Ahmed El Shaer

The Narrative is a virtual reality tour that immerses the audience in a 3D photogrammetric journey, following the same path of daily building tours that have been conducted for many years in the City Chambers. This tour will reveal hidden narratives that the official tours never explore. There is a voiceover of a poem in English that explores the secrets of another world. The British poet John Keats’ “Ode on Grecian Urn” served as the inspiration for this poem. 

The City Chambers stands as a majestic testament to Victorian grandeur, containing more marble than the Vatican. The work is inspired by city’s enigmatic coat of arms. Among the coat’s emblems, an exquisite bird, a tree, a bell, and a fish are held at a peculiar angle. 

People regarded the bird that never flew as a symbol of unexplored dreams. Its wings, frozen in stone, represented dreams tethered to the ground. A story that spoke of a visionary who longed to soar into the realms of innovation but never found the courage to take flight. Together, the symbols in the city’s coat of arms painted a tapestry of ambitions unfulfilled; a narrative whispered within the hallowed halls. The building’s grandeur concealed not just marble but a colonial tapestry of stories, dreams, and promises engraved in the stone heart of the city. 

Voiceover: Judith Williams 

Composer: Ahmed El Habback 

Project by: Ahmed El Shaer