30 August - 5 September 2001
Issue No.549
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 30 August - 5 September 2001 Issue No.549 |
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Pack of Cards* Seeing your best friend land the job you coveted, or some fool making a fortune on the stock exchange, you may feel envious, and quite justifiably so:
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* Darlings, nothing like some folklore singing and dancing to refresh the mind and get your little feet tapping, I always say. Sometimes, though, folklore addresses more serious issues than just the quaint manners and customs of a certain area. That was the case this week in Ismailia. Among 32 countries represented by 40 troupes taking part in the 12th Ismailia Folklore Festival, about to be concluded this week, Palestine's folklore troupe was highly appreciated by the people of Ismailia and neighbouring governorates participating in the festival. The troupe performed shows inspire by the Palestinian Intifada amid cheers from the Egyptian spectators. "Palestinian art can be turned into a weapon to be used in the Palestinian resistance that has spread across the occupied territories," said Mohamed Abu Youssef, head of the Palestinian delegation. The festival inauguration was attended by Governor of Ismailia Fouad Saadeddin, Minister of Local Development Mustafa Abdel-Qader and first under-secretary at the Ministry of Culture for foreign relations, Mohamed Ghoneim
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* Talk about globalisation! Music lovers will be delighted, I'm positive, to learn of the breaking news from Sony Music Entertainment and Epic Records. Hold on to your seats, please. World- famous pop singer Michael Jackson is releasing his first studio album in six years. The more exciting part of the news, however, is that the album will be released in Cairo on 29 October -- the same day it will be released in music stores internationally. Titled "Invincible," the album is reported to contain some of Jackson's finest work to date. According to Sony Music Entertainment's CEO Thomas D Mottola, "music lovers around the world will be surprised and delighted by the power, depth and range of 'Invincible'." It includes singles such as "Speechless," and "You Rock My World," which was produced and written by Jackson himself along with Rodney Jerkins. The short film of that single is directed by Paul Hunter. Ahmed Marei, managing director for Sony Music Egypt, adds that the company is "delighted to be able to offer Michael's new album to his fans in Egypt at the same time as the rest of the world for the first time." I for one can hardly wait for the end of October.
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* The General Organisation of Cultural Palaces (GOCP) commemorated the anniversary of the birth of singer and composer Mohamed Fawzi in Tanta, his place of birth, last Tuesday. The celebration was attended by his sister Hoda Sultan, who is also a gifted singer and actress. I personally enjoy these commemorations very much and always make it a point to buy any tape or CD released on the occasion. As you may have guessed, I am rather partial to the old-time singers, who did not need hi-tech equipment to make their voices heard.
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* Indians in Egypt celebrated India Independence Day. India's charming new ambassador to Egypt HE Satnam Jit Singh officiated over the celebrations. A career diplomat, Ambassador Singh is well versed in Arab affairs, he was until recently India's ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman. His beautiful wife Rinku, a Nepalese national and an accomplished painter, keen golfer and bridge player, charmed her guests. A plethora of members of the Indian community attended, including the large diplomatic corps and business community, as well as Indian students enrolled at Al-Azhar, the world's first Islamic university.
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but if you are a real believer, you will wish him or her well and simply sigh arzaq... Arzaq means livelihoods, subsistence, daily bread -- the way the economic cookie crumbles. In day-to-day conversations among the poor majority, the word is employed in a resigned tone as a reaction to news of sudden fame or fortune. Everything, it is believed, is divided according to a plan that defies human logic; to question the plan would be sacrilege. In Gamil Shafik's drawing, this mechanism is shown as analogous to the process whereby small fish are eaten by big fish; an ancient Christian symbol emerges as a comment on the perennial theme of socio-economic inequality, and yet Shafik's lines have about them the same spirit of acceptance that informs the conversations of the poor. What's happening in the world today is -- well, a matter of arzaq, the artist seems to shrug. Well, however sacrilegious questioning it might be, we can at least point it out.
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