Pack of cards

By Madame Sosostris

---

ª My dear friend and colleague George Bahgory, the celebrated artist, just told me the most interesting tale, my sweets, which I will now relate to you -- "During the opening of a new library in Heliopolis named after Mrs Suzanne Mubarak, I managed to sneak a quick sketch of Mrs Mubarak 's face while she stood next to Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni." Bahgory said he "would've thought she might object, and yet, confirming a suspicion that I've had since she first started exerting herself in the service of books and children, she simply smiled and graciously accepted the scrap of paper I handed her -- my humble gift."
¨ The Modern Education School (MES), my sweets, is holding its fourth poetry festival tomorrow at the school's premises in Qattamiya. Amongst the schools participating are Ramses College, Misr Language School, Modern School of Egypt 2000, Green Valley and Akhneton School. The event's judges will include professors from the American University in Cairo, Cairo University, the Arab Academy, members of the press, and staff from Macmillan publications.
« I must tell you, my dears, about the excellent time I had at the Grand Hyatt hotel, which was celebrating the completion of its shopping mall, as well as the successful fulfilment of professional service training for its entire staff. HE Sheikh Abdul- Aziz Bin Ibrahim Al- Barahim, chairman of the Saudi Egyptian Touristic Development Company, which owns the hotel, hosted the celebration, which featured Egyptian Prime Minister Atef Ebeid as the honoured guest.
The exhibit was opened by Turkish Ambassador in Egypt Korkmaz Haktanir, who also inaugurated a second Turkish-themed event, an exhibition of Turkish Ebru Art -- featuring a demonstration of painting on water -- at the university's Ewart Gallery by Hikmet Barutcugil. Barutcugil began studying textiles at the State Academy of Fine Arts in 1973. He became the student of calligraphy professor Emin Barin, and started the study of marbling at the same time. He is currently one of a few ebru masters and has taught and exhibited worldwide. The show is running through 4 March. Kucuk, meanwhile, worked in advertising as a graphic designer and photographer. His studies have been used in various Turkish Tourism Ministry publications, and his photographs have also been used in an encyclopedia published by the Ministry of Culture.
« At the Townhouse gallery, Crossings -- an installation by artist Mildred Howard -- opened last Sunday. Howard is known for her large- scale installations, invoking both collective history and personal narrative. Using found objects, assemblage and collage, she incorporates materials that put individual memory in constant dialogue with the African American experience in the United States, both in her individual pieces and larger installations. Crossings, Howard 's first exhibition in Egypt, is being held under the patronage of the American Embassy in Cairo. She says that the seemingly endless rows of eggs lined up on the gallery floor reflect a feeling of sameness and a sense of futility. If you want to understand more about her work, the show runs through 10 March. Howard 's work has most recently been shown at the Museum of African Diaspora, the Neuburger Biennale in Public Art, the Nielsen Gallery in Boston and Margaret Porter Troupe Literary & Visual Arts in New York.