Building his own world out of cards

When he was 4 years old, Ahmed Refaay never knew that the structures he was building with playing cards were about a special type of art called playing card stacking.

Refaay, a mass communication student, has become one of few people in Egypt who master this art.

“I used to play with cards with my cousins when I was young,” Refaay, 24, told Egyptian Mail. “We built pyramids and many other things with the playing cards.”

Only at the age of ten, Refaay started to understand more about the art he was making. This was when he started to take it seriously, viewing it as it is: an independent art.

Refaay’s choice of structures to build with the cards depends on the message he wants to deliver. Sometimes he builds things he dreamed of constructing as a child. Other times, he makes models that people ask him to make.

One of the models he created with the playing cards mimicked the 57357 Cancer Hospital in southern Cairo. Other models simulated – among others – a Ferrari car, a mosque, and a church.

“I never use any adhesive materials to hold my cards together,” Refaay said.

The types and the numbers of playing cards Refaay uses depends on the size of the things he wants to build. Sometimes he has to use as little as ten packs of playing cards. Other times, he has to use a whopping 3,000 packs.

Some of the structures take Refaay half an hour to build, others a month, depending on their degree of sophistication.

Refaay loves what he does. This is why he builds structures with the playing cards every day, all at home.

Refaay’s home is also where he has memories of his childhood. This was a time when he created his own imaginary world, using the playing cards. He built castles, cars, ships and all types of things with the cards.

Stacking playing cards has already become Refaay’s career and way of earning a living. The same art is now being used in major events, the media, and the advertising industry.

Refaay participated with playing card structures in a large number of fairs and events.

“Stacking playing cards is a bit new to our region,” Refaay said.

Nonetheless, Refaay and like-minded artists are trying to spread this type of art and get it out of the ambiguity that shrouds it at present.

This ambiguity was why Refaay did not receive enough support at the beginning of his career.

As time went by, however, people started understanding that playing card stacking is an art and an admirable one at that.

Social media is also proving instrumental in Refaay’s drive to promote this art.

Now, Refaay dreams of breaking a Guinness World Record in playing card stacking.

He hopes to be as famous as Mo Salah, Egypt’s national football team forward who plays for Premier League club Liverpool.

“I hope to be a role model for other people,” Refaay said. “I hope one day people will take motivation from my successes and fulfill their own dreams.”