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Al-Ahram Weekly 10 - 16 August 2000 Issue No. 494 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 10 - 16 August 2000 Issue No. 494
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Books Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons On screen
The Patriot
In this cliché Hollywood take on the American Revolutionary War, Mel Gibson plays Benjamin "the Ghost" Martin, a retired British soldier who joins the American cause, due to the revolutionary enthusiasm of his son. Critics have argued that the film, which is loosely based on the life of Francis "Swamp Fox" Marion, is a distortion of history. It demonises the British Army as a Nazi-like occupier while understating the atrocities of institutional slavery and the extermination of Native Americans. However, regardless of its moral hypocrisy, it has become a world-wide hit.
See Film Index in Listings for venues
On stage
The Citadel Music Festival is one of the highlights of late-summer Cairo. This annual open-air event will run from 10-20 August. With the stunning Citadel as a backdrop, four different stages will host a series of 55 concerts. Audiences will be treated to a veritable feast of dance and music inspired by both the modern and traditional -- the Orient and Occident. Large crowds tend to flock to the big names, like Yehia Khalil, Fathi Salama and Yehia Ghannam, so go early and laze away the evening. Tonight, the opening ceremony will honour six operatic luminaries. The festival will recognise the achievements of Hassan Kami, Nabila Erian, Abdu Dagher and extend posthumous honours to Sayed Awad, Ahmed El-Masri and Jailan Rathle. Rathle taught several generations of opera greats and tutored cinematic stars in the art of elocution.
Jailan Rathle
See Music and Dance in Listings for complete programme
Around the galleries
Veteran artist Mohsen Sha'lan's 11th exhibition (at the Centre Of Arts, Akhenaten Halls) included a total of 40 works (15 ink drawings and 35 oil paintings) -- all of which were recently acquired, among other contemporary artists' works, by the Museum of Modern Egyptian Art on the Opera House grounds. Sha'lan's carefully executed works reflect a deeply-rooted interest in reality -- the reality of the outside world and its depiction in art, the reality of age-old Egyptian traditions, and the reality of modern paintings. The now permanent availability of his work is something art lovers should be grateful for.
Mohsen Sha'lan
Reviewed by Nagwa El-Ashri
