Al-Ahram Weekly | Culture |

		29 August - 4 Sept. 2002 Issue No. 601 Culture	Current issue Previous issue Site map
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Recommend this page

Physics books
ON SUNDAY Fathi Saad, the governor of Gharbiya and Anas El-Fiqi, chairman of the General Organisation for Cultural Palaces, opened a new library in the village of Greater Simbo, Zifta, the birthplace of the late physicist Samira Moussa. The purpose of the project, the governor announced, is both to honour Moussa's name and provide the villagers with a much needed cultural service.
The Samira Moussa Library, funded by the Cultural Development Fund, is well- stocked and provides the public with access to computers and the Internet as well as seminars and competitions. The inaugural ceremony included a homegrown theatrical production and exhibitions of children's paintings and local artists' work.
Haqqi unearthed
YEHYA Haqqi (1905-1992) continues to surprise readers of his "complete works", with more and more of his reportedly small corpus discovered as the years go by. Much of the writer's work remained unpublished during his lifetime, rendering the epithet muqill (unprolific) -- for many years attached to Haqqi's name -- redundant.
The most recent discovery is a collection of short stories unearthed by Haqqi's daughter, Noha, the general director of cultural programmes at Channel Two, who published the manuscript at her own expense under the title Thamarat Hubbin Kha'ib (Fruit of a Failed Love).
The book, which appeared last week, incorporates two additional documents: the address Haqqi gave on receiving the King Faisal Award and the speech he composed on being appointed head of the Conference of Local Authors, delivered by his friend, the German literature professor Mustafa Maher. Writer Salah Maati penned an introduction for the volume.

Regal guest
AUTHOR Fawaghi Al-Qasimi, wife of the crown prince of Ra's Al-Khaima, Emirates, is to arrive in Cairo next week to attend a performance of Ain Al-Yaqin (Eye of Truth), a musical drama she wrote that will be staged at the Opera House Main Hall on 8 and 9 September. The performance, described as "an expansive epic", is directed by the Emirates-based Egyptian Magdi Kamel.
Ain Al-Yaqin was performed in Ra's Al- Khaima last April.

Video assessment
THE INTERNATIONAL committee of theatre figures drawn up by Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni has commenced viewing video recordings of performances for the official competition of the 14th round of the Cairo Experimental Theatre Festival (1-11 September). The committee's role will end once the official competition candidates have been determined, after which the festival's international jury will begin judging.

Iraq in Syria
STARTING on Saturday, the Iraqi Ministry of Culture is organising a cultural week in Damascus. The ministry's PR official Abdel-Meguid Kamel announced that the week is to be held in the context of "Iraq's cultural cooperation programme with Syria" and will involve a national fashion show, a performance by the Nadhim Al-Ghazali Band for Iraqi Maqamat, an exhibition of contemporary art and a book fair.
Iraqi-Syrian relations were resumed in 1997, and the two countries signed an agreement to exchange handicrafts in January last year.

Goha in Haram
DIRECTOR Magdi Abu Emeira has begun rehearsing the televised serial comedy, Goha Al-Masri (The Egyptian Goha) at the Nahhas Studio, Media Production City, off Al-Haram Road. The latest take on the quasi-historical figure of Goha, subject of countless books, films and performances, is written by Yusri El-Guindi and stars Yehia El-Fakharani. The 31 episodes feature an impressive cast including Ahmed Rateb, Lucy, Mona Zaki, Hala Fakher, Soad Nasr and the urban folk singer Hassan El- Asmar.
Song lyrics are by vernacular poet Sayed Hegab and music by Ammar El-Sheri'i. Though set in Mamluke Egypt, the drama will, according to its publicists, tackle contemporary issues.

Press seminar
THE FIRST large-scale event to be held at the newly opened Press Syndicate headquarters on Abdel-Khaleq Tharwat Road, reports Mustafa El-Minshawi, was a seminar under the title "Colonial Plans for the Arab World: from Balfour to Bush". Condemning Washington's proposed plans to attack Iraq, the speakers -- Abdel-Ghaffar Shukr, the deputy chairman of the Arab and African Studies Centre; Mohamed Raouf Selim, professor of modern history at Ain Shams University; and the Alexandria University professor Ashraf El-Bayoumi -- reviewed colonial history in the light of present-day Middle East conflicts. While stressing the notion that the American role in Middle East politics supports Zionism (seen as a substratum of colonialism) against Arab unity, the speakers also blamed Arabs for their dependence on the West, urging them to oppose, with whatever means available, the attacks on Iraq.
By Youssef Rakha

Send a letter to the Editor Recommend this page

ARCHIVES
Letter from the Editor
Editorial Board
Subscription
Advertise!

WEEKLY ONLINE: www.ahram.org.eg/weekly
Updated every Saturday at 11.00 GMT, 2pm local time
weeklyweb@ahram.org.eg

Al-Ahram Organisation