By z In a special ceremony, El-Sawy Culture Wheel honoured 2006 award winners who made an impact locally and internationally: novelist Ibrahim Aslan, winner of Sawiris Foundation Literature Prize for his lifetime achievement; filmmaker Hala Khalil, winner of the Cairo International Film Festival best Arab film award for her movie Qas wa Lazq (Cut and Paste); playwright Lenin El-Ramli, winner of the Prince Claus Award for his oeuvre; novelist Said El-Kafrawi and poet Hassan Talib, winners of the Sultan Qaboos Prize for Cultural Innovation; artists Ramses Marzouk, Farouk Shehata and Awatef Abdel-Karim, winners of the State Merit Award; our very own George Bahgory and poet Ahmed Sweilam, winners of the State Excellence Award; scholar Hussein Nassar, winner of the Mubarak Award in Literature; winners of the State Incentive Award; and winners of the El-Sawy Documentary Film Award. photo: Sherif Mahmoud Head of the Nile Entertainment Channel and veteran media figure Salma El-Shamaa held a party to honour actors, actresses, directors, script writers, journalists and writers who were particularly successful in 2006, among them actors Youssra, Somaya El-Khashab, Menna Shalabi, Khaled El-Sawy, Sherif Mounir, Nour El-Sherif, directors Ali Ragab, Marwan Hamed, Hala Khalil and scriptwriter Bilal Fadl. photo: Ayman Barayez Emirati Ambassador Ahmed Ali El-Zo'aby and director of the Opera House galleries Fayza Abdel-Moneim opened a group exhibition by the Emirates Al-Juman Art Group, held at the Opera House Music Library Hall and the Opera Gallery. Running through 25 January, the show features photography and paintings in water-colour and oil as well as abstract works revolving around the theme of traditional Bedouin life in the Gulf countries. Among the 14 male and female artists participating are Nagat Mekki, Mona Al-Khaga, Salma, Wafaa Khazendar, Gasem Rabie, Ahmed Sherif, Mohamed Al-Qassab and Hasnaa Abu Bakr. photos: Ghada Abd El-Kader The Cairo Opera House has been very busy, Ghada Abd El-Kader reports. It held a press conference to announce hosting one of the world's best- known troupes, Flamenco de Madrid -- for the second time in Egypt. Among the speakers were the Cervantes Institute Director Luis Sierra, General Director of the Cairo Opera Ballet troupe Erminia Kamel, producer of the work Maher Zekri and head of the media office Mohamed Hosni. Kamel said the troupe would be presenting a new, contemporary version of Carmen. ( See Music & Dance Listings ). Another press conference announced a concert of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) -- scheduled to perform, for first time in the Middle East, at the Cairo Opera House on 30 and 31 January and the Sayed Darwish Theatre, Alexandria, on 1 February. The event was organised under the auspices of Mrs Suzanne Mubarak, with help from the Ministry of Tourism, the British Embassy and the Ministry of Culture. Conference speakers included associate professor of marketing and head of the Marketing Academic Unit at the American University in Cairo (AUC) Ibrahim Hegazi, British Ambassador Sir Derek Plumbly, Opera House director Abdel-Moneim Kamel, head of the Artistic House for Music, Ballet and Orchestra Mohamed Hamdi and Egypt's Tourism Promotion Authority Chairman Ahmed El-Khadem. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will be conducted by Leonard Slatkin and will feature soloists Ramzy Yassa and Ahmed Abu Zahra. It will play Mozart, Chopin, Dvorjac, and Brahms. The revenue from all three concerts will go directly to the children's cancer hospital and The Journalists Syndicate, headed by Galal Aref, recently celebrated the 10th Journalist Day with an awards ceremony in which former dean of the Syndicate Makram Mohamed Ahmed was honoured alongside winners of the Journalistic Excellence Award. Al-Ahram gleaned 11 prizes, one of which went to Al-Ahram Weekly layout editor Nader Habib -- who described his work as a product of collaborative efforts by the Weekly staff -- handed to him by veteran Al-Ahram columnist Salah Montaser. On the occasion, Aref commended the work of the Weekly, referring to prizes received in the past. Present were the Weekly Editor-in-Chief Assem El-Kersh and Habib 's family, including his wife Donia Wagdy, who took an oath of upholding the journalists' Legion of Honour at the end of the same ceremony. Responding to the invitation of the American International School in Egypt and the Cairo English School, both headed by ESOL Organisation President Walid Abu Shaqra, the European Council of International Schools (ECIS) is holding its board meetings for the first time in Cairo. On the agenda is a number of important topics relating to the latest in international education as well as the launch of an "international teaching certificate" devised in collaboration with Cambridge University, to facilitate employment across borders. The board will also discuss the ECIS annual conference, one of the most important in the world. Among the board members who attended were Chairman and head of American School in Paris Pilar Di Vaca, Vice-Chairman and head of the American School in Prague Robert Landau and ECIS Chairman Dixie McCay.
