How do you feel when you experience desire? Do you feel guilt or shame? I always struggled to be in touch with my desires, for I was taught through the Story of Creation, that it makes me weak. However, I never felt strong in self-restraint.
I always felt condemned by the city, be it by the scarcity of private spaces or by the transformation of its urban fabric. A remorse I found is to reclaim the city through collecting sexual desires in public spaces. Imagining an alternative Garden of Eden: the Garden of Cairo.
The project was launched through an open call where residents of Greater Cairo were invited to anonymously submit locations of their sexual fantasies, thus indulging unapologetically as a community of Eves. At a selected number of submitted public places, I shot a still life of an eaten apple, as a reappropriation of a symbol of shame.
Now it’s time for this project to be entirely community-generated, by asking you, as a resident of Cairo, to take your own images of an eaten apple at your desired location and pin the spot on our Garden of Cairo map. Using our desire to reclaim our city. To fantasize is an act of resistance. To fantasize is an act of strength.

Participate in the project here.

The series was commissioned by Beyn Collective, funded by the L’Art Rue Tunisia. The work was exhibited in November 2022 at Access Art Space, Cairo, Egypt.

If you woud like to purchase an image, please email me: najlasaidwork@gmail.com