Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 23 - 29 November 2000 Issue No.509
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875

Pack of Cards By Madame Sosostris * Time flies, dearies, that's all I have to say, but while the days rush quickly by, I must tell you that I hardly feel a minute older. That's why you'll always find me at the hippest parties in town. That's right, last Thursday night yours truly was boogying down at the Cairo Capital Club with those maniacs from MTV. My two favourite presenters (or v-jays, as I hear they're called), Lara Tanahi and Dina Ezzat, were the hosts of the party, as they are on the Showtime network's Arabic music show Mashaweer. To top it all off, the show's London-based producer, Tom Jackson, was there as well. The bash was being held by ABC beverages, and I had a great time imbibing their drinks and dancing the night away. Tom, Lara and Dina partying at the Capital Club photo: Tarek Atia

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Smiling faces photos: Mustafa El-Senousi * Speaking of cross-cultural encounters, my sweets, last week I was at the American University in Cairo's Ewart Gallery to help inaugurate a photography exhibition titled "Smiles From Egypt -- May I Take a Picture?" by German photographer Matthias Megyeri. Held by AUC's Student Cultural Activities Unit in cooperation with the Ministry of Youth and the International Education Information Exchange, the exhibition, lasting till 25 November, is devoted to bridging cultural gaps, and features shots of Egyptians of all ages mugging for the camera. Megyeri, an experienced poster designer and graphic artist, says he wants his work to help everyone understand just how valuable Egyptian smiles are.

* This year's European Bazaar at the Hilton Hotel promises to be one of the best ever. Held to raise money for Egyptian charities, 24 embassies and foreign delegations will be participating. The goal is to raise a large sum of money to go towards the building of a mother-and-child day clinic in Assiut. "Last year's bazaar was a great success," Mary Gunning, the Irish ambassador's wife, told me, adding that the event has become an opportunity for the foreign missions and diplomats' wives to work together to make a difference." I know I'll see all of you there come 25 November.

* In his continuing attempts to help Egypt be "at peace with itself, with the outside world, integrated into the mainstream of science, innovation, humanity and the civilising process," author and petroleum expert Tarek Heggy has just published a book of Egyptian Political Essays, which are actually selections from his 11 previous books, translated into English by Heggy himself. The above quote is from Heggy's introduction to this handsome volume, which should make good reading for all of those who, like Heggy, feel an "imperative need for a complete overhaul of Egypt's educational and cultural systems as a prerequisite for the country's link-up with the modern age." Heggy's new book

Children without borders at the Opera House photo: El-Sayed Abdel-Qadir * It's likely, dearies, that we'll be well on the way to achieving that goal, as long as events like the one my dear colleague Mahmoud Bakr took me to last week, continue to be held on a regular basis. Organised by the General Organisation for Cultural Palaces, as part of their "Children without borders" programme, this three-day celebration called "Jerusalem in the eyes" is taking place at the Cairo Opera House. Yesterday we toured an exhibition of children's drawings, and listened to poetry readings and a children's chorale. The young folks' "artistic Intifada" will be continuing through Friday, with several schools from around the country participating in the event. Ali Abu Shadi, who heads the cultural palaces organisation, told us that the festival's main intention is to show that the children of Egypt strongly support the children of Palestine during these tough times.

Ludvic Saleh's familiar faces, transformed * I recently had the opportunity to sample the artistic delights of an Egyptian by the name of Ludvic Saleh, who happens to live in New Jersey, USA. Saleh's art can only be called modern, for it embodies the very principles of modernity: computer circuitry and the microchip, as it redefines images that we're all familiar with. Saleh's work is currently being exhibited at the offices of Dow Jones and Company, in South Brunswick, New Jersey, amidst much local and international fanfare. I remember, my dears, when my colleague Nagui Kamel, one of Al-Ahram's veteran cartoonists, encouraged Saleh to forget about becoming a doctor and nurture his artistic talents instead. "There could be 1000 doctors," Nagui told Ludvic, "but only one artist." Ludvic ended up taking his advice, and very soon afterwards the late, great Ihsan Abdel-Quddous chose one of his works to grace the cover of Sabah Al-Kheir magazine.

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