There is a desperate need for funding and fresh views in his department, the new head of the Supreme Council for Culture tells Venus Fouad The new president of the Supreme Council for Culture (SCC) is a familiar figure to most writers and artists in this country. Psychology professor and art specialist Shaker Abdel-Hamid has written more than 23 books on creativity, visual perception, cultural imagery and the nurturing of young talents. He has also translated several books and was editor-in-chief of First Book, Critical Studies, Translation Horizons and Arab Horizons, all serial publications produced by the General Organisation for Culture Palaces. I met Abdel-Hamid a few days ago to find out more about his assessment of the country's current cultural scene. What do you think of the 25 January Revolution and its motivation and justification? The 25 January Revolution is a great revolution in its motives and goals. Its goal was to rid the country of corruption and tyranny and restore dignity and stature to Egypt and its people. It was a rebellion against conditions that seemed as if they would never change, but the revolution changed everything and in no time. The entire Egyptian people, across divisions of class and creed, took part in the revolution, with the young leading the way. The intellectuals had a role too, because they boosted political awareness among the young. Do you believe that the revolution has succeeded, and if so why? I believe that the revolution has achieved a significant part of its goals. But we still have some objectives to work on. We cannot get everything done all at once. We cannot destroy the dictatorship of the individual only to replace it with the dictatorship of the crowds. This would be counterproductive as far as the revolution's goals are concerned. Certain individuals are trying to outflank and hijack the revolution. This and other problems will have to be dealt with in due course. In your opinion as a psychologist, what is the reason for the surge in violence? Many people are experiencing a feeling of insecurity mixed with panic and fear. They fear that we could slip back to square one. This is one reason. There is also the fact that the implementation of decisions is being left to people who are not implementing them properly. There is also the rise of the dictatorship of the crowds. Some decisions are not based on respect for the freedom of others. How do you see Egypt following the parliamentary and presidential elections? Will one party dominate the political scene? I don't think so. At present the votes are clearly divided and new alliances and coalitions keep emerging, which makes room for many political tendencies to appear. I ask everyone to focus on public interests and the future, and stop focusing on personal interests and gains. Some individuals claim to have powers that they don't have, which is misleading. We have to focus on the interests of the country. We need to make Egypt a great country. Is it possible for literature and art to reflect on the revolution, or do we have to wait for a while for the reality of the revolution to come across in art? We will have to wait perhaps five or ten years to see this kind of art come out, since events are still unfolding all around us. What do you think of the cultural activities of institutions that have taken to the streets and squares after the revolution? I am personally impressed by these activities. State organisations are encouraging such activities and welcoming the creativity and competitiveness that come with it. One of the reasons why such activities have multiplied since the revolution is that the barrier of fear has collapsed. The culture of diversity is asserting itself. What is your future vision for the SCC? We will be working on four fronts. One is to improve the mechanism for selecting the members of the SCC committees. This step was taken as soon as Emad Abu Ghazi became Minister of Culture, and even before that, when Ezzeddin Shokri was the SCC secretary. We have already begun to receive candidacy applications ,and soon we will release the names of the new members of the SCC committees on arts, literature and social sciences. The second front we are working on is the conference on Revolution and Culture, which will be held next January,to coincide with the first anniversary of the 25 January Revolution. This conference will be international, and will include representatives from Egypt, the Arab world and several other nations. The third front has to do with our publications. We will speed up the publication of those books facing delays. We will also release several new series, some of which will address matters such as liberalism, secularism, the religious state, and civil state and other things that are being debated at present. These will be issued in booklets written in a language that is accessible to non-specialist readers. The fourth front is our plan for the future. We will form a committee for "Sinai Culture", which will focus on Sinai's history, geography,and art. We will put together a national project aiming to spot talents in Sinai. We plan to organise seminars, hold reading nights and engage in various activities related to Sinai. How do the members of SCC committees come to be elected? We accept nominations from individuals, universities, nd art and literary societies. We have already written to various universities asking them to nominate some of their staff members involved in arts and literature. We select people whose names appear frequently or who are named by several groups. A workshop organised by the SCC recommended that independent artists and intellectuals be nominated to the committees. Will this happen? Yes, there will be new members nominated by all the alliances and independent societies, in addition to the nominations made by art colleges, the Writers Union, the Story Club and the arts syndicates. What will be discussed at the conference on Revolution and Culture? The preparatory committee for that conference met on 26 September. This committee will be drawing the agenda for the conference, which will address revolution and art in its various forms (cinema, fine arts, etc). Revolution and literature; revolution and religion; revolution and the young; revolution and the future of Egypt; post-revolution; other experiments in the world; revolution in the past and the present; all these are suitable matters for discussion. Are there any plans to separate the SCC from the Ministry of Culture? This is something that calls for more debate and discussion. There is no plan to separate the two for the moment, but the idea is being discussed. We will either keep the current situation unchanged or separate the SCC and the ministry, in which case the SCC will become affiliated to the cabinet. What do you think of the separation between antiquities and the Ministry of Culture? I believe in separating the antiquities from the ministry. As for finances, I believe that the cabinet should provide the ministry with the funds it needs to compensate it for the income it used to obtain from antiquities. The SCC is already cutting back on its activities for lack of funding. Is there a plan to support independent groups and benefit from their experience? Definitely. This is part of our future plans. How do you plan to integrate the ideas of young people into the work of the SCC committees? We will give the young the opportunity to participate in the SCC committees as well as in seminars and other SCC activities. We plan to organise series of seminars and round tables to discuss the ideas and aspirations of young people, through which we will learn more about their views and the things they wish to see the SCC and the Ministry of Culture -- indeed the whole country -- achieve. Some people say that the SCC could use volunteers to "post the topics discussed at SCC committees on the social networks" and see how the public reacts. Is there room for such an idea? Of course we welcome this idea. But the work of the volunteers may overlap with that of the internet specialists working for the SCC. The latter are experienced in building websites and posting information. We don't object to communication conducted within SCC regulations. We need to ensure that the wrong information is not being passed through volunteer websites. How do you plan to stay in touch with people in remote commumities to ensure that culture is spread in a democratic manner? We have signed more agreements of joint cooperation with the General Authority for Cultural Palaces that will allow us to hold joint activities. A lot will change in this regard. Is there going to be a change in the way that winners are selected for State awards? Do you plan to continue broadcasting the vote live to the media? There will be no changes to SCC literary competitions, such as the First Book Award. But we will improve the methods of selection to make them more specialised. The broadcasting issue will have to be reassessed, since we need to put the right kind of regulations in place.
