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Culture Events: Picks for the Weekend Trying to decide how to spend your weekend? Take a look at these suggestions, handpicked by our arts and culture team, for events in Cairo from Thursday through Sunday (10-13 January)
Thursday 10 January Magic Flute at the Cairo Opera House at 10pm On 10, 13 and 14 January theCairo Opera Company, Cairo Opera Orchestra conducted by Nayer Nagui, and Cairo Opera Choir will perform The Magic Flute.The director of the opera is Hisham El Tally and the choirmaster is Aldo Magnato.Performed in original settings, the opera will be performed in Arabic and German. Cairo Opera House Main Hall, Zamalek, Cairo Omar Khairat at MUST Opera House at 8pm Omar Khairat is a renowned Egyptian composer, pianist, whose original compositions – which bridge contemporary Arab music and western tunes – have earned him a large following in Egypt and the region. Khairat performs his music around the region with his Omar Khairat Group. He has composed music for several movies,recorded a number of CDs and won several local and international prizes. MUST Opera House, 6th of October, El-Motamaiz District, El-Mehwar El-Markazi Gazbia Sirry, Inji Efflatoun, and Tahia Halim at Picasso Gallery One of the most exciting exhibitions this month is a show by three female heavyweights in the history of modern Egyptian art. The Picasso Gallery hosts a collection of artworks by Gazbia Sirry, Inji Efflatoun and Tahia Halim, proving that indeed, “old is gold.” The works on display all carry similarly pastoral themes, from Tahia Halim's traditionally dressed farmer women (falaha) wearing boldly coloured scarves against a backdrop unruly palm trees to Inji Efflatoun's festively coloured landscapes of blue skies and palms that seem to move, to Gazbia Sirry's thickly painted depictions of rural homes. 30 Hassan Assem Street, from Brazil Street,Zamalek, Cairo Friday 11 January Mashrou3 El-Mareekh - Open Mic Eventat Darb 1718 Darb 1817 cultural centre will host Mashrou' El-Mareekh - an open platform for artistic expression this Friday. Founded by young artist and culture advocate Mariam El-Quessny, Mashrou' El-Mareekh (Mars Project) tours Egyptian cities, promoting cultural development and expression by providing a platform for a wide range of artistic performances, including music, poetry and dance recitals. Qasr Al-Shamee Street, Al-Fakhareen (behind the Hanging Church and the Amr Mosque), Old Cairo Takeoff...Landing? Hisham El-Zeiny at Mashrabia Art Gallery In this exhibition, contemporary artist Hisham El-Zeiny (1956) explores the rise (and fall?) of Egypt's January 25 Revolution. Nostalgia and a sense of uncertainty permeate El-Zeiny's canvases, as he paints snapshots from the uprising in whites and greys. El-Zeiny says, "In this exhibition I examine the imaginary scenario of an urgent trip undertaken by our national aviation, in which Egypt Air announces its unscheduled emergency Flight no. Jan 25 heroically attempting to head for democracy... or better still 'demo-crazy'." 8 Champollion Street,Downtown, Cairo Al-Ahram Arts Centre and Art Gallery in Al-Ahram Building Al-Ahram organisation launches its new art centre with an inaugural exhibition entitled 'A Century of Egyptian Art'. The exhibition will display some of the art works acquired by Al-Ahram for over half a century. Many of the paintings decorate Al-Ahram corridors, as well as rooms of senior editors. The exhibition will run for three months and is open and free for the public. Read morehere. Al-Ahram New Building, Galaa Street, Ground Floor, Cairo Saturday 12 January Cairo Symphony Orchestra to perform in Cairo Opera House at 8pm Conducted by Jiri Petrdlik, the Cairo Symphony Orchestra will perform works by Beethoven, Chopin and Schubert. The soloist of the evening will be the renowned Czech pianist, Jan Simon. Cairo Opera House main hall, Zamalek, Cairo Egyptian bass-baritone and activist, Ashraf Sewailam, solo recital at Cairo's German Evangelical Church at 8pm The internationally renowned Egyptian bass-baritone and activist, Ashraf Sewailam, will give a solo recital at Cairo's German Evangelical Church, performing a number of songs in Egypt for the first time. Sewailam is currently based in the US but since he left Egypt, he has returned on a regular basis, participating in operas staged in Cairo and Alexandria. This will be his first solo recital in Egypt since 2001. 32 Al-Galaa Street, Cairo (next to Al-Ahram Organization building, metro station: Nasser) Long Live Free Art: Collective Exhibition at ArtTalks Launched on 18 December at ArtTalks'Long Live Free Artshowcases works by both prominent contemporary artists with strong presence in the local and global art scene, including Huda Lutfi, Mohamed Abla and Nermine Hammam, as well as promising up-and-coming artists such as Mina Tadros, Ahmed Sabry and Keizer. The exhibition is inspired by the 1939 art movement and is entitledEgyptian Art and Freedom Group. Read our reviewhere. 8 El-Kamel Mohamed Street Sunday 13 January A Life in Struggle: Inji Efflatoun at Safarkhan Art Gallery This exhibition spotlights one of the most noteworthy female artists in modern Egyptian art, Inji Efflatoun (1924-1989). She was much more than an artist; Efflatoun was a political activist and a proponent for women's rights. Her painting styles went from subversive surrealism to emotionally charged expressionism, and her life went from a comfortable bourgeoisie upbringing to spending four years behind bars in the Nasser era for her involvement in the communist movement. A riveting biography is reflected in this artist's paintings, which are on show this month at Safarkhan and the Picasso Gallery in Zamalek. Read our reviewhere. Small Works by Mohamed Abla at Art Corner Gallery Internationally acclaimed artist Mohamed Abla, whose work is often politically charged and bears rebellious undertones, exhibits this January at the Art Corner Gallery in Zamalek. Last year, his most notable exhibitions wereThe Road to Tahrirat the El-Bab Gallery, in which he displayed works produced from 2004 up until the revolution that, in a way, prophesised the uprising of 25 January 2011, and a Facebook exhibition entitledWolves, which condemned the attacks of army soldiers on protestors. InSmall Works,Abla will exhibit a mix of portraits and landscapes, as always with a potent Egyptian identity. Mashrou3 Hagar: Art Empowers! at Darb 1718 Artwork that tackles women's rights and struggles will be featured in an exhibition at Darb 1718.Mashrou3 Hagar: Art Empowers!is an arts project sponsored by the European Union and the Darb 1718 Contemporary Art & Culture Centre, designed to offer a series of art workshops and information sessions with NGOs in the summer of 2012, revolving around female issues in Egypt, culminating in an itinerant exhibition that tours the country. The exhibition tour kicked off at the Alexandria Atelier in November, followed by a show at the Sohag Culture Palace in December. This month, the exhibition makes its final stop at Cairo's Darb 1718. Qasr Al-Shamee Street, Al-Fakhareen (behind the Hanging Church and the Amr Mosque), Old Cairo You can also Checkout our full Art Agendahere. 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