2013 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

Egypt is the official partner of ITB Berlin, Egypt is currently occupying the headlines of world news as a result of the events taking place since the revolution. These events have created a new image of Egypt. Egypt was perceived as a destination of rich history, now also beheld as a destination where history is being made. We needed to showcase Egypt in a manner that fuses the country’s rich history, its bright-looking future and the brand idea "Egypt inspires great stories". Embracing the change that Egypt is currently going through, our aim was to fuse history with Egypt’s present in one activation that inspired those who experienced it to visit Egypt.

The Brief

Our aim was to trigger familiarity and positive responses from Berliners, and thus link between the change Egypt is going through with the fall of the Berlin wall signifying a new bright beginning, and an end of oppression rather than a moment of conflict.

Results

The news spread fast and the art installations ended up touring in exhibitions and art galleries till now.

Execution

We capitalized on Berlin’s heritage as the home of contemporary European art to create a citywide street art installation project. 10 of Egypt’s best known modern artists flew to Berlin to use giant Ankhs; "more commonly known as the Key of Life. Originally a hieroglyphic symbol of eternal life", as blank canvasses to represent their vision of Egypt today. A 2 week workshop for the artists to work together In Berlin and inspire each other took place. Then we placed the Ankh artworks across the city.

The Situation

This year, Egypt’s official partnership with ITB Berlin, the world’s leading travel trade show, came in the midst of Egypt occupying the headlines of world news. The January 25th events have created a new image of Egypt in the eyes of the world. Considering that Berlin is the home of contemporary European art, we needed to open a dialogue with our fellow Germans. And what better way to do this than through Art! This is how the Ankh project came to life.

The Strategy

Street art has been strongly embedded in Berlin’s culture ever since the communist era ended and the Berlin Wall came down. Taking into consideration both; our target audience perception of street art as well as the historical context of the city of Berlin – two elements that consequently shape how our target audience will perceive and interpret the Ankh project. We created the Ankh project utilizing the fact that this “graffitification” of the Tahrir square that we are transporting to Berlin in the Ankh project, is in many ways similar to the “graffitification” of Berlin after the Berlin Wall came down.