Hicham Safieddine finds this year's Cultural Café striving after relevance It is almost half past two on Monday afternoon at the Cairo International Book Fair (CIBF), half an hour after the seminar on street kids is supposed to start. Over 100 people, mostly young men, are jammed beneath the Cultural Café's canopy. Organiser Hassan Sorour tries to clear space in the tent, to no avail. The eyes of the crowd are glued on panelist and soccer superstar Ahmed Shobeir who appears oblivious to Sorour's calls to end the session and encourages more questions. Eventually the seminar is adjourned and fans swarm to ask Shobeir for autographs. Sorour gently invites everyone to go back to their seats for the seminar on street kids. Some heed his calls, but much of the tent empties quickly. The excitement generated by Shobeir's presence on the panel of the seminar on "Broadcasting Sports Games" is atypical of events held in the unassuming tent near a restaurant corner in the book fair grounds. But the fact that crowds were often smaller at other events did not overshadow the relevance and novelty of the topics discussed at this year's Cultural Café. The seminars, held daily from noon to 6pm, fell under three categories: "A Tribute to a Guest of Honour", "Pioneers of the Modern Poem" and "New Cultural Phenomena in Society". It was the last category that seemed to stand out as an attempt to bring the issues of the day closer to the book fair's visitors. "The Cultural Café has been around for 15 years and in the past tackled hot issues in politics or history or other subjects," says Sorour, who chain-smokes the lectures away. "This is the first time we have tackled the concerns of the ordinary Egyptian. We chose this topic [New Cultural Phenomena in Society] because we felt as elites we tend to talk to one other when we should be talking to people out there instead." The new phenomena discussed included "The Culture of the Microbus", "The Culture of the Café and the Mall", "The Culture of the Hamburger and the Take Away", "The Chaos of Egyptian Architecture" and "Street Children between Public Institutions and Non-governmental Activism". At the "Chaos of Egyptian Architecture" seminar, held on 29 January, urban researcher Galila El-Qadi gave a grim overview of the deterioration of Cairo's urban space. "There is an arbitrariness of decision-making in designing and legislating construction in Cairo," she explained, citing the shifting position of the government on tearing down old villas and the growth of unplanned urban sprawl when tens of thousands of residential units remain unoccupied in Cairo. Another panelist, architect Mona Zakaria, brought the subject back to the citizen and his or her responsibilities in the face of an irresponsible government. Recounting her experiences in preventing the deterioration of Old Cairo neighborhoods, she wondered how different things might be if Cairenes protested more whenever an opportunist developer tried to disfigure or harm their area or residence. "I believe the way to fight this is for the residents of neighbourhoods, those who have no vested interests, to run for local public office," she said. "As long as they continue to turn a blind eye to what is going on around them the chaos is going to grow. For Zakaria the architectural chaos that blights Cairo is part and parcel of the problem of citizenship, the absence of which leads to people being alienated from their environment where decisions are in any case imposed from above. While everyone agreed on the abysmal state of urban architecture plaguing Cairo several attendees were willing to disagree with the panelists, and commentators took to the microphone to argue some of the points discussed. One speaker said citizens are hardly to blame when everything they see is ugly and worn down. Eagerness to join in the discussion was also evident in the "Street Children" seminar held on 30 January. Panelist Bouthaina Kamel, a TV journalist, recounted her experience in the early 1990s conducting a series of interviews with street kids. Kamel touched on the roots of the problem, including poverty and domestic violence. She also recounted some of their dreams. Top was becoming a police officer -- a reflection, perhaps, of their fear of the police. Next was returning home. Some children, though, had no dreams whatsoever. The vivid depiction of the lives and conditions of these children, by Kamel and other speakers, was followed by comment and questions from the audience. Ashraf Fathi, who was passing by when the tent caught his eye and he decided to attend, thought addressing issues that touch on everyday life was a great idea but, like others, he complained that little in way of solutions were given. He also wished more publicity could be given to the seminars so more people participate. "Everyone speaks from their own perspective about these issues, and speakers are hardly living the reality about which they speak. Instead they talk from their professional perspectives," he said. "But we all know these problems and we are looking for solutions, and they did not seem to offer any significant concrete proposals." Academic discourse and an overarching, complicated rendering of ideas often marred the panelists' speeches. Several panelists seemed barely able to contain themselves and frequently spoke beyond the allotted time, leaving little time for the public to pitch in with questions. Kamel later said some speakers will take time to adjust to this type of seminar, but that this is something worth pursuing to enliven debate about social issues in Egypt. For Sorour the Cultural Café's attempt to build bridges between intellectuals and ordinary Egyptians is the first step on a long road, but a positive one nonetheless. "There is still a long way to go before we have a real dialogue with the street," says Sorour, "but some panelists are getting the hang of it. The 'Tribute to a Guest of Honour' was a difficult one to handle for some audiences but still I think the 'New Phenomena' sessions went really well."
