Streets, bridges, squares, places and spaces all have names. We live with those names in our daily lives as a location but are rarely curious about the origin or significance of a name. Names that may change over time but stay embedded in our memory. From guidebooks to street signs, there are names with stories. Different ages are brought together. Different histories spanning a common geography.
This talk will feature Lesley Lababidi, an active and well-traveled blogger, and is scheduled as part of the Tahrir Cultural Festival organized by the American University in Cairo and will cover 30 years, from 1989 to 2019, of writing about Cairo. Beginning with antidotes about Cairo The Family Guide and Cairo’s Street Stories, the talk will turn to The Field Guide to the Street Names of Central Cairo as a unique method to explore Cairo’s history by way of street names.