Monumental Art Meets Ancient Stones: 'Forever is Now' Installs Large-Scale Works beneath the Great Pyramids

Contemporary installations rise in the shadow of the Great Pyramids

For its fifth edition, the contemporary art exhibition "Forever is Now" has placed large-scale installations in the sand at the foot of the Great Pyramids of Giza, just outside Cairo. The show runs through December 6 and brings international artists into direct dialogue with one of humanity's oldest monuments.

Michelangelo Pistoletto, the 92-year-old Italian artist, has installed his signature work Il Terzo Paradiso: a three-metre-tall mirrored obelisk accompanied by a chain of blocks laid out in the sand that trace the mathematical infinity symbol. Francesco Saverio Teruzzi, construction coordinator for Pistoletto's team, said:

"We have done more than 2,000 events all around the world, on five continents, in 60 nations. There is an estimate that it's more or less five million people reached by the message of the Third Paradise."

King Houndekpinkou (Franco-Beninese) contributed White Totem of Light, a column built from ceramic fragments recovered from a Cairo factory. He described the project as "an incredible opportunity to converse with 4,500 years — or even more — of history," underscoring the contemporary work's relationship to the ancient site.

Jongkyu Park (South Korea) used the proportions of the Great Pyramid to inform his geometric installation Code of the Eternal. One thousand small cylindrical acrylic mirrors are planted in the sand to form a Morse-code poem that imagines a conversation between Tangun, the legendary founder of Korea's first kingdom, and an Egyptian pharaoh.

Alexandre Farto (known as Vhils) assembled a bricolage of doors collected in Cairo and other cities to evoke archaeological processes and urban memory. The exhibition also features work by six other international artists, including Turkey's Mert Ege Kose, Lebanon's Nadim Karam, Brazil's Ana Ferrari, Egypt's Salha Al-Masry and the Russian collective Recycle Group.

Art, archaeology and cultural conversation

Set against the monumental backdrop of the pyramids, these installations deliberately blur the lines between contemporary practice and deep historical context. The event highlights how modern artists reinterpret, respond to and reverence ancient landscapes—inviting visitors to consider time, continuity and cultural exchange.

Practical note: The exhibition remains open until December 6. Visitors should check local guidance and site rules before visiting to respect the archaeology and ongoing preservation efforts at Giza.