Al-Ahram Weekly | Culture

		21 - 27 November 2002 Issue No. 613 Culture	Current issue Previous issue Site map
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875

Bikar's death
VETERAN artist Hussein Bikar passed away yesterday at the age of 90, putting an end to a career that spanned seven decades and as many genres, including caricature, vernacular poetry and, most notably, portraiture.
Born in Alexandria, Bikar graduated from the Fine Arts College in 1933, assuming a teaching post and eventually heading the Painting Department.
He joined the staff of Akhbar Al-Yom in 1945 and is widely considered to be one of the founding fathers of that prestigious journalistic institution. His distinctive drawings for the newspaper, often accompanied by short colloquial poems, tackled social and human issues. In 1960 Bikar undertook a long journey around the world, producing drawings and texts that encapsulated his impressions of the countries he visited. His many books include Suwar Natiqa (Speaking Pictures).
Bikar is widely celebrated as one of the pioneers of modern painting. He was among the founders of the Helwan Wax Museum. Some of the most popular classics of modern Egyptian painting bear his name; among them The Eighth Wonder, which depicts the transportation of the temple of Ramses II to Abu Simbel.
Bikar was honoured in several Arab and European countries, receiving the State Merit Award in 1978, the Merit Medal in 1980 and the Mubarak Award in 2000, the value of which (LE100,000) he donated to the Children's Cancer Hospital.
Married to Qasema Bikar, he is survived by one daughter.
Tunisian optimism
THE ARAB Conference of Intellectual and Cultural Dialogue, to open in Tunis on 9 December, will give many Egyptian intellectuals an opportunity to establish contact with Western, including American, counterparts. Organised by the Arab Foundation for Education, Culture and Science, the conference will take place over a period of five days. Among the topics discussed, Organisation director Al-Munji Abu Seneina announced, are the place of dialogue in civilisation building and the image of humanity, the specificity and diversity of Arab dialogue, the role of Arab minorities in the West and the possibility of Arab-American cooperation.
At the silver palace
TAHA Hussein's anniversary was the subject of a seminar held at the Cinema Palace on Sunday. The event included addresses by critic Gaber Asfour and writer Mahmoud Amin El-Alim as well as a screening of Do'aa Al-Karawan (The Nightingale's Call), the classic film based on Hussein's novel of the same name.
Portable Ramadan
SEVERAL Opera House-directed troupes are performing in Arab and European countries during the holy month in an attempt to spread the celebratory atmosphere to Egypt's cultural partners.
The Religious Chanting Troupe, directed by Omar Farahat, is performing in Lebanon and the Emirates, while the Abdel-Halim Nuweira Troupe for Arabic Music, directed by Salah Ghubashi, performs in Amman.
On the other hand the Egyptian Cultural Centre in Paris will oversee performances by the Opera Stars Troupe, supervised by Gamal Salama. The Opera House has also put together a group of the most outstanding Arabic music performers to represent Egypt at the Shanghai International Festival.
Novels delayed
SUPREME Council for Culture head Gaber Asfour approved the postponement of the widely anticipated Arabic Novel Conference from February to October 2003. The decision, Asfour announced, was a consequence of the budget deficit that emerged in the wake of the recent Women's Writing Conference.
Bibliotheca Ramadan
THE RAMADAN Festival for the Bibliotheca Alexandrina opened on Saturday at the General Egyptian Book Organisation (GEBO) headquarters. Presided over by Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni and GEBO head Samir Sarhan, the inaugural ceremony heralded three weeks of book oriented seminars.
To be discussed during the festival, which extends till the end of the holy month, are the latest Maktabat Al-Osra (Family Library) publications, including, among many other books, the new edition of Description de l'Egypte, Osama Anwar Okasha's Wahaj Al-Sayf (Summer Heat), Ibrahim Nafie's Al- Awlama wal Amraka (Globalisation and Americanisation) and Fawzi Fahmi's Awja' Misriya (Egyptian Pains).
The festival will also provide for a Dar Al-Kutub manuscript exhibition and several singing performances.
Jahin galore
SALAH Jahin -- late vernacular poet and multi-talented artist -- was the centre of an overcrowded Ramadan evening, organised by the British Council at the Townhouse Gallery last Tuesday.
Directed by Rushdi El-Shami, the event involved recitations and singing of the late poet's best loved poems by Bahaa Jahin, Amina Jahin, Amin Haddad, Amr Abdel- Halim, Samia Jahin, Ahmed Haddad, Omar Jahin and Mai Haddad.
The two shared surnames -- Jahin and Haddad -- indicate a family relation to the late poet and his contemporaneous counterpart Fouad Haddad (whose son, Amin, married Jahin's daughter, Amina).
Compiled by Youssef Rakha

Send a letter to the Editor Recommend this page Print-friendly