The Roads and Bridges Authority on Tuesday demolished the museum of ceramicist and visual artist Nabil Darwish, his daughter Sara Darwish told Al Manassa, saying the family had removed all the museum’s artifacts and paintings three months earlier.
Sara Darwish said the museum’s collection was safe, noting that the family carefully moved and stored the contents at their home three months ago. She said the family is now waiting for work on the new museum the Culture Ministry allocated in Fustat Hills to be completed, calling it their “only hope” of putting the collection back on display.
Sara Darwish, a professor at the Higher Institute of the Conservatory, described the demolition as “a very difficult experience,” saying the Roads and Bridges Authority informed the family of the demolition date two days beforehand.
She said the family had asked the authorities to wait until they could remove the electricity meter, “but we were surprised this morning by a call from the museum guard telling us the demolition had begun.”
Demolition of the Nabil Darwish museum, March 2026In April 2024, Darwish’s family announced that they had received notice to vacate the museum, located on the Saqqara Road in the Mariouteya area of Giza, to complete an expansion of the Ring Road.
Last June, the ministry's Cultural Development Fund announced the signing of a cooperation protocol with the Urban Development Fund to move the Nabil Darwish Museum to the fund’s Glass Building as part of the Fustat Hills project.
According to the fund, a wing of about 500 square meters was allocated inside the Glass Building to display Darwish’s works.
Darwish’s daughter said she did not know a specific date for the opening of the new museum in 2026, adding, “They’re supposed to be working on it now, it’s almost finished. I contacted Hamdy El Setouhy, head of the Cultural Development Fund, but there has been no response on the exact completion date and then the opening.”
Visual artist Nabil Darwish (1936-2002) was one of the pioneers of ceramic art in Egypt and the Arab world. He built his museum through his own efforts and opened it in 1981 as a testament to his work, and it became a school for ceramists from across the Arab world and beyond.
