Author
Ola Seif
is an art historian, freelance photographer and collector of Egypt-related visuals. In her book (1990) and MA thesis (2005) on the Khan el-Khalili bazaar, she mapped the district and traced its historical development from a residential to a commercial neighbourhood. Her current research interests include the pioneer European photographers in Egypt and Antoine Selim Nahas’s modern architecture in Cairo.
Articles by this author
During the first half of the twentieth century, a number of vibrant art hubs flourished in Cairo and beyond. Some eccentric, others more earnest, collectively, they nurtured some of Egypt’s most celebrated modern artists and contributed a spontaneous richness to the burgeoning local art scene.
Before Coptic mass, wooden seals are used to stamp the holy communion bread. These seals are made in different sizes and display great variety in design, whilst still incorporating traditional symbols, layout and shape. Reflecting Coptic Christianity's long history, today they have also become collectors' items.
Researchers often feel that heritage in private hands is lost to enquiry, but through the publication of such collections, the widely dispersed and inaccessible becomes assembled and available to all, and heritage previously thought lost can be saved for posterity. The 'lost' history of Egypt's stock certificates is a case in point.