AUC’s Egypt Press Photo Show Is Open: Plan the Full Outing
A new reason to make AUC part of your New Cairo plans
If you are looking for a Fifth Settlement outing that feels more memorable than just another mall lap, the newly opened Egypt Press Photo Exhibition at The American University in Cairo offers a timely starting point. The exhibition opened on Thursday, September 17, 2026, and runs until Thursday, October 22, 2026 at The Photographic Gallery, Abdul Latif Jameel Hall on the AUC New Cairo campus. It is hosted by AUC’s Department of Journalism and Mass Communication as part of its ongoing collaboration with the Egypt Press Photo competition.
That matters because this is not an abstract art show with vague themes. According to AUC’s event listing, this year’s edition focuses on the spot news that shaped 2025, with images responding to major Egyptian stories including the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum, the decommissioning of Alexandria’s historic tram network, destructive fires affecting Cairo communications infrastructure, and severe flooding in southern Egypt. The show frames those events through the work of Egyptian professional visual storytellers and photojournalists, turning the visit into both a culture stop and a snapshot of how the country looked and felt in a turbulent year.
What you will actually see at the exhibition
AUC describes Egypt Press Photo as a renowned annual national photojournalism competition, organized by the Syndicate of Journalists and run by the Photojournalists Collective. The 2026 exhibition is the competition’s 20th edition, and the participating photographers listed by AUC are Ahmad Gomaa, Ali Faheem, Amira Adel, Karim Abdel Aziz, Maher el-Attar, Mahmoud Abdel Ghany, Mohammad Ashraf, Mostafa Emeira, Ossama Ashour, Shorouk el-Sayed and Yasser Mahmoud.
For New Cairo readers, that roster is part of the draw. This is a chance to see recent Egypt-centered reporting work in a campus gallery setting rather than in a newspaper feed. Because the exhibition sits inside Abdul Latif Jameel Hall, it is also easy to fit into a short visit instead of committing to a full day out. AUC’s campus information identifies Abdul Latif Jameel Hall as one of the university’s main buildings, while AUC library materials note that the Photographic Gallery regularly hosts exhibitions on the New Cairo campus.
The practical details are straightforward: the venue is inside AUC Avenue, New Cairo 11835, and AUC’s maps page points visitors to both interactive and printable campus maps. If you have not been to the campus in a while, checking the map before you leave saves time, especially if your plan includes coffee after the gallery.
How to build the outing: culture first, then coffee
The smartest version of this plan is simple: do the exhibition first, while your energy is fresh, then move off campus for coffee or dinner depending on the time of day. AUC (@aucegypt on Instagram) is large enough that it can easily turn into a longer stroll, but for most Fifth Settlement residents, the sweet spot is keeping the culture stop focused and then shifting to one of the area’s established dining clusters.
If you want a low-commitment extension to the visit, aim for a nearby coffee meeting rather than a full meal. That works especially well on weekdays, when New Cairo traffic can turn short distances into a test of patience. The point is not to chase every trendiest opening in one night; it is to pair a specific local exhibition with one reliable nearby stop.
Best nearby dinner zone: 5A by The Waterway
For a more polished post-exhibition dinner, 5A by The Waterway remains one of the most practical choices in greater Fifth Settlement. Its appeal is not just buzz. The development has become one of New Cairo’s clearest food-and-hangout hubs, making it useful when your group cannot agree on one cuisine before leaving AUC.
One concrete option there is Reif Kushiyaki, whose Egypt site lists its 5A by The Waterway, New Cairo branch as open daily from 12:00 pm to 12:00 am. The restaurant presents itself as a family-style concept, which makes it a workable dinner pick if your exhibition outing includes friends or family rather than a date-night duo. It is also the kind of venue that suits a longer debrief after seeing documentary photography, especially if the group wants somewhere lively but still planned rather than random.
Another reason 5A works is flexibility. Even if one restaurant is full, the district is built around multiple café and dining options, so the exhibition can flow naturally into dessert, coffee or a late dinner without needing to cross half of New Cairo.
Fast, easy fallback: Concord Plaza
If your priority is convenience over destination dining, Concord Plaza is a practical fallback in the Fifth Settlement circuit. Its dining directory currently lists recognisable stops including Andrea, Caribou, Arabiata, Fuddruckers, Asmak, Burger King, McDonald’s, Cinnabon and Bab Tooma. That mix is useful when the outing is casual, you have children with you, or you want something familiar after a gallery stop rather than a more stylised restaurant scene.
In other words, Concord Plaza is not the place to overthink. It is the place to go when the real center of the evening is the exhibition itself, and food is there to complete the plan without adding friction.
Another easy add-on: a quick F&B stop at The Drive
If you like the idea of staying in New Cairo’s modern food hubs, The Drive by The Waterway is another nearby option. The developer describes it as a New Cairo food-and-beverage concept built around an updated drive-thru idea rather than a conventional standalone restaurant strip. That makes it useful when your post-exhibition mood is more grab-a-drink, grab-a-snack, keep-moving than sit-down dinner.
For some groups, that is the ideal pairing with a photography show: an hour or so of images, conversation on the way out, then a quick stop somewhere designed for ease rather than ceremony.
Why this outing works particularly well right now
There is a reason this exhibition makes sense as a New Cairo feature now. The event is local, time-specific and photographable; it sits inside one of the district’s best-known institutions; and it naturally connects to the area’s strongest lifestyle beat, which is exactly what to do after the cultural stop. Instead of treating art and dining as separate plans, this is one of those Fifth Settlement evenings where they complement each other neatly.
The content of the show also gives the outing more weight than a standard casual meet-up. Because the images address headline-making Egyptian events from 2025, the visit comes with built-in conversation. You are not just choosing somewhere nice to sit; you are reacting to pictures made in direct response to recent national change.
A practical itinerary for readers in New Cairo
- Start at AUC New Cairo: Head to The Photographic Gallery in Abdul Latif Jameel Hall for the Egypt Press Photo Exhibition.
- Keep the visit focused: Give yourself enough time to move through the exhibition properly and discuss the work.
- Choose your post-show mood: Go to 5A by The Waterway for a proper dinner, Concord Plaza for an easy familiar option, or The Drive for a lighter F&B stop.
- Best for weekday planning: Aim for an early exhibition visit, then move to dinner before the later Fifth Settlement rush.
For anyone living in or regularly crossing New Cairo, this is exactly the sort of outing the area needs more of: local, current, culturally grounded and easy to extend into a good meal. With the exhibition running through October 22, 2026, there is a real window to fit it in while it is fresh.