The exhibition of the seventh National Festival for Heritage and Traditional Handicrafts was inaugurated by Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb and Minister of Culture Gaber Asfour at the Palace of Arts on the Cairo Opera Housegrounds. This year's roundis exceptionally significant as the result of the participation of 25 entities and NGOs.Itshowcases 15 traditional craftswith the support of four official foundations: Art and Life Centre, the General Organisation of Cultural Palaces, the Cultural Development Fund, four NGOs including Asala Society forHeritagePreservation , founded by artist Ezzeddin Naguib, Tunis Ceramic Village, Kerdasa School for Weaving and Akhmem Centre for Advancing Industry as well as 44 artists such as spontaneous artist from Al-Minya, glass artist Aida Abdel-Karim, handmade silver jewelry artist Galal Abdel-Khaleq among many others . The exhibition aims at reviving Egypt's rich heritage of handicrafts and indulging it into our daily social and cultural life. It is not only interested in reviving the old heritage but also assist modern artists to be inspired by their heritage in creating modern artworks. Naguib disclosed that the festival is focusing on stressing the importance of the identity and that is why it is entitled "Together to Protect our Identity". It also stresses the importance of building a new generation of skillful artisans to follow the same path as that of their ancestors. For his part Asfourpointed that the festival helps to protect the Egyptian cultural identity from sinking into oblivion. The photos depict gowns and scarves inspired by the Sinai folk heritage by artist Ansaf Al-Batal and a handmade leather cushion created by Soha Abdel-Moneim. The exhibition is on until 31 August.
