Manar Moursi
Manar Moursi is multi-disciplinary designer and artist based in Cairo. A graduate of the University of Virginia’s undergraduate program of architecture, Manar also holds a dual Masters degree in Architecture and Urban Policy from Princeton University. In 2011 she founded Studio Meem. Aside from her practice with Studio Meem, Manar publishes regularly, participates in art exhibitions and conducts academic workshops.
Her writings on urban issues have appeared in Thresholds, Lunch, Mada, CairObserver, the Funambulist and Egypt Independent. Her imaginary pink plastic pirate utopias in a post-tsunami Tokyo were recently published in the latest Monnik publication Tokyo Totem. She has collaborated with the Japan Foundation in Cairo to produce an instructive publication for design students in Cairo and conducted workshops in Beirut, Dubai and Doha. She also recently lectured at MSA University and the German University in Cairo.
In addition to her writing and architectural work, Manar has participated in multiple art exhibitions, the latest being Next to Here, a group photography show, curated by Constanze Wicke, which traveled regionally from the Contemporary Image Collective in Cairo, to Beirut, Casablanca, Khartoum, Algiers, Jerusalem and Amman.
Her work has been published widely in both local and international press and was featured on CNN. In 2015, in recognition of her architectural design work, she was nominated for the prestigious ArcVision Women in Architecture Award.