The Heliopolis Development Association, presided over by Mrs Suzanne Mubarak, organised a Spring Cultural Festival in Baghdad Street, Heliopolis. Publishers sold their books, artists displayed their art work, while music and a parade of flower floats set the festive mood. Baghdad Street was closed to traffic and pedestrians enjoyed the street cafés while humming to the music of Wist El-Balad and Black Thema bands. Cairo's hippest bookstore Diwan marked its fifth anniversary this week at the Opera House's Open Air Theatre. The celebration included the signing of a number of books by a galaxy of prestigious authors among whom was Robert Fisk, the high-profile British journalist and Middle East corespondent to The Independent, who authored Pity the Nation and The Great War for Civilization. In attendance was also renowned Egyptian novelist Bahaa Taher, recipient of the State Merit Award in Literature in 1998. Distinguished attendees included economist Galal Amin, a frequent contributor to The Independent and author of Whatever Happened to the Egyptians?, later followed by The Illusion of Progress in the Arab World, published in 2006. Novelist Ahdaf Sweif, whose The Map of Love (1999) was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and translated into 16 languages. Gracing the event was also satirical writer Ahmed El-Aidi, whose first novel Being Abbas El-Abd received the second Sawiris Award for Literature. El-Aidi was delighted to sign copies of his book. The authors also discussed the last five years of their life with the public in a warm and dynamic exchange. The Breast Cancer Foundation of Egypt (BCFE) -- a small group of Egyptians and foreign expatriates concerned with the high incidence of breast cancer and the lack of related support services in Egypt -- organised a campaign last week entitled "Run for cure: life without breast cancer" at the Gezira Club. The campaign is aimed at providing knowledge and services to women who have been affected by breast cancer, as well as increasing awareness of the disease to all women. A plethora of public and diplomatic figures, brushed shoulders with more than 1,400 Egyptians and foreigners in attendance. Present were Mrs. Haynes Mahoni, wife of the American Embassy's cultural attaché, former minister of higher education and scientific research Venus Kamel, Moamena Kamel, head of Women's Committee at the National Democratic Party, the former head of Inner Wheel Club in Egypt and Jordan Samia Abul-Futouh, Marwa Mustafa from the UN's High Commission for Refugees, former world champion, swimmer Abdel-Latif Abu Heif, and sports commentator captain Ayman Younis. More on the artistic note, tonight is your last chance to watch a thrilling group exhibition at Al-Hanager Art Centre by Nagwa El-Ashri, Ibrahim Abdel-Malak and Adel Thabet, along with Al-Ahram Weekly 's very own illustrator Gamil Shafiq, as well as Sayed Saadeddin, Mohamed Tarawi, Farahat Zaki, Hanaa Hashim and Samir Fouad. Each artist shows 10 works on average, including oils and acrylics, as well as wooden-carved candleholders by Shafiq and bronze sculptures by Abdel-Malak. The Ambassador of the Delegation of the European Commission in Egypt Klaus Ebermann organised a lunch at his residence where he discussed the recently-adopted EU/Egypt Neighbourhood Policy Joint Action Plan with his guest of honour Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif. The lunch was also attended by Minister of Industry and Trade Rachid Mohamed Rachid, and Minister of International Cooperation and representative of the minister of foreign affairs Fayza Abul-Naga. The lunch was followed by a joint press conference held by Nazif and Ebermann during which they explained the structure and aims of the action plan. photos: Ayman Barayez At his residence, Moroccan Ambassador to Egypt Mohamed Farag Al-Dokali held a meeting with a bevy of luminary figures among whom were Mohamed El-Moatassem, political counsellor of His Majesty Mohamed VI king of Morocco, Chief Editor of Nisf Al-Donia magazine Afkar El-Kharadli, Editor-in-Chief of Al-Akhbar newspaper Mohamed Barakat, head of the Middle East News Agency Abdallah Hassan and Editor-in-Chief of Sawt Al-Umma newspaper Wael El-Ibrashi. Chairman of the People's Assembly Foreign Relations Committee Mustafa El-Feki, Vice-President of the Egyptian Institution for Human Rights Mokhles Qotb, deputy chief of mission Ali Al-Mouselhi and Media and Cultural Attaché Arabi bin Al-Sheikh were also present. At their residence in Garden City, Italian Ambassador to Cairo Antonio Badini and his lovely wife Donia held a magnificent masquerade inspired by carnivals of Venice. All proceedings of the party were donated to diabetics as well as children afflicted with leprosy and cancer. Among the guests were Cairo Opera House Director Abdel-Moneim Kamel and his wife ballerina Erminia Kamel, artist Farid Fadel and his wife Mona Zaki and actress Leila Elwi. This time news about head of the General Organisation of Cultural Palaces (GOCP) Ahmed Nawwar concerns the artist that he is, as he was chosen along with six other international artists -- Oscar Niemeyer from Brazil, Mathias Goertiz from Mexico, Bruce Beasley and Alberto Paley from the US, Josep Maria Sirvent from Spain, as well as a distinguished Mexican artist -- to create a series of gigantic statues decorating the shores of the Santa Caterina River in Mexico. Nawwar will name his statue "The Challenge" to complete the trilogy of "Freedom" and "Will", the other two statues he dedicated to Mexico. The statues are scheduled to be erected in September 2007 during a mega national festivity. A similar exchange took place when Beasley, once guest of honour at the Cairo International Biennale, donated a large bronze statue to the Museum of Modern Art in Cairo. In an apt gesture of gratitude to otherwise unknown mothers, a unique festival was held on Mother's Day, yesterday, at the Cairo Stadium under the auspices of Minister of Social Solidarity Ali El-Mouselhi and Minister of Administrative Development Ahmed Darwish. Around 1,000 volunteers from the Risala charity managed to put together this huge gathering in honour of 2,000 mothers from clubs and elderly people's homes. Many artists and celebrities besides DJ Yasser El-Hariri participated. According to Risala volunteer Omar Mohamed Abdu, "we should not forget those who are overcome by grief and ingratitude while we are celebrating our own mothers every year." This year, he continued, "we widen our perspective to bring happiness to the lives of most Egyptian mothers, with a special focus on the forgotten mothers." The event included entertainment, birthday celebrations, meals and gifts for the mothers being honoured. Ihsan Abdel-Hakim, one of the honourees, overcame loneliness after the death of her husband by establishing a club, Ain Al-Hayyat Society, for the elderly to meet every Monday: "It feels like being with family, I even enjoy the hectic efforts involved in meeting the needs of club members." photos: Sherif Mahmoud The World Health Organisation (WHO) celebrated the 13th Festival of Well-Informed Mothers, organised by the Egyptian Anti-Drug Society in an attempt to honour mothers who have contributed in combating drug addiction. Designating Mrs Suzanne Mubarak as the well-informed mother for 2007, the celebration opened with a cordial statement by WHO Director Hussein El-Gazaari, followed by a speech by actress Madiha Hamdi, secretary-general of the well-informed mothers committee. Former minister of education and honorary head of the society, Hussein Kamel Bahaaeddin, was among the distinguished attendees. Big screen celebrity Nadia El-Guindi, who played a crucial role in this respect through her anti-drug movies, namely Al-Modmena (The Addict), as well as theatre diva Samiha Ayoub and TV announcer Poussi Shalabi were also honoured for their efforts.
