♣ “It was while Governor Abdel-Rehim Shehata was on a field trip in Zamalek that I asked him to allow me to clean up this place... It took me sleepless nights to come up with a name for it... One night, the name of one of my father's novels, Al-Saqiya, inspired me to choose Saaiyat Abdel-Moneim El Sawy or El Sawy Culturewheel...” Thus Mohamed Abdel-Moneim El Sawy, owner and founder of El Sawy Culturewheel, at the beginning of his speech on the occasion of its 10th anniversary. The event, attended by Mai Samih, also celebrated the 95th birthday of the late novelist and minister of culture Abdel-Moneim El Sawy — and the fifth anniversary of the Dignity Festival on the 20 February. A documentary on El Sawy Culturewheel was screened, followed by a reading from one of the novels of Abdel-Moneim El Sawy. Present were actors Salah Al-Saadani, Sameh Al-Sereiti and Ahmed Shaker, novelist Ibrahim Abdel-Meguid, Iraqi oud player Nasseer Shamma, singer Ali Al-Haggar and his brother composer Ahmed Al-Haggar, who performed at the end of the celebration. Playwright Lenin Al-Ramli, journalist Abdel-Fadil Taha, poet Fouad Haggag and critic Hussein Hamouda gave speeches. El Sawy Culturewheel has been a key cultural space in Egypt, inspiring, educating and empowering the young. Established in 2003, it has hosted over 10,000; it has over 100,000 members and a million visitors every year.
♥ The Indian Embassy in Cairo, in collaboration with the Artistic Creativity Centre, organised an award-giving ceremony and an art exhibition of poster designs from India, Egypt and other African countries that participated in a competition entitled “Did you sense the spirit of Gandhi in Tahrir Square?” and launched on 2 October, 2012 — to coincide with the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. The guest of honour, Egyptian actor Khaled Al-Nabawi and Ambassador of India Navdeep Suri, were the keynote speakers. Suri along with head of the Culture Development Fund Mohamed Abu Seada and artist Mohamed Abla, a member of the jury, handed out the prizes.
♠ Shagaret Al-Aabed (The Tree of the Worshiper), a novel by Al-Ahram Weekly's very own political analyst Ammar Ali Hassan, was recently reprinted by the published, Al-Shorouk. As critic Salah Fadl has written, “The book presents an infrequent model in the Arab novel that resembles the magic realism of Latin American literature, but resemblance doesn't imply imitation.”
¨ Many American University in Cairo professors agree that the revolution is far from successful because Egyptian women are facing greater political, social and economic challenges after 25 January. “Egypt's Revolution: Has it Left the Egyptian Women Behind?” was the question discussed in the university's seventh media roundtable, the Behind the Headlines series, addressing women's contributions to the political and social scene, the challenges they face and what the future holds for them. The discussion featured the AUC's associate professor of political science Rabab Al-Mahdi, professor of political sociology Said Sadek, associate professor of psychology Hani Henry and assistant professor of Arab studies Amina Al-Bendary. The roundtable, which took place at AUC Tahrir Square and was attended by local and international media, was moderated by AUC alumna Doha Al-Zoheiri, now a TV presenter at Al-Jazeera Mubasher Misr. Several issues related to women were discussed: the constitution, parliament, sexual harassment and whether the rise of Islamists has undermined the role of women in society. On women's status in the constitution, Al-Bendary argued that many, including women, were frustrated with the composition of the Constitutional Assembly that drafted the constitution; it did not live up to the ambitions of women. For her part Al-Mahdi believes both the 1971 and 2012 constitutions shared the same problems of stereotyping women. On pointing fingers to the Islamists, when it comes to discriminating against women, Al-Mahdi said, “the liberals and the Islamists disagree on many issues, but both agree on marginalising women. The arguments within the Constitutional Committee were on many topics, yet not on women's issues. Only when the media started discussing women's articles in the constitution did the liberals shy off.” On a historical note, Sadek stated that the 1923 constitution didn't mention women, while the 1954 and 1956 constitutions created a new balance for them.
ª Congratulations to the Armenian community in Egypt. A schools' talent competition was organised for the first time in Egypt by one of Egypt's top construction companies and took place in UpTown Cairo, Moqattam district. The first round started in December 2012 and ended last week. Ten schools took part in the competition with an overall of 100 shows, among which is the Kalousdian-Noubarian Armenian school that entered the competition with two shows: secondary student Roupen Arslanian Saad solo singing and the school's “Sardarabad” dance troupe. The top 20 talent acts chosen by the jury to take part in the final round included Saad. Jury members were Egyptian actors Bushra, Hussein Al-Imam and Magdi Saber. Alexy Papazian, another Armenian, from the Lycée Français was among those who reached the third and final phase. Ten talent shows joined the final round through online voting on Facebook. Among those who got a large number of “like”s were none other than the “Sardarabad” dance troupe, which made their choreographer Alice Hagopian so proud of them. The final round was held last week and a big surprise was waiting for the attendees in the theatre: Lebanese actress Nicole Saba who, after giving a performance, announced the final results. Papazian came first and Saad second. Together they waved the Armenian flag to their friends and loved ones. Papazian's show was a piano performance of one of his own compositions called “Love Story for 200 Days”, while Saad sang renowned Armenian composer Arno Babajanian's “The Queen of Beauty”. Maestro and Mrs Mihran Ghazelian, the conductor, must have been proud of her student. The final round's presenter was Negoom FM radio station's Yara Al-Guindi.
