizing River Cities: Connecting Biodiversity and Justice workshop organized in Leiden, Netherlands. As part of the network, my Egyptian team and I are presenting our research and study on The Mahmoudieh Canal in Alexandria.

– I have exhibited my work/studies (The third places of Alexandria and Marseille and the social impact on built environment) at the inauguration ceremony of the IMVT Institut Méditerranéen de la Ville et des Territoires in Marseille by the French Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak.

– It was a pleasure to be invited to illustrate and design the poster and animation of the 3rd edition of the cinema festival: Les Bobines Alexandrines by the Institut Français d’Alexandrie, Senghor University, Lycée Français d’Alexandrie and the Institut du Monde Arabe.

– I was a speaker at the “Unesco Regional Launches of the Framework for Enabling Intercultural Dialogue” in Beirut, Lebanon.

– And finally, I was the curator of the exhibition “ALEXANDRIE-MARSEILLE, REGARDS CROISÉS” at the Mucem in Marseille, France. (Associant l’Université d’Alexandrie, l’École nationale supérieure d’architecture de Marseille, l’Institut français d’Alexandrie et la Région Sud).

I wish you a wonderful year-end celebration and a prosperous New Year!

It was my pleasure to be invited to illustrate and design the poster and animation of the 3rd edition of the festival: Les Bobines Alexandrines. The design draws inspiration from and embodies the essence (including both the positive and negative aspects) of Alexandria’s rich tangible and intangible cultural heritage.

Watch animation

It has been a rich workweek of knowledge and experience exchange between diverse international teams. I am pleased to be a member of The River Cities Network (RCN) and to have had the opportunity to engage in the enriching Connecting Biodiversity and Justice workshop held at Lorentz Center, Leiden.

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The River Cities Network (RCN) was set up in 2022 to address these complex problems, by contributing action research on the river-city nexus in different parts of the world, through case studies of urban river/waterway disruption and degradation. The river-city nexus provides a lens through which to critically analyze relationships between human settlements and rivers over time and a platform to engage in collective action to revitalize local river ecosystems and the communities adjacent to these rivers.

This workshop seeks to identify a theoretical framework, backed up by practical tools, to bring together the two pillars of the RCN alliance, i.e., transformational resilience (“justice”) and biodiversity restoration in the case of urban rivers and waterways. The workshop will be guided by two main questions: 1) How can the biosciences and social science/humanities perspectives speak to each other when it comes to urban rivers and waterways? 2) What are the tools and methods needed in a mixed approach combining a focus on biodiversity and justice, to achieve revitalization of these waterbodies?

I am honored to be the curator of the 2nd version of the exhibition: “ALEXANDRIE-MARSEILLE, REGARDS CROISÉS”, and it is my pleasure to invite you to the vernissage, on the 27th of April 2023 at the Mucem in Marseille.

The exhibition takes you on a trip into a potential future of Alexandria and Marseille as it highlights architecture-urban innovative ideas proposed by both Egyptian and French students to conclude their observations on the two cities. Those projects, if considered, would be a step towards improving the built environment and the quality of life for the users.The first version took place at the French Institute in Alexandria between the 2nd and 20th of October 2022, where I had the pleasure of curating it.

“Une exposition de l’ensa•m en partenariat avec la Région Sud, le Mucem et l’Université d’Alexandrie”

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L’exposition « Alexandrie : futurs antérieurs » revisite l’histoire et le présent de la ville égyptienne, loin des mythes et des stéréotypes qui lui sont traditionnellement associés. Conjuguant deux approches – la recherche archéologique et l’art contemporain –, elle nous invite à considérer Alexandrie sous un angle inédit.

I have written a book chapter on Alexandria’s built heritage in “AN ATLAS OF CONTEMPORARY EGYPT” Published by: CNRS Éditions, Paris. The book is available to read at the museum.

I hope you had a successful year in 2022 in both your professional and personal life and wishing you, your families, and your loved ones a happy and healthy 2023. In the past year, I had the chance to meet, work and interact with many of you which I do appreciate, and would like to thank you for all your support.

Working independently as a consultant/researcher in architecture, art, and culture fields, is continuing to astonish me. It is hard but rewarding. Here I am sharing some of my past year stations which you were part of it:

• Alexandria Today Week with Léon Dubois

• Alexandrie- Marseille , regards croisés exhibition

with a big team of friends and partners such as Delphine Monrozies and Rémy Marciano. And the good news is that the exhibition is going to be on show this year at the MUCEM in Marseille

• Obtaining a degree in urban heritage strategies

Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam

• Designing les Bobines Alexandrines 2nde Edition poster with Jean Michel

• Forgotten Entrances exhibition at the French Institute Alexandria with Léon Dubois

• Jury member in the Master’s degree defense

of the students of the École nationale supérieure d’architecture de marseille – ENSA-Marseille

• Guest Speaker at Designing Modernity with George Arbid

• Alexandrie-Marseille

échanges entre deux territoires métropolitains. A book about the project is to be published this year

• Lecturing “Discourse on the Mediterranean Identity and heritage”

for the project “Alexandria: (re)activating common urban imaginaries” School for Sonic Memory and part of the exhibition Alexandrie: futurs antérieurs at MUCEM, Marseille next February

• Representing Alexandria in the Forum des mondes méditerranéens as a Mediterranean Appeal Ambassador

• And finally drawing, playing, and having a lot of fun with my cities miniatures

Please check these two very short animations:

Alexandria Marseille

Look forward to fruitful interactions, cooperation, and feedback. I wish you a very happy beginning of the year from Marseille.

Here is my 4th newsletter in which I allowed myself to share some of my good moments and I hope it will bring some inspiration. Starting by last February:

• I had the pleasure of representing Alexandria in the Forum des mondes méditerranéens as a Mediterranean Appeal Ambassador. The forum took place in Marseille.
• I gave a lecture “Discourse on the Mediterranean Identity and heritage” to artists and participants of The project “Alexandria: (re)activating common urban imaginaries” School for Sonic Memory and Politics of Heritage. The project is supported by the European Union’s Creative Europe programme, the Royal Museum of Mariemont (Morlanwelz), the Palais des Beaux-Arts “BOZAR” (Brussels), the Cittadelarte of the Pistoletto Foundation (Biella, Italy), the Museum of the Civilisations of Europe and the Mediterranean “MUCEM” (Marseille), the Onassis Stegi (Athens), the University of Leiden (the Netherlands), the Kunsthall of Aarhus (Denmark) and the Undo Point Contemporary Art centre (Nicosia, Cyprus).

• In the framework of the students’ exchange project “Alexandria/Marseille”, I participated in the pedagogical process in the two cities. This project is implemented by Ecole nationale supérieure d’architecture de Marseille (ENSA-Marseille), in partnership with the university of Alexandria, l’Institut Français d’Alexandrie, and supported by la région Sud Provence Alpes côte d’azur. In addition, I will be the curator of an exhibition at the French Institute of Alexandria. The exhibition which is planned to start next October will highlight the work and research of the Egyptian and French students in the two cities. The first part of the project took place in Alexandria in February, and in March was the second part in Marseille.

• It was also a pleasure to be a jury member in the Master’s degree defense of the students of the École nationale supérieure d’architecture de marseille – ENSA-Marseille, in June.

• I received an invitation by George Arbid to be a guest speaker at Designing Modernity- Architecture in the Arab World by the Goethe-Institut Palestinian Territories. Under the section “Protest and Civic engagement” I was talking about rereading the city, offering an alternative narrative of social history and its impact on the built heritage.

• In the framework of Écrire la Méditerranée Festival at the French Institute of Alexandria. The exhibition Forgotten Entrances was inaugurated on the 19th of May 2022. This is a collective exhibition of my drawings/research and the photographs of Léon Dubois. Highlighting observations on Alexandria, and trying to describe the Image of Alexandria in the present time.

• The exhibition was followed by an intensive lecture to the Egyptian students of the French school in Alexandria, on what is the city, how it works, how we live together and what is architecture, and the urban and social fabrics of Alexandria.

• The research and artwork of the exhibition will be included in a book project I am currently working on. Under the title “Third Places from Alexandria: stories from the city’s invisible present “, my work is offering an alternative viewpoint to reread the city’s built heritage, reconstruct Alexandria’s modern social history and understand how the different groups of people are sharing the same places and interact with each other. In my artistic research approach, I study spaces of social gathering and interaction between the community and how they impact back the city of today. Through on-site hand drawings and descriptive observations. 

• I have been admitted to the 2022 Urban Heritage and Strategies (UHS) Diploma, the course is developed by (IHS) the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (part of Erasmus University Rotterdam) in close cooperation with the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (REC) and the Department of Architectural Engineering of Delft University of Technology (TUD). The course is tailored to four port cities: Casablanca (Morocco), Alexandria (Egypt), Istanbul (Turkey), and Amsterdam (Netherlands). The graduation will be in Rotterdam next August.

• Under the direction of Sharqia Development Authority, Historic City Centers Preservation Project in Saudi Arabia, I was entrusted by Omran Architects / Prof. Moustafa Gabr to build and prepare rehabilitation and sustainable adaptive reuse study for Al Hofuf downtown of Al-Ahsa Governorate. Taking into consideration the historical, cultural heritage, social and economical aspects the project aimed at revitalizing the historic downtown.

• The work is still ongoing on book volume with Alex Med Bibliotheca Alexandrina ” Alexandria ornaments Encyclopedia: The Italian Architecture ” that aims at documenting the ornaments of heritage buildings in the city.

Newsletter 03. January 2022

Since we are expecting a new year to come, I wanted to reach out and wish you a happy new beginning as well as to thank everyone I had the chance to meet or get to know professionally and/or personally. In the past year, we may all have passed by hard times as well as good ones. I am allowing myself to share with you a few good moments from my past year where many of you were behind making it happen.

Academic & research

• Ongoing work on book volume with Alex Med Bibliotheca Alexandrina: Alexandria ornaments Encyclopedia. Here
• Participating in the Unspoken memories, unwritten histories “The place of cultural pluralism in Alexandria” along with Amro Ali and Will Hanley and organized by the Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul (SRII), operates at a cross-section of academic research and civil society activism. Here
• The first lecture at ensam Marseille in the frame work of the project « Alexandrie Forever: Échanges entre deux territoires métropolitains » Impliquant Ecole nationale supérieure d’architecture de Marseille (ENSA-Marseille), l’Université d’Alexandrie et l’Institut Français d’Alexandrie, dans le cadre d’une subvention de la région Sud Provence Alpes côte d’azur. Here
• Designing the concept and co-moderating the “ULC, Urban Lab Camp Alexandria, 2021” organized by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung FES Egypt. Here

Art & Architecture

• Participating in the Journey exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts in Alexandria, organized by Welad El Balad LTD. Here
• Designing the festival poster of “Cinéma francophone Les Bobines Alexandrines” organized by Behna El Wekalah, under the sponsorship of the Institut du monde arabe, with the support of the Institut français d’Egypte à Alexandrie. Here
• Starting the series of CITIES MINIATURES, visual observations on cities, presenting the art, architecture, and culture which shape our societies. Here: Alexandria, Marseille
• Participating and arrived at the 18th position among 123 participants around the world in “The UNESCO Architectural international competition for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the Al Nouri Complex in Mosul, Iraq. Here

Cultural activities

• On going participation in the project “SALAM: Imagining and building the Mediterranean of tomorrow – programme soutient le dialogue entre les jeunes acteurs de la société civile des deux rives” by Expertise France financed by Ministère de l’Europe et des Affaires étrangères. Here
• Participating in “All Around culture and L’Art Rue – Interconnected in Culture for a Stronger Ecosystem Grant”. Here
• Cairo Photo Week 2021, Lecture panel “Reading cities through the Image”. Here

This is the second newsletter that I would love to share with you after being thankful for all your thoughts on my previous one which helped me a lot. 2020 was not a smooth year but it was a big challenge that made me realize nothing is granted, nothing lasts, neither the good nor the bad. Thanks to that year, I was able to think, do new things and get rid of things I don’t want or need. Thanks to this year I got closer to people, especially those whom I love. This year made me appreciate all the blessings in my life. With the help of my family, friends, and God I managed to do good things. I wish you a new beginning and a happy year.

Below are links to some of the past year’s events:

• A book article: Atlas de l’Égypte contemporaine (CEDEJ, CNRS Édition)
• Very successful exhibition at SHELTER Art Space
• Co-leading a workshop: sustainable urban development by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung & Ministry of Environment
• Participating in the conference: Casbah d’Alger, Patrimoine Mondial de l’Humanité 28 ans après son inscription sur la liste de l’UNESCO
• Designing and building a handmade modular bedroom

We are all going through a hard time, impacting us, our behavior, and our cities. A time of big changes for many of us, on both personal and professional levels. I would not have expected to experience such a year. With all its good and bad, I consider it one of the most important events in my life. Till February 2020, I was still practicing architecture as a full-time senior designer architect in the same firm I joined 7 years ago. My latest task there was to design and lead a project in Djibouti. Naturally, I had to go and inspect the site and nature of my new project. 

Trip to Djibouti

After Tunisia, it was my first time visiting an African land outside Egypt. Traveling to the capital Djibouti on board Ethiopian Airlines, I had to make two hours of transit through Addis Ababa Bole International Airport. Which is considered the hub of Africa. Flying over the harsh contrast of the green and yellow landscape of Ethiopia and landing in the 70s-style airport of Djibouti, reminded me of the 2006 movie “The Last King of Scotland” based on Giles Foden’s 1998 novel. The movie depicts Uganda in the 1970s and the country’s cruelest leader Idi Amin. These were just my feelings from the visuals around me because I was about to discover one of the most peaceful places I have ever visited.

Addis Ababa, Djibouti the capital

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In Aswan  

By the beginning of March when the Egyptian authorities announced the first cases of covid-19 in Aswan, I was already there. I received an invitation from professor dr. Abdel-Aziz Farouk,the head of the Architecture department at the Arab Academy for Science and Technology in Aswan to instruct and lead an intensive workshop for young students and future architects. The aim of this course was to explore how to freehand drawing can increase the level of understanding of the complexities of architecture.

Working with the young team in Nubia

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Freedom of the lockdown

When I came back from Aswan to Alexandria in March, I was very sick and it was a Corona infection. For me, this was the beginning of a big change. I had to stay home for a month. When I started to recover, the country had already applied a partial lockdown. This was the time when I felt what it means to own your time. Time is our real wealth. Doing many things I neither had the time nor the energy to do, have made it clear to me, that there was no going back to the same pattern of life. This period was and still is very hard but it revived creativity. It made me think and reflect a lot. The daily news was mainly talking about the pandemic situation all over the world, describing and analyzing the impact on our physical and mental health. Then they started about the post-impact on the economy, politics, sociology, society, and city. The pandemic has already changed the way we interact with each other and with the city. Driven by all mentioned factors, I launched the project Memories of Alexandria before the Pandemic. My aim was to collect and document voices from the city ignorer to visualize how the city used to be before the change.

The call for stories is still open till February 2020

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At the Shelter

On the 23rd of this month SHELTER Art Space and the French Institute of Egypt launched the exhibition “Destinations” to explore the richness, diversity, and beauty of Alexandria through the artworks of artist Benoit Guillaume and myself. The exhibition features both visual art and architectural elements to explore a live walk to different destinations within the city layers of Alexandria. Each of us is interpreting his own personal vision of the city’s vibrant buildings and streets. Yet each is different in its approach and interrelated in its interpretation of the city’s reflection on our daily social life and encounters. The exhibition is still ongoing if you are in Alexandria.

Photo credit: Shelter

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