A week-long programme brings a different image of Egypt to Washington DC, reports Amina Elbendary "Egypt's Other Pasts: A Pilgrimage through the Splendors of Coptic, Greco-Roman and Islamic Legacies" opens next week in Washington DC. As its organisers Brigitte Boulad-Kiesler and Sherine Mishriki explained to Al-Ahram Weekly the event aims at introducing the many sides of Egypt's legacy and identity to the American public. Understanding the coexistence of these multiple sides of Egypt is a prerequisite, they believe, to better dialogue. Running from 9 to 13 June, the programme will occupy several venues in the city. "Egypt's Other Pasts" is funded by private, Egyptian and American, donors. And while getting them on board was not easy, it was helped by the fact that the event is held under the auspices of Mrs Suzanne Mubarak. The Egyptian Embassy in Washington encouraged many donors to sign on and helped overcome other obstacles. In fact the project is the brain- child of Nabil Fahmy, Egypt's ambassador to the US. Yet it remains remarkable that it has been achieved with private funding, testimony to the fact that some donors realised that, in the long run, promoting a positive image of Egypt will be to their benefit. A symposium held at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts brings together experts, both Egyptian and foreign, on various aspects of the country's heritage. They include Farouk El-Baz, Moustafa El-Abbadi, Mohamed Awad, Elizabeth Bolman, Abdelhalim Ibrahim, Robert Cribbs and Shahira Mehrez, and will address topics that stress the diversity of Egypt's heritage as well as its interconnectedness with world civilisation; from Egypt at the crossroads of civilisations to the mystery of the pyramids, from ancient masterpieces in Coptic monasteries to the relationship between Ancient Egyptian and modern music. An hour-long concert arranged by musicologist Ayman Khoury will be held at the Millennium Stage of the Kennedy Center. It will include performances by 18 Egyptian musicians brought together for the first time and playing a variety of traditional instruments including the nay, the rababa, qanun and oud. The concert will showcase Egyptian music from a variety of regions, including Sufi music, Coptic chants, gypsy music, traditional mawwals and Umm Kulthoum's repertoire. The concert will be repeated at the Lisner Auditorium of George Washington University, followed by Chopin's Sonata number 2, performed by Egyptian pianist Moushira Issa. At the Corcoran Gallery a hand-sewn and serigraph-studded limited edition of Naguib Mahfouz's Arabian Nights and Days will be presented by Mohamed Salmawy, while original artwork for the edition by Nazli Madkour will be on display. The presentation will be accompanied by a nay recital. The National Geographic Society will host two talks, one by Zahi Hawass on "The enigma of King Tut", the second by Mounir Neamatalla on a project for sustainable development in Siwa. While events of 11 September undoubtedly gave new impetus to the perennial challenge of offering a positive image of Egypt to the West, "Egypt's Other Pasts" represents a new departure in this ongoing process. It is, to all intents and purposes, an attempt to rebrand Egypt. "Branding is branding," says Mishriki unapologetically, "it all has to do with how you want to position yourself and which image of yourself you want to promote, what message you want to send and who your target audience is." Yet she and Boulad-Kiesler insist this is not about reinventing Egypt, but simply flaunting some of its assets and promoting lesser-known sides. It is about updating the packaging, not the substance. The programme stresses several, multilayered points. An obvious one is the diversity of Egypt's heritage and its rich contemporary identity. Egypt is also a crossroads of civilisations, one in which the West has always been present; hence celebrating cosmopolitan Alexandria and Egyptian performers of Western classical music. Egypt is not only about Cairo but also about Nubia, Upper Egypt and the oases. Some of the messages are meant to seep in almost subconsciously. Thus the slick publicity material and web site (www.egyptsotherpasts.com) are intended not only to lure invitees -- stalwarts of Washington society including US First Lady Laura Bush -- but should also associate Egypt with state- of-the-art elegance and excellent quality. Much time was spent fretting over tiny details. All the venues are prestigious; these are not fringe theatres. Yet they each attract different audiences, allowing the same message of diversity to reach different yet mainstream audiences, though the fact the programme is being held in Washington suggests American policy and opinion makers are the real target audience. Brigitte Boulad-Kiesler and Sherine Mishriki themselves epitomise the diversity of contemporary Egypt. Both Egyptian (Boulad-Kiesler is half- Lebanese), they grew up abroad, are Western- educated and well-versed in Western culture. Boulad-Kiesler studied French literature at the Sorbonne and earned a doctorate at George Washington University, and has organised similar events for Yemen. Mishriki studied business administration at McGill and went on to specialise in project management at multi-national corporations in Canada and Egypt where she honed the skills necessary to organise a project of this scale. They both come across as efficient, confident women and since they bridge two worlds, as it were, are well-situated to present one to the other. The event's success will take time to gauge. Attendance could be a marker but so will spin-off projects -- they are already contemplating an exhibition of contemporary Egyptian art. What they most hope, though, is that the image decision and opinion makers in Washington have of Egypt will slowly change, prompting them to adopt a different attitude towards the country and the opportunities it offers. And if the programme induces Egyptian policy- makers and businessmen to make greater efforts to promote a positive image of Egypt abroad, all the better. Mishriki and Boulad-Kiesler are showing it is doable.
