Pack of Cards

It would appear that art has been booming in the governorates. Upon inquiring, I found out that the Ministry of Culture and other disseminators of refined entertainment had recently established a new strategy allowing the inhabitants of the more remote parts of Egypt to share in our cultural activities. Consequently, the Cairo Opera House organised a series of events performed by its troupes at Assiut University, where two days of festivities began at Al-Nil hall with a discussion featuring former Egyptian Ambassador to the United States Abdel-Raouf El- Reedi, and Hala Mustafa, editor-in- chief of Democracy magazine, published by Al-Ahram. The discussion revolved around several political topics including Egypt's foreign policy, its stand on combating terrorism and its role in the Arab- Israeli conflict.

Also discussed were the new forms of terrorism threatening the world in the wake of 11 September and the debate over the clash of civilisations. Assiut Governor Ahmed Talaat Hamam, the university's president, Mohamed Rafaat Mahmoud, and the Opera House director, Samir Farag, inaugurated an exhibition of 65 paintings and sculptures by 12 of Egypt's prominent artists. At Assiut University's open-air theatre, 7,000 students danced to music by singer Khaled Shams and his troupe, which performed songs by the late singer and composer Sayed Darwish. A galaxy of Cairo Opera Company vocalists, including tenors Hassan Kami and Hosam Mustafa and sopranos Hala El-Shabouri and Tahiya Shamseddin, performed international operatic selections in Arabic. Percussionist Nesma Abdel-Aziz also mesmerised the audience with her skill on the marimba, which I am told resembles a xylophone. The first day ended with a performance of songs performed by members of the National Arabic Music Ensemble, and conducted by maestro Selim Sahab. On the second day, the opera hosted veteran actor and director Nour El-Sherif, who reviewed his filmography and stressed the role played by schools and universities in discovering budding artists. El-Sherif also promised to stage his recent work Lan Tasqut Al-Qods (Jerusalem Will Not Fall) written by my dear friend Cherif El-Choubachi at Assiut University. As you can see, an enlightening time was had by all.

"We are proud to have six of the great architectural firms of the world involved in this important project," said John Gerhart, president of AUC. The design team will undertake its work on the basis of a master plan already developed by Boston Design Collaborative International (BDC) in partnership with Carol R Johnson Associates. AUC's vice president for new campus development, Hussein El-Sharqawi, took the opportunity to praise the groundwork done by the master plan team. He said that the ideas developed by the BDC and Carol R Johnson Associates reflect a profound understanding of the historical, cultural and social context of AUC, the nature of the site and the university's aspirations as a liberal arts institution.

Maestro Sherif Mohieddin, head of the department, said that a hall will be built on the theme "the world of Shadi Abdel- Salam," featuring all the late director's movies. He added that a series of exhibitions will be held, the most remarkable being currently on show until 30 March. It includes a set of holy books and 53 ancient and Islamic manuscripts from Cataluna. Another exhibition on the history of Egyptian theatre is to open on 7 March.

Mohieddin also pointed out that the department will attempt to discover new talents in all fields of art through the "Festival of Talents, Ages Six to 26." I wonder if my invitation was lost in the mail.

In an attempt to raise the public's musical awareness, a group of lectures were delivered by soprano Neveen Allouba titled "For the Love and Knowledge of Opera" and oud master Nassir Shamma gave a lecture on musical instruments. On 29 March, an encounter between Egyptian composers and the international composer Halim El-Dab'a, 81, who resides in the United States, will be organised. For the first time in Egypt, three concerts will be given featuring a group of his compositions.

Furthermore, on the occasion of International Women's Day, from 8 to 10 March the library will be showing the works of women film pioneers. It will be accompanied by an exhibition and a publication of a book compiled by Magdi Abdel-Rahman on the same topic.

The Marco Polo will be organising a spectacular Black and White evening every last Thursday of the month, with special decorations and an exotic menu marking the event.

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