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Left: Walid Yassin of the Yassin Brothers at the Townhouse Gallery in 2011, preparing for an exhibition opening. His brothers Khaled and Mohamed threw knives at the curators. Walid had missed a year of trick cycling due to a knee injury. “Anyone can be a clown, but not like someone who loves it,” says Walid.

Right: Mohamed Ali al-Helo, Hamada Kouta's grandfather, who had a private circus in Alexandria before the time of Gamal Abdel Nasser and the national circus. This poster was in Hamada's dressing room in Cairo.