22 - 28 March 2001
Issue No.526
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 22 - 28 March 2001 Issue No.526 |
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Pack of Cards
This young man, who is not yet 16, joined the Talent Development Centre at the Cairo Opera House in 1992 to study piano with Marcele Matta. In 1996, he joined the Suzuki class, directed by Osman El-Mahdi, to study violin. From then on his life has been a series of concerts, lessons, competitions and music camps, crowned by an impressive number of awards. Last Friday, Mohamed Aly performed as first violin with the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, directed by Ivan Filev in Vivaldi's Concerto in B minor for four violins and orchestra. Needless to say, there was at least one very proud father in the audience that night. |
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Mourning a very dear friend, artist George Bahgory shared some of his reminiscences with me, and I thought that they might strike a nostalgic cord in all of you who knew him well. "In Paris," George told me, "Ali El-Shoubashy's home was ours. He collected artists, writers and intellectuals; all of those living in exile would rest by his side, as would those who were passing through Europe. It was perfectly normal for an Egyptian artist to arrive directly from the airport, knock on the door and be admitted: no arrangements were necessary. We would sit next to the window watching the moon. I might phone and say: 'My neighbour George Moustaki wants to see you tonight.' Shoubashy would come over, and we would make ourselves comfortable. As the moon appeared, Shoubashy would point to it and Moustaki would suddenly break into song. Whenever the moon is present, especially the Paris moon, I think of Ali El-Shoubashy. I think of him."
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The 13 portraits revolves around Francis's favourite themes: women, men and nature. At the corner of one of his big portraits, Gandhi features clearly. Leading comedian Adel Imam, renowned actress Laila Fawzi and actor Hisham Abdel-Hamid made sure to attend. The exhibtion will run daily till 3 April. | |||
Of course, darlings, you realise that art, no matter how satisfying to the soul, does not feed a hungry stomach, and this is why I was so pleased with the idea that tonight I will be attending an event at the Nile Hilton hotel that is both cultural and culinary. According to my dear friend Farida Mansour, chefs from the Hanoi Opera Hilton have been specially flown in by Malaysia Airlines to present the refined delicacies of Vietnamese cuisine at the Ibis Café, the Food Court and Abu Aly. Accompanying the chefs is a group of Vietnamese dancers who will be performing daily until 30 March at the Food Court and Abu Aly.
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If you ever have any questions about the River Nile, all you have to do is ask Professor Rushdi Said. He is the ultimate authority on the topic. And darlings, on 25 March, if you happen to be vacationing in Aswan, you can verify this information by attending his lecture at the Nubian Museum entitled "The Life of the Nile in Aswan."
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| The great event that we have been expecting is almost upon us: the Bibliotheca Alexandrina will be opening very soon. In anticipation of this momentous event, Ismail Serageldin, vice-president of the World Bank, has been invited by Ambassador Hassan Kamel, president of the Graeco-Egyptian Friendship Association, to deliver a lecture today on the international dimension of the Bibliotheca at the Garden City Greek Club. | 
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At the monthly dinner of the Lionesses' Club Al-Salam, held at Le Méridien Heliopolis under the auspices of Princess Wansa Al-Amawy, president of the club, the topic of discussion was the TV serial Awan Al-Ward, aired during the month of Ramadan and starring Yousra and Hisham Abdel-Hamid, who were the guests of honour. My dear friend Nihal Zamzam, marketing communications manager, was as active as ever, watching over every detail of the event.
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The AUC International Student Leadership conference (ISCL 2001) is, as you may have guessed, about learning how to be a leader, definitely an essential quality in this day and age when the great and powerful seem to be falling over each other in their haste to lead our world to its rapid and untimely destruction. Seriously, dears, I shouldn't be knocking it since I myself possess an abundance of leadership qualities, even if they often pass unnoticed. Anyway, this year's theme (one that I particularly cherish, since it has been recognised world-wide as endangered and well on its way to become extinct) is "maintaining human integrity in an evolving world" and renowned businessman Naguib Sawiris, chairman of Orascom Telecom, has been invited to give the keynote address. The ISCL 2001 conference will be held by AUC students in Ewart Hall on 27 March. Also speaking at the opening will be John Gerhart, president of the American University in Cairo, Girgis Abdel-Shahid, ISLC 2001 president, Yousra Abul-Naga, ISLC 2001 vice-president, Ahmed Negm, Student Union president, and Mohamed Naguib Abu Zeid, faculty adviser to the conference. Invited to attend are students from Cairo University, Ain Shams University, Misr International University, Jordan University for Science & Technology, the Faculty of Medicine of Jordan and the Jordanian Faculty of Arts & Sciences.
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My good friend Maged Farag, as you may know, spends much of his time poring over history books when he is not presiding over his club. Meanwhile, his son Mohamed Alys has been making his mark in a totally different domain.
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