It’s so easy to put off visiting places that will always be a minute away… I’ve been meaning to go to The New Museum since its November opening, but it always seems too cold or too closed or too afternoony when it comes to mind. And it comes to mind often because it’s like a constant mountain backdrop when I’m noodling around the neighborhood. I’ve run out of excuses and finally ventured over to the big gray boxes today.
I’m glad I did because there was a cool project all about neighborhood mapping. It’s called The Last Tourist Cairo by Dutch artist Jan Rothuizen and it’s on the 5th floor. Two posters feature Rothuizen’s hand-drawn maps of the area around his temporary Cairo home, notes about his personal experiences and impressions of the area, and short interviews with local residents. It was modest and casual and totally absorbing. I saw where he got his hair cut and that he too felt silly for having not visited the big museum a few blocks away. I saw the layout of his apartment he shared with a man who loves shoes. I read his interviews, including one with a guy who obsessively photographed a particular poster of a local political candidate.
Through all these snippets I quickly gained an in-depth and poignant portrait of Cairo and his stay, and it reminds me of the ways I want to know and document my own neighborhood and travels. Yay for maps! Unfortunately the posters aren’t online, but you can see a chopped up online version of the project here.
