Built in 1907 in the plush district of Zamalek in Cairo the building was initially acting as the palace of Ali Pasha Fahmy. In 1958 Dr. Tharwat Okasha, the first Minister of Culture in Egypt, decided to purchase the palace to act as the ministry’s main office. However, in 1971 the palace underwent gross negligence. It was abandoned to act as a storeroom of the Ministry of Information. In 1975 late artist Abdel-Hamid Hamdy, who was the chief of the former General Authority for Art and Literature, successfully persuaded the then Minister of Culture Youssef al-Sebaie to retake the palace. It was also Mr. Hamdy who decided to turn the palace into the Centre of Art, the first of its kind in Egypt. Seven of its art galleries are named after ancient Egyptian god Akhenaton. Since 1976 the Centre of Art has witnessed hundreds of major art festivals, events, concerts and film screening programmes. Moreover, the Centre of Art exhibited works by internationally renowned artists such as Salvador Dali, Henry Moore, Pablo Picasso, Di Creco and David Hockney. Further, several editions of the National Art Gallery took place in the facility from 1976 to 1988. The Centre of Art also witnessed events of major international exhibitions such as Cairo International Art Biennale, Cairo International Ceramic Biennale, the Egyptian International Print Triennale and the Youth Salon. In the meantime, the Salon of Mini Works of Art is organised annually at the Centre of Art.