Alaa Saad

This research question examines how Egyptian cultural producers, artists, and artisans employ replication technologies to prompt popular historical imaginaries that reclaim and rework state-sanctioned nationalist narratives. Egypt is a nation that leverages images and objects from antiquity in fashioning national identity due to its deep rootedness in an ancient civilization (Ghannam 2002). The dissertation focuses on technologies replicating heritage-inspired designs through traditional woodworking, 3-D scanning/printing, and artificial intelligence (AI), where replication becomes a tool for engaging with subversive politics. The dissertation explores how heritage-inspired replication techniques challenge the state’s monopoly on public history through creative means. These production processes shed light on alternative forms of political engagement beyond traditional activism. I examine my research question by focusing on: (Q1) Innovation and Preservation in Cultural Heritage Technologies, (Q2) Creativity Within Replication, and (Q3) Embodied Knowledge. Using multi-sited and multi-modal ethnography, the research begins in a Cairo-based factory employing manual artisans replicating ancient Egyptian, Islamic, and Coptic artifacts, then moves to technology-based independent artists’ exhibitions and studios.