¨ With a big and cheerful crowd Culture Minister Saber Arab and Chairperson of the Cairo Opera House, flautist Ines Abdel-Dayem organised a ceremony honouring the memory of late chairman of the Opera, artist Abdel-Moneim Kamel (right). The celebration began with the opening of a photography exhibition showcasing rare photos of Kamel tracing the different stages of his life and artistic career — and attended by his widow, the Cairo Opera Ballet Company Artistic Director Erminia Kamel. The event lasted for some three hours, and was directed by Hisham Al-Tally. It featured a number of compositions performed by the Cairo Opera Orchestra, conducted by maestros Nayer Nagui, Hisham Gabr and Sherif Mohieddin. A documentary entitled Farewell Abdel-Moneim Kamel on ballets and shows directed by Erminia Kamel was screened. This was followed by the internationally acclaimed pianist Ramzi Yassa playing a piece by Chopin. Afterwards, Abdel-Dayem played one of Rakhmaninov's compositions on flute, then burst into tears mourning her dear friend. Other renowned Egyptian soloists, including a number of singers from the Cairo Opera Company, joined the evening. ♣ The spouse of the French Ambassador to Egypt Camilia Nicolas Galey organised a charitable bazaar presenting handmade crafts by breadwinning mothers at the garden of her residence this week. Present were French Ambassador to Egypt Nicolas Galey and a wide range of society ladies and diplomats such as spouse of Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr and spouses of Iraq, Jordan and Greece ambassadors as well.
♥ Indian Ambassador to Egypt Navdeep Suri and his wife Mani, together with the Cairo International Film Festival media officer Soheir Abdel-Kader, inaugurated a unique exhibition of visual arts entitled “Akshara — Crafting Indian Scripts” at Al-Hanager Art Centre. The exhibition showcases India's great written heritage by focussing on calligraphy through craft forms in multi-faceted ways and linking the art of calligraphy with that of design, creating a new form moulding ancient and contemporary. The inauguration featured the combined work of two calligraphers — Salah Abdel-Khalek and Rajeev Kumar, who produced a stunning piece — accompanied by the singing of an Indian hymn by Mukesh Tomar. Mohamed Al-Bergini, an icon of Egyptian calligraphy, was present among the dignitaries. It is an exhibition of over 100 museum-quality exhibits created by a not-for-profit national association of crafts people called Dastkari Haat Samiti and founded by Jaya Jaitly, the main force behind the whole event. A film named Aksharakaram, combining calligraphy by Kumar with classical dance movements by the well-known dancers Navtej Johar and Justin McCarthy was screened. The exhibition is part of the programme of the India by the Nile Festival running through 13 May.
♠ Al-Amal (Hope) Association for Street Child Care, presided over by Fatma Barada, held a charitable fashion show by French designer Libo — presenting 60 evening and wedding gowns in the latest line of 2013. Revenues were earmarked for the benefit of building villages for orphans in New Cairo. Among those present were French Ambassador to Egypt Nicolas Galey and his wife, CEO of Al-Ahly Bank Tarek Amer, renowned fashion designer Hani Al-Beheiri, tourism expert Onsi Barakat, society ladies Bahiya Youssef and Gihan Halawa, Al-Ahram writer Mona Ragab and media figures Soheir Shalabi, Marwa Al-Tobgi and Joumana Yassin.
¨ Following the outstanding success of its Egypt's Developers Day in 2012, the leading electronics company limited, the global leader and award-winning innovator, recently announced the launch of the “Entaleq” initiative. Following an online invitation to Egyptian participants, the programme was officially launched at Fairmont Nile Towers. All the company's developer members will be offered the chance to compete in the “Entaleq” challenge, submitting as many original applications as they wish. The company is keen to maintain a sustainable, nationwide programme that will help identify promising developers and offer them the means to build on their skills and improve their career. All the winners in the mobile applications category will have the chance to join the company's Partnership Programme, which allows them to capitalise on it's global expertise, with their applications being marketed through the company as well as workshops being offered, to develop both their technical and entrepreneurial skills. The company will also offer the top three winners in the mobile applications category the chance to attend its International Developer Day. “Last year's round proved that Egyptian youth have great potential in the application development field. As such, we decided to take it to the next level this year, by creating a sustainable project that will allow more promising developers to enhance their skills,” said Duke Park, the company's vice president, Egypt branch.
♣ The Ambassador of the Republic of Korea in Cairo Kim Young-soo confirmed his country's deep and strong relations with Egypt, pointing out that the near future will witness a new boom with various prospects in all fields of cooperation. He noted yesterday during his inauguration of the Korean cultural week hosted by the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Cairo, in cooperation with Qalioubiya governorate and Benha University, that there is much in common in terms of culture and civilisation between the people of Korea and Egypt, factors which promote understanding between them. He said that Egypt is on its way to political stability, helping to create a good investment climate and attract foreign capital. In the same regard, the ambassador opened a Taekwondo course for girls and the photo gallery of Korea in Egypt Public Library, which includes pictures of the most important landmarks in Korea, in addition to a Taekwondo course for children and a show of Korean traditional custom, Hanbok.
♠ The closing ceremony of the Arab Theatre Festival honoured a number of theatre actors including Mohamed Sobhi, Ahmed Ezz and Laila Elwi in a prestigious ceremony that took place at the Arts Academy in Giza last week.
¨ Surrounded by loved ones, friends and former colleagues, the veteran journalist Mohamed Hakki celebrated his 80th birthday in Virginia, United States. Friends and colleagues with their presence and words celebrated his contributions to the success of Arab and Egyptian media. Hakki worked for many years as a journalist and political analyst, writing in Al-Ahram daily as well as Al-Ahram Weekly, with his analyses from Washington. Hakki was also the Egyptian press attaché in Washington during president Anwar Al-Sadat's era. Happy Birthday, Hakki!
♥ This year marks the centennial of the Egyptian Sisters of Sacred Heart monastic order, which was founded by seven Egyptian nuns, starting their services from Upper Egypt towards Heliopolis. The Egyptian sisters are mainly concerned with educating girls and helping poor and needy people. Focussing on the history of the order, St Joseph School in Heliopolis commemorated the event by a celebratory night introducing many episodes that revealed the girls' skills and talents in reciting poetry and singing. The girls, together with their teachers, performed an operetta narrating the history of monasticism. Led by its headmistress Sister Mary Liza, the sisters provide the girls with care, polishing their extracurricular skills side by side with their education. On the day of the celebration, the participants were gifted medals on which St Joseph's name was engraved.
