A journey inside In her new exhibition at the American University in Cairo Photographic Gallery, award-winning Egyptian photographer Marwa Adel blends a landscape of allusion and illusion into an inner journey filled with doubt, fear, hope and love — a woman's struggle for freedom. According to Adel the human body, which is surrounded by restrictions in our society, is the vehicle that links us to this world and reflects our souls. “Through our body we can modify our memories that are often stereotyped according to other people's experiences. We can also develop our memory and dreams through our human experience resulting in excellence, creativity and distinctiveness to arise.” Living in Cairo, Adel is an assistant lecturer at the Faculty of Applied Arts, Helwan University. She has been widely exhibited in the USA, Germany, France, Italy, England, Sharjah and Dubai. Adel was awarded the Golden Prize at the ninth European-Arab Festival of Photography in Germany in 2012, the Best Arab Photographer Award at the Sharjah Photography Competition in 2013 and the Jury Award at the Sharjah Photography Competition in 2014. The embassies of the three Baltic states Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia celebrated their 97th National Day at the Al-Andalus Garden overlooking the Nile. Present were Lithuanian Ambassador Dainius Junevicius, Estonian Ambassador Sander Soone and Latvian Ambassador Iveta Sulce. At a press conference held prior to the event, which Cairo Governor Galal Said and consulting engineer of Al-Andalus Garden and Qasr Al-Nile Bridge Yasser Assem both attended, Sulce announced that the government of Latvia will renovate the garden and the bridge at its own expense, providing them with sophisticated panoramic lighting using environmentally friendly technology. Italian Ambassador Maurizio Massari gave a press conference at the embassy last week to present Expo Milano 2015, on the theme “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life.” Universal Exhibitions (World Expos) are major international events taking place once every five years. A World Expo lasts for six months and develops a universal theme of general interest for all humanity. Participants include countries and international organisations as well as institutions, companies and civil society. The aim and innovation of Expo Milano 2015 is to prioritise the immaterial legacies of the Universal Exposition, leaving behind not a heritage of imposing architecture, but first and foremost guidelines and new, shared paths to tackle the environmental challenges of the next millennium. Egypt will participate in the Bio-Mediterraneum Cluster (Ecosystem and Agro system in the Mediterranean Region). Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has invited Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb to attend the Milano Expo 2015 on the occasion of the Egyptian National Day (23 July 2015). A celebration of Italy and Egypt's shared cultural and scientific heritage took place at Cairo University's Central Library on 5 May. Organised by the Science Heritage Centre at Cairo University in collaboration with the Galileo Museum of Science of Florence (Italy), the Embassy of Italy in Egypt and CULTNAT - Centre for the Documentation of the Cultural and Natural Heritage of Egypt, the event brought together Massimiliano Franci of the Centre for Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies of Florence, and Andrea Bernardoni of the Galileo Museum. To mark the occasion, Franci launched the Arabic translation of his book, Ancient Egyptian Astronomy, published by the National Translation Centre of Egypt, Bernardoni gave a talk, “Leonardo and Mechanics during Renaissance and the Influence of the Arab World” and an exhibition of short films, photographs and replicas of ancient scientific instruments including Galileo's Telescope was opened. Moroccan Singer Samira Said made her first appearance at Morocco's Mazagan Nights in many years. Said wore a blue caftan and performed a number of her best loved songs. The AUC Career Centre organised its 56th Employment Fair earlier this week at the New Cairo campus. The fair hosted 81 local and multinational companies operating in Egypt and the Gulf region. In her opening speech, AUC President Lisa Anderson said, “With the increase in the number of participating companies over last November's fair and the announcement of more than 1,200 career opportunities in today's event, we are optimistic to witness those positive indicators as a sign of regaining job market strengths.” Students and alumni had the opportunity to network with over 400 company representatives offering career opportunities in various industries, including banking and finance, engineering, fast-moving consumer goods, retail, transportation and shipping, and information technology. “The Career Centre plays an important role in facilitating the transition of students from university life to the labour market through contributing to their career planning process, equipping them with the required job search skills and generating job shadowing, internship and job opportunities,” said Maha Guindi, executive director of the Career Centre. To celebrate the 70th anniversary of Russia's victory over Germany during World War II, the embassies of the Commonwealth Independent of States (CIS) — Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Belarus,Tajikistan, Armenia, Soviet Union and Uzbekistan — organised a celebration at the Egyptian Centre for International Cultural Cooperation in Zamalek. Present were Uzbekistan Ambassador Oybek Usmanov Arifbekovich, Belarus Ambassador Sergey Rashnikov, Azerbaijan Ambassador Shahin Abdullayev, Georgian Ambassador Archil Dzuliashvili, Armenian Ambassador Armen Melkonian and Assistant Foreign Minister for Asian Affairs Yasser Murad. El Sawy Culturewheel's Book Fair concluded its activities this week with director Mohamed El-Sawy announcing the competition winners at the Word Hall: Heba Farouk Helmi and Ahmed Refaat sharing fourth place; Ali Mohamed Farghali in third place; Heba Bassiouni Othman in second place; and Hossam Mahmoud Ali in first place. Following the ceremony, novelist Youssef Zeidan's monthly salon was held as usual.
