"A place can tell its own story without needing someone to speak of it," is clearly appreciated within the Readers Corner library in the heart of downtown Cairo. Many details from the past still remain as they were from the nineteen-forties: the antique desk and chairs, photographs that evoke the early years of the place, along with pieces and objects that the family has preserved for decades. While books gradually disappeared and paintings took their place, the space has maintained its spirit and memory.
Chris Mikayilian, owner of Readers Corner, is found in the place to which he has been linked his entire life. Mikayilian was born in Egypt, lived in downtown Cairo, and has Armenian roots. He told Masry Al-Youm: "I lived here my entire life in Egypt." From the bookshop, he recalls the history that his father began in the late nineteen-forties and early nineteen-fifties, when Readers Corner was a bookshop specialising in English-language books, newspapers and foreign magazines.
"My father started the bookshop in the late nineteen-forties and early nineteen-fifties, and it specialised in English-language books: stories, technical books and children's books. It was a destination for those seeking foreign newspapers and magazines," Mikayilian explained. He added that the bookshop had "imported newspapers and magazines," among them Herald Tribune, Times, Guardian and Newsweek, as well as French magazines such as Paris Match. "Some customers subscribed to the magazines and came weekly to pick up their copies," he noted.
Mikayilian recalls downtown Cairo in that era as a distinct area in the nature of its inhabitants and its activity. He pointed out that the area had several bookshops specialising in different languages, while Readers Corner was known for its speciality in English-language books. The bookshop's activities were not limited to books; greetings cards were part of its business, especially during holiday seasons. Readers Corner's relationship with art began with Mikayilian's father, who was an art lover. Artists visited the bookshop to buy books specialising in art.
In the nineteen-seventies, the bookshop began combining the sale of books with paintings, before gradually transforming its activities after 2000 towards paintings. He explained that the decline in demand for books led them to focus on artistic activity, especially after people began to know the place for its paintings and frames. "They understood that we do framing and that we have paintings, so we specialised in that."
Parallel to Readers Corner's transformation, downtown Cairo was experiencing significant changes. Mikayilian pointed out that "taste changed during a certain period, before the scene began to improve with the restoration of buildings and the return of young people to the area." He added that "a new generation began to discover downtown again, after not knowing what downtown was." Despite the major transformation from books to paintings, Mikayilian stressed that changing the appearance of the place was not difficult, but he prefers to maintain its old spirit.
