My week began, my dears, with a lovely event -- the wedding of my dear friends Sameh Magdi Naguib and Dina Effat. The happy couple tied the knot at a wonderful reception at the Qattamiya Heights clubhouse, which was gloriously decorated with flowers and candles by the talented Dina Iskander. Dancing to an excellent selection of music played by talented DJ Ihab Fahim, Sameh, who is a senior financial analyst with Al-Ahram Beverages Company, and Dina looked happy as can be. Equally ecstatic were Dina's parents, public accountant and hotel consultant, Effat Fawzy, HCIMA, and his charming wife Mona, and Sameh's mother, engineer, Viola Zaklama. My heartiest congratulations go out to both families, as well as my hopes that Sameh and Dina have a happy, fruitful life together.
Another event I had a great time at, my sweets, was the celebration held at the Indian Embassy residence in Zamalek to commemorate the 53rd anniversary of Indian Republic Day. It was quite lovely chatting with Satnem Jit Singh, the Indian ambassador, and his wife, as well as the bevy of luminaries who came by to join in on the festivities. Prime Minister Atef Ebeid and People's Assembly Speaker Fathi Sorour were there, as was US Ambassador David Welch, and Mexican Ambassador Miguel Orozco Deza and his wife Maries, and many other top diplomats from a plethora of Asian and African nations. I also had the chance to rub elbows with veteran Al-Ahram columnist Salama Ahmed Salama, Cairo Opera House Director Samir Farag, Vodafone Egypt Chairman Mohamed Nosseir, and a whole lot of other prominent personalities.
Even with all my socialising, I still had time to imbibe a bit of intellectual fare this week, when I attended a debate about "Writing in Francophonie" which took place at the Supreme Council of Culture. Held under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture, the discussion provided the chance for participants -- who included renowned French-speaking authors from Canada, Switzerland, and the Republic of Congo -- to exchange views on the use of French in literature. The debate took place in parallel with a series of activities organised by those nations, along with the French Cultural Centre, held in parallel with the 35th annual Cairo International Book Fair.
Congratulations are in order, my dears, for the two Egyptian staff members at the British Embassy in Cairo who have been recognised for their public service in the fields of commercial work, press and public affairs. Media officer, Dina Moussa and senior commercial officer, Mohamed Abdel-Salam were made members of the Order of the British Empire in a ceremony held at the British ambassador's residence. The awards, which were approved by her Majesty the Queen late last year, were presented to Dina and Mohamed by British Ambassador John Sawers in the presence of a group of family, friends and colleagues from the worlds of commerce and media. Sawers said he was "enormously proud of Dina and Mohamed, as I am of all my staff and I am delighted by these awards which reflect the high levels of energy, professionalism, expertise and commitment which both of them have displayed over many years. These awards are in recognition that they are both part of a long British tradition of excellence in public service."
This week, Port Said governor, Mustafa Kamel and head of the General Organisation for Cultural Palaces (GOCP), Anas El-Fiqi inaugurated Port-Said's Sixth National Biennial. The competition encompasses various fields of plastic art -- painting, drawing, graphics, sculpture, and ceramics -- and includes 249 artists representing all of Egypt's governorates. The jury was presided over by prominent caricaturist, Mustafa Hussein and included artist Samir El-Guindi, painter Saleh Reda, GOCP official Laila El-Hendi and Al-Ahram arts page deputy editor and art critic Nagwa El-Ashri. LE30,000 in prizes were allocated by Kamel for the winners.
I am definitely looking forward, my dears, to an event organised by the Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture, in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture, from 7 to 9 February at Cairo's Al-Hanager Art Centre, Alexandria's Centre of Arts and the Cultural Palaces in Suez and Al-Mansoura governorates. That's right, a stunning performance of Bharatnatyam, a traditional classical dance from India, will be showing. Performed by Meenakshi Chitharanjan, who is among the best Bharatnatyam dancers of her generation, the Pandanallur style which is characterised by purity of line and form and subtlety of expression, will be the order of the day. Chitharanjan's performance reveals every nuance of this ancient classical Indian dance form, and will certainly garner her the same kind of critical acclaim she has received when performing in the USA, Europe and South-East Asia.
This month, the Modern Dance Theatre School headed by Walid Aouni and headquartered at the Creativity Centre on the grounds of the Cairo Opera House will start its first academic year. According to Aouni, the school is the first of its kind in the Middle East, with a three-year curriculum that will graduate professional dancers well-versed in a state-of-the-art curricula including 12 practical and four theoretical subjects. The school's faculty includes an elite group of professors, dance experts and artists, including International Music Centre advisor Tarek Sharara, theatre critic Nehad Selaiha, soprano Neveen Allouba, legendary folklore dancer Mahmoud Reda, actor Magdi Saber, actress Caroline Khalil, and others. Students will also be able to make full use of the Creativity Centre's cinema, which will screen international movies with a focus on dance.
The Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Office (EO & AA) at the American University in Cairo (AUC) said good-bye to 2002 by holding a seminar on the Qasim Amin TV biopic that aired during Ramadan. Amin was a leading figure in the empowerment of women during the late 19th and early 20th century in Egypt. Distinguished guest speakers included the series' director Inam Mohamed Ali, renowned poet Sayed Hegab, author Mohamed El-Sayed Eid and actors Ahmed Shaker, Mirna and Heba Tawfiq. Special guests of EO & AA were Qasim Amin's grandchildren -- Abbass and Omar Darwish. Abdel-Mo'ati Bayoumi, professor of Islamic Philosophy at Al-Azhar University, meanwhile, proposed the production of another series on Sheikh Mohamed Abdu's accomplishments as a compliment to Qasim Amin's. Despite exams Oriental Hall was filled to the brim with both AUCians and the general public. Complimentary books in Arabic on Qasim Amin, such as The New Woman, and The Egyptian Woman Between Progress and Liberation (1873-1923) compiled by esteemed Al-Ahram historian Yunan Labib Rizk, were given out by the EO & AA to the first 30 guests, and the event was covered by both the Egyptian TV show Masaa Al-Khair as well as Nile TV.
Pack of Cards
My week began, my dears, with a lovely event -- the wedding of my dear friends Sameh Magdi Naguib and Dina Effat. The happy couple tied the knot at a wonderful reception at the Qattamiya Heights clubhouse, which was gloriously decorated with flowers and candles by the talented Dina Iskander. Dancing to an excellent selection of music played by talented DJ Ihab Fahim, Sameh, who is a senior financial analyst with Al-Ahram Beverages Company, and Dina looked happy as can be. Equally ecstatic were Dina's parents, public accountant and hotel consultant, Effat Fawzy, HCIMA, and his charming wife Mona, and Sameh's mother, engineer, Viola Zaklama. My heartiest congratulations go out to both families, as well as my hopes that Sameh and Dina have a happy, fruitful life together.
Another event I had a great time at, my sweets, was the celebration held at the Indian Embassy residence in Zamalek to commemorate the 53rd anniversary of Indian Republic Day. It was quite lovely chatting with Satnem Jit Singh, the Indian ambassador, and his wife, as well as the bevy of luminaries who came by to join in on the festivities. Prime Minister Atef Ebeid and People's Assembly Speaker Fathi Sorour were there, as was US Ambassador David Welch, and Mexican Ambassador Miguel Orozco Deza and his wife Maries, and many other top diplomats from a plethora of Asian and African nations. I also had the chance to rub elbows with veteran Al-Ahram columnist Salama Ahmed Salama, Cairo Opera House Director Samir Farag, Vodafone Egypt Chairman Mohamed Nosseir, and a whole lot of other prominent personalities.
This week, Port Said governor, Mustafa Kamel and head of the General Organisation for Cultural Palaces (GOCP), Anas El-Fiqi inaugurated Port-Said's Sixth National Biennial. The competition encompasses various fields of plastic art -- painting, drawing, graphics, sculpture, and ceramics -- and includes 249 artists representing all of Egypt's governorates. The jury was presided over by prominent caricaturist, Mustafa Hussein and included artist Samir El-Guindi, painter Saleh Reda, GOCP official Laila El-Hendi and Al-Ahram arts page deputy editor and art critic Nagwa El-Ashri. LE30,000 in prizes were allocated by Kamel for the winners.
I am definitely looking forward, my dears, to an event organised by the Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture, in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture, from 7 to 9 February at Cairo's Al-Hanager Art Centre, Alexandria's Centre of Arts and the Cultural Palaces in Suez and Al-Mansoura governorates. That's right, a stunning performance of Bharatnatyam, a traditional classical dance from India, will be showing. Performed by Meenakshi Chitharanjan, who is among the best Bharatnatyam dancers of her generation, the Pandanallur style which is characterised by purity of line and form and subtlety of expression, will be the order of the day. Chitharanjan's performance reveals every nuance of this ancient classical Indian dance form, and will certainly garner her the same kind of critical acclaim she has received when performing in the USA, Europe and South-East Asia.
This month, the Modern Dance Theatre School headed by Walid Aouni and headquartered at the Creativity Centre on the grounds of the Cairo Opera House will start its first academic year. According to Aouni, the school is the first of its kind in the Middle East, with a three-year curriculum that will graduate professional dancers well-versed in a state-of-the-art curricula including 12 practical and four theoretical subjects. The school's faculty includes an elite group of professors, dance experts and artists, including International Music Centre advisor Tarek Sharara, theatre critic Nehad Selaiha, soprano Neveen Allouba, legendary folklore dancer Mahmoud Reda, actor Magdi Saber, actress Caroline Khalil, and others. Students will also be able to make full use of the Creativity Centre's cinema, which will screen international movies with a focus on dance.
