Al-Ahram Weekly | Culture

		27 June - 3 July 2002 Issue No. 592 Culture	Current issue Previous issue Site map
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Recommend this page

Kharrat resigns
NOVELIST Edwar El-Kharrat has resigned as coordinator of the Fiction Committee at the Supreme Council for Culture (SCC). According to the cultural weekly Akhbar Al- Adab conflicts had plagued the Committee, and came to a head over the recently held seminar on the works of young fiction writers. Others point to latent tensions between El-Kharrat and SCC Secretary-General Gaber Asfour.
It is expected that literary critic Ibrahim Fathi will take over the position during the coming months.

Back on stage
THE CAIRO Opera House is preparing for this year's production of Aida which will open on 10 October. The theatre at the Pyramids plateau, designed by Mohamed Haggag, is being enlarged to allow for five thousand viewers a night. State-of-the-art sound and lighting equipment is being leased from France, Italy and Holland especially for the event.

Noureddin appointed
ANAS EL-FIQI, director of the Cultural Palaces, has appointed artist Abdel-Rahman Noureddin as editor-in-chief of the children's magazine Qatr Al-Nada. The magazine will be relaunched as a weekly this summer.
Noureddin has worked extensively within children's literature, producing many covers and illustrations for children's books. He was also the first editor of the magazine when it appeared .

The king's clothes
THE NATIONAL Theatre's winter production King Lear has finally been re-dressed. The play is due to move to Gumhouriya Theatre during the summer season and the director has requested a two-week rehearsal period on the new stage as well as additional funds for summer publicity.
King Lear has been a relative hit so far, with box office sales often exceeding LE9,000 a night, a record at the National.

Saadani escapes
MEANWHILE, the National Theatre's upcoming summer production Tihhib Tishuf Ma'sah (Would You Like to See a Tragedy?) has lost its lead actor. Salah El-Saadani has reportedly declined the lead role since playwright Lenin El-Ramli refused to modify the script to allow it to be enlarged.

Bahaaeddin awards
THE FRIENDS of Ahmed Bahaaeddin Association has announced its fifth annual competition for the year 2002. Awards are given to books written in Arabic and directed at a general audience in a number of possible fields including science, arts, literary criticism, politics, culture and society. The competition requires that applicants have Arab nationality and be no older than 35 years. The work has to be new . Applicants are required to send a research plan in two pages, as well as a chapter or a section of the book of around 5,000 words. Each of the winners, chosen by a committee, receives a research grant of LE5,000. The complete works are handed in a year later and the winning book receives the Ahmed Bahaaeddin Annual Award of LE5,000 as well as help in finding a publisher.
Applications should be sent to The Friends of Ahmed Bahaaeddin Association, PO Box 186 Al-Dawawin, Cairo, no later than 5 October. Meanwhile, winners of the fourth annual competition were announced on Monday at a reception held at the Greater Cairo Library. Three research grants were awarded to Amal Oweida on Palestinian aspirations, Riham Gharib on a study of hospitals and Magdi Mohamed Abdel-Gawwad on Muslim minorities.

Film and revolution
THE ALEXANDRIA International Film Festival is scheduled to take place from 18 to 23 September under the title "The July Revolution: 50 Years of Cinema." Critic Rafiq El-Sabban has been chosen by the Society of Film Writers and Critics as this year's festival secretary-general. The international jury will also include actor Samir Sabri. Among the films participating in the official competition are the Greek production Alexandria (recently screened at the Cannes Film Festival), and the Egyptian film Ma'ali Al-Wazir (His Excellence the Minister), starring Ahmed Zaki, Lebleba and directed by Samir Seif.
In line with the festival's overall theme it will honour several figures associated with the revolution.

Promoting crafts
THE PLASTIC Arts Sector is building ten workshops opposite the Ceramics Centre in Fustat. The workshops are meant to house traditional arts and crafts on the verge of extinction, including khayamiyya (tent making), engraving on copper, mother of pearl inlay, blown glass and traditional costumes.

No desire
PRODUCER Ahmed El-Subki has refused to allow his latest production Al-Raghba (Desire), starring Nadia El-Gindi, to participate in the upcoming Arab Film Festival held by the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris starting 29 June. Rumours have it that personal grudges between the producer and the leading actress are the reason behind this decision, prompting fierce complaints by El- Gindi in the press as well as concern that producers can abuse their rights and keep films out of international festivals. El-Subki, however, has told reporters that he refused to send the film because it was not going to be in the official competition, which includes four other Egyptian films.
By Amina Elbendary

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