The Bibliotheca Alexandrina recently hosted a rather interesting gathering, my sweets -- the International Conference of Scripts and Lines. The conference -- held under the auspices of the head of the library's board of trustees, Mrs Suzanne Mubarak, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Mufid Shehab, and library Director Ismail Serageddin -- featured a wide ranging discussion of the lines and scripts that have provided a medium for the world's languages. 62 researchers from Egypt, France, Belgium, Britain, Morocco and other countries participated, with 25 sessions taking place over the conference's four days. An exhibition of Arabic calligraphy featuring the efforts of 20 artists -- including Ibrahim El- Masri, Ahmed Sabri Zayed, Ahmed Faris, Said Abdel-Qader, Salah Abdel-Khaliq and Yousri El-Mamluke, accompanied the conference. In other great news, the Bibliotheca itself has decided to establish an entirely new centre for the study of scripts and lines, to be headed by archaeologist Abdel- Halim Noureddin.
I have just received word, darlings, that my dear colleague Ali Ghoneim, the deputy chairman of Al-Ahram's board of directors and the general manager of the Al-Ahram Organisation, has been unanimously elected chairman of the board of the main distribution company connected to the "Computer for Every Family" project -- the national scheme aimed at making computers more affordable for ordinary folks. Congratulations are in order for Ghoneim, who is truly the right man for such an honourable job.
I would also like to congratulate Muqbel Fayyad, the engineer who was chosen to be the company's managing director during the same meeting, which was attended by representatives of all the companies and banks that are shareholders in the project.
It gives me great pleasure, my dears, to announce that my good friend Rushdi Said, the preeminent geologist and a regular contributor to the Weekly, will be receiving the 2003 Pioneer Award at a convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Sunday. Said is a distinguished teacher and scientist whose work has greatly contributed to the field of petroleum geology in the Middle East. Born in Cairo in 1920, Harvard-educated Said was a founding member of Egypt's Geological Survey and Mining Organisation, heading it between 1968 and 1978.
Said was also a member of parliament between 1964 and 1976. He later took up residence in Washington DC and became an international consultant, retained by governments as well as major oil companies. I must say that I am very much looking forward to seeing the English translation of Said's autobiography, A Life's Journey, Ventures in Science and Politics in Egypt, which I hear is being published by the American University in Cairo Press later this year.
As you all know, my dear colleague Hedayat Abdel-Nabi was recently elected president of the Federation of Journalists at the UN headquarters in Geneva, the first Egyptian to hold the prestigious post. Abdel-Nabi recently informed me that the association's first tour under her leadership will be visiting Egypt along with a bevy of other important countries across the globe.
Abdel-Nabi has had an illustrious journalistic career, heading Al-Ahram's presidential affairs department from 1988 until 1993. The next five years saw her working in media circles at the UN in Cairo and Geneva, before she moved on to Kuwaiti news agency KUNA's Geneva office in 1999, where she still works today. Over the years she has covered such landmark events as the burning of Al-Aqsa Mosque, the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the hijacking of an Egyptian plane; her coverage of this last earned her one of the most important awards in the world of Egyptian journalism.
To celebrate Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore's (1861-1941) birth anniversary this year, the Egyptian-Indian Friendship Association and the Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture (MACIC) are jointly organising Rabindra Sandhya (A Tagore Evening) at MACIC's downtown headquarters. Tagore -- who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913 -- is India's most famous writer and educator, who founded the world famous open university, Visva Bharati in West Bengal. Apart from a large body of literary work, Tagore was also a painter and musician, who created a unique genre of music called Rabindrasangeet. While he wrote in Bangla, the world's fourth most-spoken language, his work has been translated into nearly every other language in the world. Such was his appeal that in his own lifetime he came to be known as Visva Kabi (World Poet). Tonight, at the MACIC, a special exhibition of rare prints of Tagore's paintings will be inaugurated.
Also opening today, my sweets, is a rather unique exhibition called "Popular Vehicles" that my colleague Nesmahar Sayed has just told me all about. The show takes place at the Arts Creation gallery in Mohandessin, and features works by my dear friend, the gifted artist Abdel-Aziz El-Guindi as well as other budding artists, including Ahmed Sabri, Asmaa Fawzi, Ismail Sabri, Dina Hamdi, Rania Hafez, Mohamed Karim, Heba Abdel-Hafiz, Hanan El-Sheikh, and Khaled Abdu.
If you don't make your way over to the Cairo Opera House this month, you will certainly have only yourself to blame. After all, the opera's orchestra is organising a Beethoven Festival, which features a concert every Saturday throughout May at the Main Hall. The best part is that maestros from Japan, Italy, Norway, and Ecuador, as well as Egypt's Ahmed El-Saedi will conduct the orchestra. The series of concerts will also feature several pianists, including Ramzi Yassa, Moushira Eissa, Mohamed Shamseddin, and Yasser Mukhtar, accompanied by the A Cappella Choir.
Meanwhile, at Abdin's beautifully decorated Gumhouriya Theatre, a Rossini Opera Festival will be taking place from 11-13 May. Three operas -- L'Occasione fa il Laddro, La Cambiale di Matrimonio and Il Signor Bruschino -- will be performed, under the co- direction of Mohamed Abul-Kheir and Elisabetta Brusa. The Cairo Opera Orchestra, conducted by Nyeir Nagui, will also be performing along with Cairo Opera Company singers like Reda El-Wakil, Dahlia Farouk, Ibrahim Nagui and others.
On 13 May, Ahmed Nawwar, who heads the Ministry of Culture's Fine Arts Sector, is due to inaugurate an exhibition of paintings by the Mexican painter Maries Ayala, who is also the wife of the Mexican ambassador to Cairo, Miguel Orozco. The exhibition takes place at the Taha Hussein Museum's Ramatan Cultural Centre in Giza, and runs through 27 May.
A two-day conference to discuss the completion of the EC-Support to Population Programme in Upper Egypt and its handing over to the Ministry of Health and Population took place on 4 and 5 May at Luxor's Meridien Hotel. Participants included European Commission Delegation in Egypt's Ambassador Ian Boag, Qena Governor Adel Labib, top Health Ministry officials Mohamed Nabil and Yehia Hadidi, as well as the project's coordinator Morsi Mansour, and manager Irene Leverenz. The conference discussed the programme's progress over the past five years and the obstacles facing its future success and sustainability under the umbrella of the National Health Reform Programme. The Support to Population Programme in Upper Egypt began in March 1997, with the implementation period continuing until June 2003.
Finally, my dears, I would like to tell you about a wonderful engagement party I attended last Saturday at the Mirage City clubhouse terrace. With the stunning lakes and greenery of the golf course as a backdrop, my dear friends Awny Aziz Riyad and his gorgeous wife Inas Barsoum, and Ibrahim Hanna Ibrahim and his lovely wife Madiha El-Agizi, celebrated the engagement of their children, Youssef Awny and Haidy Ibrahim. Both Youssef and Haidy are dentists, as is Youssef's father Riyad. And while Barsoum is a professor at Ain Shams University and the Arab Academy, Ibrahim is a plastic surgeon and El- Agizi a dermatologist. Basically the two families could probably open up their own hospital now if they really wanted to. In any case, the party was spectacular, especially considering the fact that the action began around sunset, lending the evening a serene beauty. And, of course, the party went on till the wee hours of the night, with everyone dancing and mingling to their hearts' content. Congratulations to the two families, and to Youssef and Haidy both!
Pack of Cards
The Bibliotheca Alexandrina recently hosted a rather interesting gathering, my sweets -- the International Conference of Scripts and Lines. The conference -- held under the auspices of the head of the library's board of trustees, Mrs Suzanne Mubarak, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Mufid Shehab, and library Director Ismail Serageddin -- featured a wide ranging discussion of the lines and scripts that have provided a medium for the world's languages. 62 researchers from Egypt, France, Belgium, Britain, Morocco and other countries participated, with 25 sessions taking place over the conference's four days. An exhibition of Arabic calligraphy featuring the efforts of 20 artists -- including Ibrahim El- Masri, Ahmed Sabri Zayed, Ahmed Faris, Said Abdel-Qader, Salah Abdel-Khaliq and Yousri El-Mamluke, accompanied the conference. In other great news, the Bibliotheca itself has decided to establish an entirely new centre for the study of scripts and lines, to be headed by archaeologist Abdel- Halim Noureddin.
I have just received word, darlings, that my dear colleague Ali Ghoneim, the deputy chairman of Al-Ahram's board of directors and the general manager of the Al-Ahram Organisation, has been unanimously elected chairman of the board of the main distribution company connected to the "Computer for Every Family" project -- the national scheme aimed at making computers more affordable for ordinary folks. Congratulations are in order for Ghoneim, who is truly the right man for such an honourable job.
It gives me great pleasure, my dears, to announce that my good friend Rushdi Said, the preeminent geologist and a regular contributor to the Weekly, will be receiving the 2003 Pioneer Award at a convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Sunday. Said is a distinguished teacher and scientist whose work has greatly contributed to the field of petroleum geology in the Middle East. Born in Cairo in 1920, Harvard-educated Said was a founding member of Egypt's Geological Survey and Mining Organisation, heading it between 1968 and 1978.
As you all know, my dear colleague Hedayat Abdel-Nabi was recently elected president of the Federation of Journalists at the UN headquarters in Geneva, the first Egyptian to hold the prestigious post. Abdel-Nabi recently informed me that the association's first tour under her leadership will be visiting Egypt along with a bevy of other important countries across the globe.
To celebrate Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore's (1861-1941) birth anniversary this year, the Egyptian-Indian Friendship Association and the Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture (MACIC) are jointly organising Rabindra Sandhya (A Tagore Evening) at MACIC's downtown headquarters. Tagore -- who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913 -- is India's most famous writer and educator, who founded the world famous open university, Visva Bharati in West Bengal. Apart from a large body of literary work, Tagore was also a painter and musician, who created a unique genre of music called Rabindrasangeet. While he wrote in Bangla, the world's fourth most-spoken language, his work has been translated into nearly every other language in the world. Such was his appeal that in his own lifetime he came to be known as Visva Kabi (World Poet). Tonight, at the MACIC, a special exhibition of rare prints of Tagore's paintings will be inaugurated.
Meanwhile, at Abdin's beautifully decorated Gumhouriya Theatre, a Rossini Opera Festival will be taking place from 11-13 May. Three operas -- L'Occasione fa il Laddro, La Cambiale di Matrimonio and Il Signor Bruschino -- will be performed, under the co- direction of Mohamed Abul-Kheir and Elisabetta Brusa. The Cairo Opera Orchestra, conducted by Nyeir Nagui, will also be performing along with Cairo Opera Company singers like Reda El-Wakil, Dahlia Farouk, Ibrahim Nagui and others.
On 13 May, Ahmed Nawwar, who heads the Ministry of Culture's Fine Arts Sector, is due to inaugurate an exhibition of paintings by the Mexican painter Maries Ayala, who is also the wife of the Mexican ambassador to Cairo, Miguel Orozco. The exhibition takes place at the Taha Hussein Museum's Ramatan Cultural Centre in Giza, and runs through 27 May.
Finally, my dears, I would like to tell you about a wonderful engagement party I attended last Saturday at the Mirage City clubhouse terrace. With the stunning lakes and greenery of the golf course as a backdrop, my dear friends Awny Aziz Riyad and his gorgeous wife Inas Barsoum, and Ibrahim Hanna Ibrahim and his lovely wife Madiha El-Agizi, celebrated the engagement of their children, Youssef Awny and Haidy Ibrahim. Both Youssef and Haidy are dentists, as is Youssef's father Riyad. And while Barsoum is a professor at Ain Shams University and the Arab Academy, Ibrahim is a plastic surgeon and El- Agizi a dermatologist. Basically the two families could probably open up their own hospital now if they really wanted to. In any case, the party was spectacular, especially considering the fact that the action began around sunset, lending the evening a serene beauty. And, of course, the party went on till the wee hours of the night, with everyone dancing and mingling to their hearts' content. Congratulations to the two families, and to Youssef and Haidy both!
