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Al-Ahram Weekly 10 - 16 June 1999 Issue No. 433 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 10 - 16 June 1999 Issue No. 433
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Books Living Travel Sports Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Solar dreams
By Rehab Saad and Nevine El-ArefNo sooner were details of a celebration marking the advent of the third millennium unveiled than voices of dissent were being raised. There were objections to the cost ($9.5 million), to the unjustifiably late start, to the choice of a foreign director and to the short notice given to travel agents to market the event.
The idea of staging the celebration at the foot of the Giza Pyramids is nothing new. Similarly, the choice of Jean-Michel Jarre, a renowned French composer, to organise the event, has been mentioned by Culture Minister Farouk Hosni on more than one occasion.
The details remained unknown, however, until they were disclosed at a joint news conference last week by Mustafa Nagui, head of the Opera House, and Jarre himself.
The concert, entitled Twelve Dreams of the Sun, will be divided into three parts and last for 12 hours, from sunset on 31 December until dawn on 1 January. At midnight, a nine-foot tall golden pyramidion, placed on top of Khufu's Great Pyramid, will be unveiled. A thousand singers, dancers and musicians will take part. And the event will be broadcast live worldwide by satellite television stations.
Noting that the millennium will be celebrated by many other countries, Zahi Hawwas, the antiquities director of the Giza Plateau, said: "Our celebration and our setting will be unique. We are the only country in the world that will be celebrating the sixth millennium of the building of the Pyramids, not only the third millennium."
But several leading intellectuals are angry because Hosni did not consult them in advance, and also because he did not choose an Egyptian director to stage the celebration.
"I head several cultural institutions, but was not informed of this event in advance," theatre director Saad Ardash told Al-Ahram Weekly. "I believe that when we have grandiose plans like this one, intellectuals and cultural institutions should be involved."
Ardash also objected to the choice of Jarre as director, arguing that "Egypt has many people gifted with creative abilities."
Ali Radwan, former dean of Cairo University's Faculty of Archaeology, also objected to Hosni's unilateral initiative. "Plans for the celebration should have been decided by a symposium of leading artists and intellectuals," he said. Pointing out that the cost, as announced by Hosni, will amount to $9.5 million, Radwan noted: "We are not a rich nation."
Tourism expert Maged Abaza commented: "I believe that a 12-hour concert will be humanly unbearable. It would have been better if we had several festivals at different sites, such as the Giza Pyramids, Abu Simbel and Karnak."
Abaza also pointed out that the celebration will coincide with the holy month of Ramadan. "We have to be careful," he cautioned.
For their part, travel agents and hoteliers complained that they were given little time to market the event abroad. Tour operators are frustrated because they will have little time to market the event, in the face of fierce international competition.
"For us, this celebration is a mirage," said Ezz El-Shabrawi, chairman of Egyptian-American Tours. "We travel agents know nothing about the details. We don't know what the setting will look like; we don't know whether the audience will sit or stand; and we don't know anything about the facilities that will be provided. No information is forthcoming from the Ministry of Culture."
El-Shabrawi also complained that it was too late now to market the event. "The advent of the third millennium has been known for years, so why the late start?" he demanded. El-Shabrawi added that private entrepreneurs would organise their own events, at the Karnak Temple in Luxor and the Philae Temple in Aswan. "We are marketing those events and I believe that we will be successful, because we have known about them for a long time. As for the official celebration, we are not going to sell illusions," he said.
Carmen Ramzi, regional public relations manager of the Hilton chain, said: "It is a big mistake that we became acquainted with the details so late. Most countries of the world began accepting bookings as early as last October, but we have not even started yet. I'm afraid that we will be getting the leftovers."
