About Us
amplify the voices and stories of new media/digital artists through several channels of support. We aim to cement a platform for young established new media/digital artists from the MENA region while connecting them to the international scene.
Timeline
Out Of The Circle started as an initiative with the simple goal of supporting and promoting young Egyptian contemporary artists, and has grown over the years to become an arts management organization with a wide-spanning program.
Out Of The Circle’s multiple achievements and projects over the years were made possible thanks to the valued support of our partners, their trust and belief in our mission. Together we have worked on one project after another in Egypt and abroad, and were able to support and present more than 130 artists, between festivals, exhibitions, workshops and residencies backed up with over 40 valuable collaborations.
This support has also allowed us to extend our connections to more countries including USA, Germany, UK, France, Austria, Switzerland, Japan, North Africa, Syria, and Sweden.
While looking forward to the coming years, we would like to express our gratitude to those who have supported our journey so far and were partners in our success and growth, through their financial support, in-kind donations or valuable expertise.
Elham Khattab is the founder and director of Out Of The Circle, with years of experience in arts management and curation, which build on her background in fine arts.
Searching for ways to support the art scene and the young talents she encountered, Khattab came across arts management in 2007 which set her on track to fill an apparent gap in professional support for artists in Egypt. The pieces all came together between her involvement in organizing exhibitions, co-curating, and completing an internship in business excellence, and she has since 2005 been continually participating in numerous arts management, curation, and exchange programs in Egypt, the Middle East, and abroad.
She is currently a summer fellow at The Devos Institute for Arts Management at the University of Maryland, ongoing since 2018.
Khattab graduated with a major in graphic design from Helwan University in 2004. Her first step in arts management was at the Cairo International Film Festival as Program Coordinator. She then organized several exhibitions while working as Executive Exhibition Coordinator for El-Sawy Culture wheel between 2006 and 2008. She then took part in the 2008 International Visitor Leadership Program, organized by the US Department of State and the International Meridian Centre.
In 2012 Khattab participated in the British Council’s cultural leadership international program, where she completed curating and art criticism short courses from the University of Arts in London. As part of the CrossCulture Programme (CCP) of the Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (IFA), she completed a curating internship in the art mediation department at Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst in Leipzig, Germany in October/November 2012. She also completed a research residency with Prohelvetia, focusing on digital arts in Geneva, Zurich, and Basel in 2015.
Khattab founded Out of the Circle to uphold her aim to amplify the work of Egyptian artists working with new media and digital art and has since collaborated with numerous individuals and entities that support this objective.
© 2025 by Out Of The Circle
