Alexandria is often described through nostalgia. Images of a cosmopolitan past and stories of a “golden age” that have long dominated the way the city is represented. While these narratives have shaped its cultural identity, they often overshadow the living city and the everyday realities that continue to define Alexandria today.
The Alexandrian was born from a desire to look beyond this nostalgic lens and explore the city as it exists in the present. Rather than viewing heritage as a collection of monuments or remnants of the past, the project understands Alexandria as a living urban landscape that is constantly reshaped by its inhabitants through everyday practices, adaptation, and collective social practices. Through drawing and visual storytelling, the project documents the ordinary architecture and urban details and improvised adaptations (the countless traces of everyday life that give the city its distinctive character) that often escape official heritage narratives. These seemingly ordinary elements reveal a more complex understanding of the city’s cultural heritage. They demonstrate that the value of heritage does not reside solely in its celebrated landmarks but also in the relationships between people and the historical urban landscapes they inhabit. Heritage is not fixed in the past; it is continuously negotiated through everyday interactions, cultural practices, and the evolving urban fabric. Alexandria’s identity has never been static; as one of the Mediterranean’s great port cities, it has always been shaped by movement, exchange, migration, and cultural diversity. This continuous transformation is not a departure from its history but an essential part of it. Recognising these ongoing processes allows us to appreciate the city not as a relic to be preserved unchanged, but as a dynamic environment where history and contemporary life coexist.
Ultimately, The Alexandrian is both an artistic practice and an urban investigation. It invites viewers to slow down, observe the overlooked, and reconsider what deserves to be valued and remembered. By documenting the city’s everyday landscapes, the project proposes a broader understanding of urban heritage that embraces not only the architecture of the past but also the living culture that continues to shape Alexandria today.
The Alexandrian is the first chapter of an ongoing artistic research exploring the everyday urban heritage of Mediterranean cities. Through drawing and visual storytelling, the series investigates how social practices shape the heritage and identities of cities.
