Al-Ahram Weekly | Culture | Provincial initiatives

Rania Khallaf speaks with Ahmed Nawar, newly-appointed temporary chairman of the General Organisation for Cultural Palaces, about plans to develop the organisation in the wake of the Beni Sweif fire

"When I went to Beni Sweif the day after being appointed to this post I was shocked by the scene, especially when I entered the hall where the fire broke out. I realised we would have to work very hard to prevent such an accident from occurring again," said Ahmed Nawar. "When I was going out of the place," he continued, "I conceived the idea of placing a memorial at the entrance so that people be reminded of the artists and citizens who perished in the fire. It would bring feelings to the surface and underline the fact that these lives were lost for other people to live for the tragedy has at least motivated the government to develop this ailing organisation."

"This is the way governments act," says Nawar. "Speaking as the chairman of the Plastic Arts Sector (PAS) for 16 years now I can at least say my organisation works to a completely different system. But the catastrophe has revealed the absence of warning systems and civil defence procedures enforced in developed countries decades ago."

"The Beni Sweif Cultural Palace," Nawar insists, "will be fully renovated to regain its role in the cultural development of the region it serves."

But what of the investigation into the state of cultural palaces across Egypt promised in the immediate aftermath of the Beni Sweif disaster?

Nawar reveals that he will be submitting an executive work plan to develop the GOCP to Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni later this week.

"The plan outlines the basic principles that will govern the organisation's strategy," Nawar divulges. Among the most salient proposals are plans to upgrade the training of the cultural palace employees across Egypt, establish a marketing department in order to increase revenues and promote performances, handmade crafts and books published by the organisation and set up channels of cooperation between the GOCP and civil society organisations.

The work plan was devised following a survey of 509 cultural palaces across Egypt. The palaces were placed in one of three categories -- in good condition, requiring renovation, or beyond salvage. So did the survey confirm press reports from the Egyptian provinces that many cultural palaces, particularly in Aswan and Sohag in Upper Egypt, were in a dire state of disrepair?

"I have visited many cultural palaces, in Upper Egypt and the Delta, and most of them need renovation or technical development. On the other hand, there are some very well-maintained palaces, such as the one in Ismailia, which is well-equipped -- it can, for instance, screen 35mm movies -- though many of its activities need to be developed."

During the two months of his chairmanship Nawar says he has made a number of "revolutionary decisions".

"For the first time in the GOCP's history directors of local cultural palaces have been empowered. Centralising authority in Cairo has been shown to have failed, in both politics and cultural policy. Decentralisation is particularly important in an organisation dealing with cultural activities in the Egyptian provinces."

Provincial cultural palaces, Nawar continues, will be encouraged to organise their own publishing programmes and writers from the provinces will be able to publish through local palaces rather than being obliged to do so in Cairo. It is a move that begs many questions over the kind of publishing facilities available in the provinces, but they are questions Nawar does not answer.

The new chairman's proposals also include a request that payments made by the palaces increase.

"Can you imagine that a folkloric dancer is paid only LE10 per performance? This cannot be tolerated any longer. Creativity must be respected, and that means salaries should be raised," says Nawar. "If the Ministry of Finance approves the new budget we will be able to engineer drastic change in the performance of employees and in the work of the writers and artists who cooperate with us. There will be an opportunity to resolve financial and administrative problems."

"If the minister does not respond to the rescue plan," Nawar continues bluntly, "then I will tender my resignation."

Plans are also afoot to upgrade the technology employed in centres nationwide, and include the creation of an electronic cultural database.

"We intend to make cultural products such as books and performances available on CD which will then be sold generating revenue that can be used to support other activities." Nawar has also recommended a follow-up committee be formed charged with evaluating festivals, conferences and other GOCP activities. "Such a committee is a must if we are to decentralise effectively. It will work as a yardstick to measure the failures and successes of GOCP policies," he says with a half smile.

Though Nawar has been a member of the GOCP's board of administration for 15 years the organisation's plastic arts division is in a sorry state, with few if any exhibitions held.

"While it is true that activities pertaining to the plastic arts are thin on the ground," Nawar concedes, "I am determined to start reviving artistic activities. Sending fine arts graduates to the provinces to train children and talented young people is high on my priorities in the coming period. Unfortunately there are only a few venues suitable for exhibitions -- in Denshiwai, Alexandria, Mansoura and Port Said. Funds have not been available to establish more exhibition venues."

Nawar has often been criticised for concentrating on ensuring Egyptian participation in international exhibitions at the expense of developing public awareness of the arts in the provinces. Now, though, he says he is determined to resurrect the long defunct programme of touring exhibitions "and give them the necessary financial support".

Officially on pension, with his new appointment Nawar suddenly found himself heading both the GOCP and the PAS.

"Containing problems within the GOCP involves giving greater power to local leaders which in turn requires transparency and a kind of ethical contract. We must encourage a new generation of young leaders," he says with a mixture of enthusiasm and hope.

"One problem we face at the moment is that employment regulations often prevent capable employees from being promoted. Standards other than ability in the job -- things like educational qualifications and personal relations -- are the ones that count. All this has to change if we are serious about developing this organisation."

The golden days of the GOCP, runs common wisdom, were in the seventies when the late Saadeddin Wahba was chairman. Many date the deterioration in the organisation from the eighties, when Hussein Mahran took over the chairmanship for eight years. Since then the chairmanship of the GOCP has been like a revolving door, as heads of the organisation arrived and departed with unseemly haste.

The catalogue of negligence and carelessness at cultural palaces accumulated over the years, only to be crowned by the disastrous fire at the Beni Sweif palace in which so many lost their lives. Given such a record, does Nawar think it will be easy to once again attract audiences to these venues?

"It is not possible to erase the awful events in Beni Sweif from our collective memory but it is important to do everything in our power to prevent such a thing from happening again. We cannot regain people's trust unless we work to develop the cultural services we provide."