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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 January 2000 Issue No. 465 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 January 2000 Issue No. 465
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Pack of Cards
By Madame Sosostris
* Superstar Adel Imam has just become goodwill ambassador for the Middle East and North Africa of the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNWRA). I myself, dears, could not have come up with a better choice in a million years and I am wondering why it took them so long to think of appointing our über-comedian.
The press conference during which the announcement was made was held in the Salah Al-Din Ballroom at the Cairo Sheraton hotel. Among those who attended were Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni, Gamal Mubarak, board member of the ECES (Egyptian Centre for Economic Studies), actors Ahmed Zaki, Raghda, Youssef Shabaan, Laila Oloui, Ragaa El-Geddawi and scores of others. All were beaming: it seems that Adel is doing a good job of spreading good will already, and he has not even started work!
Assistant High Commissioner Soren Peterson gave the opening speech, describing our dear Adel as an actor who displays great humour and sensitivity while portraying the daily lives of ordinary heroes. He is also endowed with strong humanitarian convictions, which play an essential role in conveying the message of the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR), he added.
Adel, not one to take his new post lightly, announced that he would soon be undertaking a number of fund-raising trips. He will also make sure that the problems of displaced persons are duly highlighted in his future films. Just for starters, he has already planned visits to Yemen, Bosnia and Chechnya. We at the Weekly wish our very favourite actor the greatest success on his noble mission.
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Adel Imam with Osama El-Baz, Abdel-Qader Hatem, Gamal Mubarak and Soren Peterson; with Farouk Hosni and Samir Sabri
* I have always known that it would happen, and that one day my total ignorence of things technological would be exposed. There I was, talked into attending one of those hi-tech affairs that scare me out of my little mind; in this case, my undoing came about with the exhibition by Venezuelan artist Mar’a Obdulia López-Henr’quez. Appropriately entitled "Motivación", it was held at the Spanish Cultural Centre and organised with the cooperation of the Embassy of Mexico. For those of you who have not been yet (the exhibition lasts until 31 January), and for the layperson like yours truly, López-Henr’quez seems to have created clever works of art on the computer screen. "The method I use," she explains kindly, "is called ink-jet on canvas. This applied technology allows me to obtain an infinite number of shades within the chromatic scale, using sharp lines and dominating colours, such as yellow, grey, blue, black and white, reflecting the outcome of a variety of cultural experiences which is considered the symbolism the audience feels." Well, she studied painting and sculpture at Rome's Academy of Fine Arts, so she should know.
The experts were whispering admiringly that López-Henr’quez has broken the traditional technical boundaries in order to express her individuality and love of innovation. I am sure I did not really understand what they meant, and made a hasty exit just in case someone expected me to comment, but I thought I'd tell you anyway. Perhaps you are less-technologically challenged and get their drift.
* My dear friend Maged Farag can be quite annoying sometimes, but since we at the Weekly like him so much, we try to be diplomatic about his little idiosycrasies and avoid dwelling too much on his delusions of grandeur, although we do notice, of course, that humility is not one of his cardinal virtues. You will remember that a couple of years ago, Maged tried to pass himself off both as Khedive Ismail and as Time Magazine's Man of the Year; this was followed by a period during which he believed that he had temporarily returned as a reincarnation of King Farouk (the young and dapper version, of course). Now, on the dawn of the new millennium, he is simply the Sphinx, no less. Our dear friend seems to suffer from these attacks at the beginning of each year, and I would not be a bit surprised if 2001 did not witness Maged Farag sporting the Mona Lisa's enigmatic smile beneath his mustache.
* By the end of this eventful week, I was quite exhausted, as you may well imagine, and gratefully accepted our talented photographer Mohamed Wassim's offer to help him take pictures of birds. "We will do it together," he told me encouragingly, as I pointed out that my snapshots were usually so out of focus that I sometimes missed the subject all together. I need not have feared: I was entrusted with throwing bread to the ducks while Wassim took the magnificent pictures. Well, wasn't he surprised when a splendid white swan sailed majestically toward me and opened his beak wide, demanding his treat? I could not resist the pleading beady eyes and rewarded the beautiful bird with the double tuna sandwich Wassim had just ordered for his own lunch.
Magda Mehanna and Hala El-Sayed
* The resident representative of the United Nations, Edmond Keen, who has been following the careers of our most brilliant journalists, has singled out Magda Mehanna, head of the women's section and assistant editor-in-chief at Al-Ahram, as well as her colleague, reporter Hala El-Sayed, for special recognition, awarding them a badge of merit to honour their reporting on the activities of the United Nations and its various agencies in Egypt. Neither Magda nor Hala were prepared to boast about this award, but Magda Khorshid, director of the UN Press Office, was prompt to bring the event to our attention.
