Vhils’ sculptural door installation for Cairo’s ‘Forever is Now’ confronts the weight of Egypt’s layered history
At the foot of the Great Pyramids of Giza, Portuguese artist Vhils presents ‘Doors of Cairo’ – an installation featuring 65 salvaged doors that carve personal and collective histories into a collage of endurance,…
Portuguese artist Alexandre Farto, also known as Vhils, is among 10 international artists chosen to showcase work for the fifth edition of Forever is Now, an open-air exhibition of monumental contemporary art staged on the Giza Plateau. In the shadow of ancient pyramids, Vhils brings his signature practice of layered storytelling to the desert with “Doors of Cairo”, a large-scale installation made specifically for the occasion.
Running from 11 November to 6 December 2025, the annual show invites leading contemporary artists to create works in dialogue with the Unesco World Heritage site, encouraging the reinterpretation of endurance and legacy. For his piece, Vhils gathered 65 doors from various demolition and renovation sites in Cairo and beyond, tracing invisible links between civilisations past and present. Mounted and intricately carved, the doorways invite visitors to open new perspectives.
Vhils joined Monocle Radio’s ‘The Monocle Daily’ to discuss the stories, symbolism and logistics behind the installation.
The interview below has been edited for length and clarity. Listen to the full conversation on ‘The Monocle Daily’ from Monocle Radio.
Your work often excavates history from everyday surfaces. What made doors feel like the right portal into a conversation with the pyramids?
We began with doors that were collected around Cairo. Then I decided to include doors from around the world, to carve those histories into a collective installation. Cities are a construct that we all participate in, shaping them as we live within them. The pyramids are a monument to that collaboration: a distant memory of a civilisation that once existed. I wanted to create something that spoke to that legacy – a dialogue between ancient landmarks and contemporary structures. Doors carry so much meaning. They separate the private from the public, while also connecting them. This piece is a homage to how we build things together, even when we aren’t conscious of it.
To bring a project like this to life requires a lot of people. How big was the cast behind this production?
We began working on it more than a year ago. My studio has 25 people but we collaborated with many external partners along with a local team in Cairo. Many think of art installations as a solo endeavour but something of this scale involves quite a lot of logistics. In total, about 100 to 150 individuals contributed to bringing “Doors of Cairo” to life.
How was it installing a gallery experience in the desert?
It’s a very inhospitable place but at the same time it offers a serenity and peace that changes how you relate to art. In a city, artists rely on the surprise factor: your work catches someone off guard and sparks an instant connection. In the desert, visitors come with time to contemplate, to meditate. The landscape invites introspection. That’s why I wanted to create doors that hold different stories and depths, so that people can gradually engage with them.
How do you hope that people will react to your work?
Once an artwork is finished, it no longer belongs to the artist but to its audience. That’s the beauty of it. Everyone takes their own journey with the piece. What I hope is that the installation builds an inner connection – a reminder that we are all part of the same civilisation – and we can open doors to one another despite the challenges of today’s polarised world.
Listen to the full interview on ‘The Monocle Daily’ from Monocle Radio.
