Presidents Hosni Mubarak and Jacques Chirac inaugurated a major Pharaonic exhibition at the Arab World Institute in Paris yesterday. Nevine El-Aref was there The Arab World Institute in Paris would seem to be a perfect metaphor for the meeting of East and West. There, on the shores of the Seine River, Presidents Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Jacques Chirac of France, along with other dignitaries, top officials and guests from both nations, had gathered together to inaugurate a new exhibition of Ancient Egyptian art. As they began their tour of the exhibition's 250 pieces, a huge painted quartzite statue of Tutankhamun greeted the two presidents. Once their half-hour tour was done, the institute's director, Yve Jena, offered both heads of state honorary awards. The exhibition runs till 10 April 2005. It features objects from the prehistoric to the New Kingdom eras, with 115 of the artefacts carefully selected from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The rest are from collections at the Louvre in Paris, Turino in Italy, and the Philadelphia University Museum in the US. Paris, which has not had a major Egyptian exhibition like this for years, was caught up in a euphoric Egyptomania. Posters featuring the splendid golden mask of the 21st dynasty King Psousen I, which also serves as the exhibition's logo, decorate the arrival hall at the airport, as well as the city's main roads and metro stations. Gift shops are overflowing with replicas of Egyptian artefacts, including canopic jars, statuettes, scarabs, mummy tins and ushabti figurines. Many magazine covers and newspaper front pages also feature objects from the collection. Culture Minister Farouk Hosni told Al-Ahram Weekly that Presidents Mubarak and Chirac's support underlined the importance they give to the dialogue of civilisations, as a way of combating conflict between different cultures and religions. He described the exhibition as an Egyptian initiative meant to convince the European community of the importance of such a dialogue. Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) Secretary-General Zahi Hawass told the Weekly that the magnificent objects, half of which are on display for the first time, would highlight the diverse roles of Egyptian Pharaohs. The exhibit features six sections unveiling the Pharaoh as: a divine sovereign; the son of a god; a military commander; a man in his palace surrounded by his wives; with his children; and then in death. Hawass said the exhibition would show the world how the Pharaohs ruled with notions of truth and justice, rather than with the aggression, violence and wars of today. "This thought is totally symbolised in a five centimetre high statuette of an unknown king holding the goddess of justice, Maat." Hawass said. He said the only battles fought by the Ancient Egyptians were to safeguard their borders from invaders, rather than to highjack or violate other people's land. Among the most distinguished objects on display are the Tanis gold treasures discovered by a French archaeological mission in 1939 in the Delta city of San Al-Hagar, including necklaces, rings, bracelets and masks. Items from the Karnak Cachet discovered by the French Egyptologist George Legrain in 1904 are also on display, along with a beautiful sarcophagus from the mummy cachet discovered by both a French mission and Egyptologist Ahmed Kamal Pasha in 1881. For the first time ever, representatives of Egypt's tour industry are also participating in the exhibition, with a huge booth featuring 12 Egyptian tourism companies and hotels. They are distributing brochures and catalogues featuring different Egyptian resorts and tourist destinations to visitors. Another booth is selling SCA-made replicas. The institute's director, Nasser El-Ansari, told the Weekly that a six-month Egyptian cultural programme is being organised on the fringes of the exhibition. Documentary films revealing the actual excavation works related to major discoveries like Tutankhamun, the Karnak Cachet, and the valley of the golden mummies will be screened, as will classic Egyptian films. Concerts featuring the music of stars like Umm Kulthum, Mohamed Abdel-Wahab, Abdel-Halim Hafez and Sayed Darwish will also be held. Half a million visitors are expected to attend the exhibition, with revenue going towards paying Egypt's dues to the institute. Hawass said that on 3 November, President Mubarak and German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder would inaugurate an exhibition of Tutankhamun's treasures in Bonn. This exhibition, which was inaugurated in Bazel, Switzerland last April by Mrs Suzanne Mubarak, features 50 objects. The revenues will be used to help pay for the construction of the new Grand Egyptian Museum at the Giza Plateau.
