Duke Mamdouh was given his title by the late King Hussein. With a passion for art, culture, and history, Mamdouh works ardently to preserve historical buildings and the beauty of the old city, to inspire many young talents, and to create harmony around him.
He resides in Jabal Al-Jofeh, one of Amman’s seven hills, overlooking the Roman Nympheum and the city center. His cultural residence there, a former post office, is now always open to visitors and also serves as a space for artists. He enjoys to recycling old trash and stone into unique pieces, or simply to make fun of famous commercial designers.
He owns various properties around the country that are also always at the disposal of whoever has an inspired idea about their use; when I was photographing him, this included a group of Thai women undertaking a meditation program in his home, “Um il Cundum”, or “mother of grain” in Aramaic, also the oldest house in Jordan. A dignified presence in its own right, it sits along the way to the airport, just after the new IKEA that stands in abrupt contrast with the duke’s adjoining fields of tasty turnips and other vegetables.
