Al-Ahram Weekly | Culture

		24 - 30 October 2002 Issue No. 609 Culture	Current issue Previous issue Site map
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Recommend this page

Funding the monolith
THE NEW Egyptian Museum -- to be established over 117 feddans on the Giza Plateau -- entered a new phase of development last week. Subjected to the scrutiny of James Wolfensohn, the president of the World Bank, who visited the construction site at the head of a high- ranking UN delegation received by Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni, the project was described as "the largest museum in the world to date."
Yasser Mansour, the coordinator of the committee responsible for the international architectural competition (1,750 architects have submitted designs for the museum), presented details of the project so far.
Wolfensohn called for international support for the project, saying that the World Bank would be willing to cooperate with the Ministry in developing financial resources and offering technical expertise. Hosni announced the establishment of a coordinating committee made up of Egyptian and international figures, including Wolfensohn, whose experience and energy would ensure that the project receives the material and moral support needed. Also present during the exchanges were undersecretary of the Ministry Farouk Abdel-Salam and the project's executive supervisor, Mohamed Ghoniem.
The architectural jury overseeing the competition will announce the results of the first phase of the competition today, shortlisting 20 designs. By the second phase, which starts next March, the judges will have reduced that number to three.

Regally yours
QUEEN Sofia of Spain visited the Giza Plateau on Saturday, having attended the Bibliotheca Alexandrina inaugural celebrations. Led by Zahi Hawas, the secretary general of the Supreme Council for Antiquities, the queen toured some of the area's most interesting recent finds. In the evening she also toured the Citadel and Al-Azhar. On her way to Cairo Sofia had ventured into Nasr Girls College in Shatbi, Alexandria, the institution she attended while living with her family in Egypt during World War II.
Romanian triumph...
EGYPTIAN participants won both second and third place in the Golden Star Festival for Children's Music, which closed in Bucharest last week. Sung by May Yusri and Maher Younis, both songs were composed by Ministry of Education official Wafaa Mustafa Kamal.
...and good will
THE ROMANIAN president Ion Iliescu visited the Media Production City last Thursday, accompanied by Minister of Industry Ali El-Sa'edi. Received by the City's CEO Abdel-Rahman Hafez, board member Sami Badawi and several other officials, the president was given a tour of the studios, the open-air sets and the International Media Academy campus, where he met with students in a seminar coordinated by Mona El-Hadidi, the dean of the Academy. Iliescu expressed admiration for the technical capabilities of the City, calling for closer media relations between Romania and Egypt.

Al-Khalidi honoured
THE LONDON-based Arab Organisation for Education and Culture gave its 2001- 2002 Award of Merit for Arab Culture (this year revolving around the theme of Jerusalem and the Palestinian issue) to the Palestinian historian Walid Al- Khalidi. The organisation's statement described the award as "an acknowledgment of Al-Khalidi's significant contribution to enriching Arab cultural and scientific life with works both of valuable creativity and of methodical persistence in the area of the Palestinian question; and as an evaluation of his role in spreading awareness of this issue through his writings, lectures and university classes as well as through his initiative to found the Institution of Palestinian studies and supervise it for many years."
The award was handed to Al-Khalidi by Al-Munji Busniena, head of the Organisation, during a ceremony held last Tuesday at London University's School of Oriental and African Studies.
The folk in Jordan
THE NATIONAL Group for Folk Arts, directed by Kamal Neiem, flies to Amman at the beginning of November to join in the celebrations of Queen Rania's birthday. The invitation comes in the wake of the group's success during the recent Egyptian Cultural Week in Jordan, when they performed on the stage of the Hussein Cultural Centre in the presence of, among others, the Egyptian ambassador to Jordan, Mohamed Hegazi.
Radio comeback
AL-SHARQ Al-Awsat (Middle East) radio director Inas Gohar announced last week that the recording of a new serial drama, Bent Min fi Masr (Whose Daughter in Egypt), starring Laila Elwi and Hisham Selim, was underway. Written by Wahid Hamed and directed by Hosni Ghoniem, the drama is one of several radio projects aimed at the Ramadan audience.
Imam in Sohag
ADEL Imam's latest play, Body Guard, made LE500,000 (to be donated to the Red Crescent) when it was performed at the Sohag Stadium last week. The comedian's presence in Sohag gave rise to wide-ranging festivities, with a large- scale seminar taking place on the Sohag University campus and attended by Governor Mamdouh Kedwani, at the end of which the deputy president of the university Mahmoud Riyad honoured Imam with the university shield. The governor also presided over several seminars held before and after the performance, attended by prominent religious leaders alongside hordes of fans.
Compiled by Youssef Rakha

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