Ahmed Saleh founded El Madina in 2000 in Alexandria. During the late 1990s, there were little presence and production resources for independent artists. Similar to in Cairo, in Alexandria there are many restrictions on independent artistic expression and activities. El Madina was born out of a need for a cultural space in Alexandria that provides a platform for free artistic expression whether in arts, theatre, music or dancing.

EL Madina works in arts and culture through training, production, culture space management and supporting artists and youth initiatives. It also seeks to spread a culture of “democratization of the arts” in Alexandria and transform public spaces and marginalized areas to spaces where people can practice free expression and create a cohesive social environment characterized by pluralism. El Madina also works on empowering women and youth through performing and digital arts workshops. After the January 25th revolution, they started advocating for street art through holding workshops, trainings in different districts and organized street carnivals.

El Madina calls for multicultural exchange through travel, networking and self-reflexivity, offering residencies to international artists, curators, writers, musicians and more. El Madina is keen to target people from all different social and economic backgrounds. El Madina’s Studio aims to promote performing arts and multimedia for a wider audience in order to enable the youth group’s sustainability to support the creative economy of culture, which can play an influential rule in sustainable development and social change.