Fatimid fun The Cultural Development Fund's Beit Al-Seheimi Centre is holding a qarakoz and shadow puppet performance on Al-Muez Street every Friday at 3pm. The centre also recently presented a folk-inspired clown performance called Al-Temsah (The Crocodile). Performances are written and directed by Nabil Bahgat and performed by the Wamda Group, with members including Ali Abu-Zeid Suleiman, Mustafa Al-Sabagh, Mahmoud Said, Saber Chico and Saber Al-Masri. The Arab Drama Festival honoured veteran actress Samiha Ayoub, actors Mohamed Sobhi, Samah Anwar, Wafaa Sadek, Ezzat Al-Alaili, Abdel-Rahman Abu-Zahra, Ahmed Bedeir, Ahmed Abdel-Aziz and director Inaam Mohamed Ali. Actresses Menna Shalabi, Kenda Aloush and Tarek Al-Ganaini were honoured for their roles in Ramadan TV Series Niran Sadika (Friendly Fires) while the festival also honoured the names of the late TV directors Osama Anwar Okasha and Ismail Abdel-Hafez. Bangladesh Ambassador to Egypt Mizanur Rahman and his wife gave a prestigious reception at their residence to mark the 43rd National Day of Bangladesh. Present were Austrian Ambassador Ferdinand Maultasch, Chinese Ambassador Song Aiguo, Swiss Ambassador Markus Leitner, Belgian Ambassador Gilles Heyvaert, Pakistani Ambassador Manzoor Ul-Haq, Singaporean Ambassador Premjith Sadasivan, Brunei Darussalam Ambassador Dato Mahdi Abd-Rahman, Mongolian Ambassador Odonjil Banzragch, Indian Ambassador Navdeep Suri and Cyprus Ambassador Sotos Liasides. A conference was held to celebrate Orphan Day at the Sound and Light Theatre at the Giza Pyramids, organised by the Dar Al-Orman charity. Minister of Information Doreya Sharafeddin, Minister of Social Solidarity Ghada Wali, Minister of Manpower Nahed Al-Ashri, Minister of Tourism Hisham Zazou, Minister of Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim, Director of the Cairo Opera House Inas Abdel-Dayem and Head of the Catholic Centre for Egyptian Cinema Father Boutros Daniel were all present. Caricature: A Smile and Light is the title of a new book by cartoonist Said Badawi who was — before his retirement two years ago — Al-Ahram Weekly's printing consultant. With his brush, Badawi tackles the ups and downs of Egyptian society, showing his celebrated sense of humour in 300 pages and dealing with corruption, poverty, revolution, and the holy month of Ramadan. He devotes many cartoons to women, highlighting their everyday life and how they are socially, politically and economically abused. The 12th Arab Theatre Festival opened Hekaya Tarablousiya (A Tripoli Tale) directed by Gamal Abdel-Nasser at the Al-Hanager Art Centre in the presence of Minister of Culture Saber Arab, veteran theatre actress Samiha Ayoub and actress Fardous Abdel-Hamid. The festival features contributions from ten Arab countries and 13 Egyptian troupes. The Armenian Orthodox Patriarchate in Egypt organised a concert at the Cairo Opera House Small Hall in collaboration with the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia and under the auspices of Primate of the Armenian Diocese in Egypt Bishop Ashot Mnatsakanian. The occasion was "Arax"Choir's 10thanniversary. The choir conducted by Mihran Ghazelian, with pianist Haig Avakian, dhol(an Armenian instrument) player Rupen Terzibashian, performed 20 songs in Arabic, English, French, Russian, Italian and Spanish besides Armenian and tunes by the great Armenian composers A Khatchturian, A Babadjanian, Sayat Nova, Fr Gomidas, A Hekimian, Kousan Sheram, A Harutiunian, T Altunianand Lebanese Marcel Khalife. Solo singers included SopranoSylva Terzibashianperforming Deer of Karabagh , a love song by the Weekly's very own Mezzo SopranoNora Keuhnelianand her husband BaritoneAra performing a duet, Olor Molor, Mezzo SopranoKohar GhazelianperformingRiver Araxand Tenor Rupen SaadLuigi Denza's Funiculi Funicula. The choir concluded the concert with an unforgettable song named Genats Yerk, Lari Temberelala ha ha ha (A Toss to The Land, Armenia) which the audience were still humming as they left the hall. Present from the Weeklywere Nesmahar Sayed, Nader Habiband his wife Dunia Wagdi, Hani Mustafaand Soha Hesham. Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia Armen Melkonianwas also among the audience. The General Secretariat of the Catholic Schools celebrated the girls who won the sports competitions of school tournaments in its 12th round, held at Collège du Sacre-Cœur in Heliopolis. St. Joseph's Language School Principal Sister Samiha Ragheb confirmed that the school is deeply concerned with the participation of its girls in these contests to create an atmosphere of healthy competition among them. Present at the celebration was human rights activist George Ishak.
