The kitchen space is considered the woman's realm, more so in "Eastern" societies than in the "West" where gender boundaries are more fluid. An Egyptian woman generally exercises full control over this territory, where she spends hours each day cleaning and cooking for her family, listening to the radio or the TV blaring in the living room. For many, the kitchen conjures images of warmth and homeliness. In Kitchen Project 1 the kitchen is stripped of its association with the "matriarch", provider of comfort, security and love. All signs of utility are removed from the room, leaving it bare as a pure structural form deprived of function. Rifky's kitchen is clinical, spotless and brightly lit. There are no smells, no utensils, no food leftovers, no signs of human presence. The sterility of the space as Rifky presents it stands in contrast with the idea of "woman" and the gutted kitchen - with its clear rejection of its function - is pitted against the normality of the rest of the household. Sarah Rifky (1981) lives and works in Cairo. She graduated with a BA in Studio Art and Journalism and Mass Communication in 2003 and works as a design intern with American University in Cairo Press as well as doing freelance design work. She has participated in student shows at AUC and the 2nd Al Nitaq Festival of Arts, Cairo (2001).