After nearly two decades, Egypt has finally completed its national vision to reclaim narrative control over its iconic history. Cairo’s Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) has been one of the most highly anticipated museum openings in the art world, first proposed in 1992 and costing the nation a billion dollars. Now, the GEM is the world’s largest museum dedicated to a single civilization, housing over 100,000 artifacts — notably the Tutankhamun tomb — across 12 galleries, all available for public view.

A missing ear, haunting portraits, swirling skies; the tragic “tortured genius” is how the public typically perceives Vincent Van Gogh. But perhaps, history should remember Van Gogh less as a legend, but as a profoundly human figure seeking his place in a community.