Al-Ahram Weekly | Culture

		5 - 11 September 2002 Issue No. 602 Culture	Current issue Previous issue Site map
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Canal folk
THE ISMAILIA Festival for Folk Arts' 14th round (taking place in several venues simultaneously from 24-31 August) featured a wide variety of performances from protest- oriented Palestinian dabka to provincial Bulgarian dances, reports Mustafa El- Minshawi.
Presiding over the opening ceremony were Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni, governor Fouad Saadeddin and the head of ministry's folk arts department, Hamdi El-Gabri. In the words of the head of the festival's executive committee, Elwan Sayed Ahmed -- author of the principal promotional leaflet -- the event was an occasion for artists from across the world to interact in a peaceful display of how art can transcend cultural, religious and racial divides. These artists, the leaflet stressed, are intensely aware of their culturally specific heritage; yet their willingness to share their secrets, as it were, exchanging knowledge and experience, is testimony to the triumph of peace and creativity over conflict and insularity.
Through its duration the event resembled a world dance parade, what with 26 troupes from 19 countries including China, India, Slovenia, Jordan and Yemen offering their latest innovations alongside more staple and appropriately timeless fare. In response to critics' remarks that the festival, while offering nothing new, cost the government close on LE1,500,000, Hosni insisted, in the course of the opening ceremony, that such money is well spent: it bridges the gap between peoples, reinforcing Egypt's image as a stable, peaceful and safe destination and contributing to international harmony. "Peace through art", indeed, happens to be the motto of the present round of the festival; and the logo of the event features a child bearing a flower. It was in this tolerant and optimistic spirit that members of Egyptian folk troupes like the Aswan Dance Ensemble, the Ismailia Dance Ensemble, the Sharqiya Folk Troupe and the Cairo Popular Arts Group joined forces with like-minded performers from across the world to keep the audience entertained. Worth mentioning are the Bulgarian and Chinese troupes, which offered farmers' and wedding dances, respectively. The language barrier did not prevent the audience from enjoying the songs accompanying these dances.
The Society of Liberated Palestinians and Palestinian Prisoners of War's dance troupe made an especially strong impact, with traditional and experimental performances aiming to preserve Palestinian identity and foster resistance, respectively. Some 80 performers, most of whom are voluntary participants, turned the Mallahat Theatre into a passionate protest ground, rallying support for the resistance and for Palestinian rights. On the fringe of the festival, an exhibition of wood sculptures by Sabri Nashed, "Intifada", drew symbolically on the figure of Arafat and other telling symbols to depict Israeli brutality and Palestinian resilience.

Youthful fancies
THE YOUTH Salon's 14th round was inaugurated on Monday at the Palace of Arts, Opera House Grounds, by Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni. Under the evocative title "Newborn of the Brave City: Symbol of Persistence," Head of the Plastic Arts Department Ahmed Nawwar announced, 219 artists -- all of whom are under 35 -- contribute to show 274 works, from painting and photography to pottery. Another 34 artists from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, Jordan, Kuwait, Palestine, Bahrain, Syria and Lebanon contribute 74 more works. A many-faceted cultural programme will accompany the salon, drawing to a close at the end of September.

Indian dreams
MEDIA Production City's Cinema Department will begin filming its second production, Film Hindi (Indian Film) this week. Written by Hani Fawzi and directed by Mounir Radi, the film stars Ahmed Adam, Somaya El-Khashab, Salah Abdalla and Dalia El-Behiri, who was given her first major part in the recent comedy Muhami Khul' (Khul' Lawyer), as well as several up-and-coming actors. The story, Cinema Department Head Mamdouh El-Leithi announced, revolves around two close friends -- one Muslim, one Christian -- and attempts to inject some humour in to the hackneyed theme of national unity. Adam and El-Khashab will contribute three Indian duets in the grand old tradition of Bollywood.

Shedding fear
SUM OF All Fears, the controversial film version of Tom Clancy's novel, written by Paul Attanasio, directed by Phil Alden Robinson and starring Ben Affleck and Morgan Freeman, has finally received the sanction of the establishment. The story of a CIA agent who uncovers a group of terrorists' plan to detonate a nuclear bomb at the Superbowl, the US$ 60 million production, which has made US$120 million since it was launched in the US, draws on 11 September and alludes to Arab and Muslim involvement in terrorism. Following various debates, head censor Madkour Thabet last week called a meeting of the Critics Council -- members include writer Youssef El-Qa'id, composer Mohamed Nouh and critic Tareq El- Shennawi as well as many others -- to determine whether the film should be officially banned. The council decided that there is no objective reason to ban the film, which will be screened widely as of this week.
By Youssef Rakha

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