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Al-Ahram Weekly 28 Oct. - 3 Nov. 1999 Issue No. 453 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 28 Oct. - 3 Nov. 1999 Issue No. 453
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Profile Study Special Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Pointed criticism
By Nadia Abou El-MagdTwo weeks ago, Al-Ahram columnist Salah Montasser pleaded to Atef Ebeid, the new prime minister, to form a "national committee for taste."
The request was provoked by an obelisk, erected in Al-Galaa Square by the Giza governorate on the occasion of the presidential referendum. It was a thoroughly modern obelisk, and carried a portrait of President Hosni Mubarak.
In October, the Governor of Giza Maher El-Guindy, had celebrated the erecting of "the first obelisk to tell the achievements of contemporary Egypt" with considerable fanfare. The five metre high structure was his brain child. Weighing 1.5 tons, and commissioned from artist Tarek Alqoumy as part of the campaign to beautify Giza, it cost a reputed LE500,000.
"The difference between the Giza governorate obelisk and any old Pharaonic obelisk is like the difference between a donkey cart and a Rolls Royce," Montasser wrote in his column. "A Pharaonic obelisk, despite the passing of thousands of years, still speaks of strength and pride. But whoever looks at the Galaa Square obelisk can see nothing but impoverishment. It is a ghost of an obelisk, without life, spirit or art."
Montasser was joined by Al-Akhbar columnist Said Sonbol and other writers in his campaign.
"The regime requires no sycophancy and officials do not need someone to record their achievements in such a vulgar way," Sonbol wrote. "What would we tell tourists if they ask who is the Pharaoh who built this obelisk? Shall we tell them: The Pharaoh... is Maher El-Guindy."
It is a campaign that has had results. For without warning, without, apparently, even telling the Giza governorate, the offending structure was removed in less than 15 minutes.
The following day, newspapers carried pictures of the obelisk, unceremoniously dumped among heaps of sand and rocks under 15 May Bridge.
"The symbol that the Giza governorate chose to decorate the square and the entrance of the governorate that has the greatest and the most famous monuments in the world was a toy made of plaster that was removed in 15 minutes," Montasser crowed.
It was "a symbol of the deterioration of public taste, of hypocrisy and of the dictatorship of some officials who insist they understand engineering, urban planning and aesthetics," Montasser continued.
Rose El-Youssef, the weekly magazine, joined in the general congratulations, though it regretted the "losses of time, money and effort" the structure's building and removal had occasioned.
"Who will pay for this absurdity which should never have been erected in the first place? Is it okay for any official to issue whatever wrong decisions and go without punishment?" Montasser wondered in his most recent article on the subject.
Culture Minister Farouk Hosni, it has been reported, ordered the removal of the obelisk without referring to the governorate.
Gamal Abdel-Gelil, head of Giza's press and media department, had little to say on the matter. When contacted by Al-Ahram Weekly, he insisted the governor was unavailable for comment on the now toppled obelisk.
