Issue No. 595
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18 - 24 July 2002 Issue No. 595 People |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
Pack of cards
I can't wait, my dears, to tell you all about the glamorous evening hosted last week by the Akhbar Al-Youm press house on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first issue of its flagship Al-Akhbar newspaper.
The golden jubilee was held at the Cairo Opera House, and featured a glamorous concert by the inimitable Magda Al- Roumi. My dear friends Ibrahim Se'da, Akhbar Al-Youm's chairman of the board and the chief editor of the organisation's Saturday paper (also called Akhbar Al-Youm), and Galal Dweidar, editor-in-chief of Al-Akhbar, greeted the multitude of guests who had been invited to the grand occasion, including Prime Minister Atef Ebeid, and several other ministers, as well as a bevy of celebrities and prominent personalities, including Al-Ahram Weekly's very own editor-in- chief, Hosny Guindy and his charming wife Moushira Abdel-Malek.
I was especially impressed by the sublime elegance of Al-Roumi's performance. Dressed, as always, in a stylish but simple ensemble, her movements on stage reminiscent of the gentle fluttering of butterflies, her voice taking us all to a special place of wonderment and mirth, the "Princess of Arabic Song," as she is called, truly made the night complete.
On behalf of the entire Al-Ahram Weekly family, I would like to take this opportunity, my sweets, to congratulate Akhbar Al-Youm for its tremendous achievements over the past half century, and wish it decades more of popularity and success.
I was also thrilled, this week, to hear that the artistic director of the Cairo Opera House Dance Theatre, Walid Aouni, has received the French Ordre de Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, one of France's most prestigious honours. He was given the award by the French Ambassador in Egypt François Dopffer in the presence of a bevy of luminaries in the fields of art, culture and literature. The award, which is usually granted to unique cultural figures, went to Aouni for his entire oeuvre since 1980 and his accomplishments in Egypt as the founder of the Modern Dance Theatre and its annual international festival held at the opera house.
As we all know, ambassadors come and ambassadors go. Some of them, however, leave behind quite a social void when they depart. One such ambassador is Mohamed Serajul Islam, Bangladesh's man in Cairo who has just left town after four wonderful years. The great number of friends he made was reflected in the unending line of Egyptian friends, foreign ambassadors and diplomats who came to say good-bye, amongst whom was the Weekly's culture editor Mursi Saad El-Din. During Islam's term of office, he managed to successfully acquaint Egyptians with his country, which can uniquely claim to have had two women in a row as prime minister. Islam and his charming wife are heading home, from which they'll next go to Japan, where Islam will once again serve as Bangladesh's ambassador.
Amidst a gathering of holiday-makers escaping Cairo's hot summer to enjoy the fresh air of Alexandria's North Coast, a new Miss Egypt emerged: the gorgeous Horriya Farghali won the title, coming out ahead of Sarah Nash'at and Nour El-Semari. The judging committee for the competition was headed by playwright and Al-Ahram Hebdo Chief Editor Mohamed Salmawy, and included Lebanese actress Madeline Tabar, director Tareq El-Erian, and others. We wish the new Miss Egypt the best of luck as she heads out to compete in the country's name.
On the occasion of the golden jubilee of the 1952 July Revolution (celebrated, by the way, quite extensively on our pages in this issue), the General Organisation of Cultural Palaces (GOCP), headed by Anas El-Fiqi, has designed a cultural programme all about the revolution for children in order to enlighten the new generation about its achievements and repercussions. The programme includes screenings of documentary films about the revolution, which will be followed by discussions, patriotic songs performed by a children's choir, public forums featuring top officials, as well as two special workshops about artistic and literary works that revolve around themes relating to the earth-moving events of 1952.
I was delighted, my dears, to be present at the inauguration of the United Arab Emirates' media office here in Cairo, where I saw Minister of Information Safwat El-Sherif grant his counterpart from the UAE, Sheikh Abdallah Bin Zayid, the shield of the Egyptian Ministry of Information. Among the other senior officials and luminaries who attended the gathering -- which was held at Le Royal Meridien and featured the prominent Emirati singer Ahlam as well as Egyptian pop star Sherine Wagdi -- were Culture Minister Farouk Hosni, Health Minister Mohamed Awad Tageddin, Radio and Television Union Head Hassan Hamid and State Information Service (SIS) Director Nabil Osman.
It seems, my sweets, that Egypt is set to witness a revival of one of the grand old traditions of the glorious past. Cairo Opera House director Samir Farag is planning a series of free concerts in public gardens and parks, just the way we used to enjoy them back in the 1950s and 60s. Under the auspices of Culture Minister Farouk Hosni, and with the blessings of Cairo Governor Abdel-Rehim Shehata and Alexandria Governor Abdel-Salam El- Mahgoub, Nasr City's Al-Riyadi garden and Alexandria's Antoniades garden will be alive with classical, oriental, jazz, and international music on Thursday and Friday nights this summer. Amongst the performers: Al- Qahira troupe led by Esmat Abbas, Yehia Ghannam and his troupe, Oyoun for Arabic takht, the EgyptAir troupe and the Shooting Club Ensemble for Arabic Music. I certainly can't wait, my dears -- can you?
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