It was already clear during last year’s Salone del Mobile in Milan: the Egyptians are back. With all the furniture-manufacturing facilities around Cairo - some among the biggest in the Middle East - it was just a matter of time before the birth of +20 Egypt Design. This first design platform in Cairo is a government-funded initiative of the Egyptian Furniture Export Council, founded to boost the local economy through contemporary design and creativity by bringing together major Egyptian furniture manufacturers with a bunch of international and local designers. 

This year during the 7th edition of Furnex (Egypt’s International Furniture and Home Furnishings Trade Fair held from 3-7 June) a next step was taken, bringing +20 Egypt Design to the narrow alleyways of Cairo’s recently renovated Old City. Stretching from the area of El Muiz Street to the Khan el-Khalili bazaar, the design route passed many magical buildings from the Mamluk and Ottoman eras, in a district awash with shops and workplaces balancing between traditional crafts and tourism kitsch. 

The centrepiece of the event was a show curated by Italian designer Paola Navone, dressing the many rooms of three adjacent, beautifully restored houses in the area – mesmerisingly historic riads with hypnotic names such as Suhaymi, Kharazati and Mostafa Gaafar – and creating an intimate atmosphere by a crossover mix of design objects and furniture from established international brands with new creations designed and manufactured by Egyptian producers and traditional local craftsmanship. The event is meant as an eye-opener to both the public and the industry and in the long run, hopefully a catalyst to the notion of Egyptian Design developing into a brand name of substance. After Milan, Istanbul and New York, co-organiser DesignPartners has again expanded the boundaries of its successful Zona Tortona story.

+20 Egypt Design is an initiative of the Egyptian Furniture Export Council (EFEC) and Industrial Modernization Centre (IMC) with support from Egyptian Exporters Association (Expolink), committed to DesignPartners, Milan.