By Madame Sosostris My dears, at the art gallery of Al-Ahram's new building, Deputy Chairman of the Board and General Manager of Al- Ahram Ali Ghoneim opened a tantalising exhibition by veteran artist Omar El-Nagdi. It comprises 150 works including murals, works sculptured in bronze, iron and wood, drawings and oil paintings. The opening was attended by a bevy of luminary figures such as vernacular poet Abdel-Rahman El- Abnoudi, famous comedian Abdel-Moneim Madbouli, actress Fardous Abdel-Hamid as well as a group of plastic artists and art critics. The annual equestrian race, held in the Gezira Club on Saturday and Sunday, culminated with a large ceremony attended by Arab and foreign dignitaries in Egypt. Saudi Ambassador Ibrahim bin Saad Al-Barahim told my friend Mustafa El-Menshawy that the race, which comprised 84 horsemen competing for LE200,000 prizes, was a "fresh indicative of close relations" between his kingdom and Egypt. Saudi horseman Abdul-Aziz Al-Gidlan snatched the trophy of the race, now into its 21st round since its launch in 1978. Attending the ceremony was British Ambassador Sir Derek Plumbly, Palestinian Ambassador to Cairo Mohamed Sobeih. In the ceremony, I also met comic actor Samir Ghanem and veteran writer at Al-Akhbar newspaper Ismail Al- Naquib. It was a most pleasant two days. My delights, the last stop in the Cairo Opera House cultural tour across several of Egypt's governorates was Upper Egypt. At Al-Salam Theatre in Aswan, a cultural festival was organised by the Opera House featuring the stars of the National Arabic Music Ensemble, led by Selim Sahab as well as popular singer Ali El-Haggar. The festivity, attended by around 3,000 school and university students, was concluded with the exchange of memorial shields between Aswan Governor Samir Youssef and Director of the opera house Samir Farag. My dears, the Arabian Music Awards Festival launched its bid for Arab singers, with such super stars as Amr Diab, Mohamed Abdu, Mustafa Qamar and Kazim El-Saher among the competitors. At a press conference held in Cairo, Bilal Dayani, head of the Arabian Music Academy in Dubai, the organiser, said the festival is an attempt to "upgrade the level of Arab songs and improve taste of audience". Egyptian composer Helmy Bakr said the revenues of the "phone voting" by the audience would be channelled into the cancer hospital in Cairo. Bakr told me that the academy, launched in February this year, would help protect the intellectual property of Arab music works inside and outside the region and "spread a musical culture in Arab countries". The festival would honour Lebanese singer Melhem Barakat and poet Karim El-Eraqi. Last Saturday, I had the chance to attend an extremely interesting conference that was held at the Egyptian Museum. The delightful evening featured Spanish archaeologist Eudald Carbonell, who talked about Atapuerca mountains in Europe, and Professor Mustafa Attallah who delivered a lecture on Pharaonic history. Carbonell 's talk was justified through the projection of a documentary on Atapuerca area. Among the attendees were Ambassador of Venezuela Victor Carazo, Ambassador of Argentine Oswaldo Pascual, Spanish Ambassador Pedro Lopez and Director of Cervantes Institute (The Spanish Cultural Centre in Cairo and Alexandria) Luis Moratinos. The Weekly extends its warmest congratulations to Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the American University in Cairo Hassan Azzazy, who was among 10 scientists worldwide to receive the International Travel Grant Award from the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC), presided over by Susan Evans. He was invited by the AACC to participate in the 55th annual conference of the AACC in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Prior to joining AUC, Azzazy served as a faculty member at the department of pathology and medical research technology at University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore (1997-2002). He is a diplomat of the American Society for Clinical Biochemistry and a fellow of the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry. He is also the current chairman of the Clinical Chemistry Examination Committee of the Board of Registry, the American Society of Clinical Pathology in Chicago. Most inspiring, my dears. In an attempt to help Egyptian youngsters taste a different type of music, the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Kamal Hilal will feature a concert on 28 April at the theatre of the Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University. It will present a programme of international compositions such as Carmen by Bizet, Symphony No. 40 by Mozart as well as a piece titled Hayati (My Life) by Mohamed Abdel-Wahab, which is to be performed for the first time. It was at Cairo University when the orchestra presented its first concert for university students in the presence of Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Moufid Shehab and President of Cairo University Naguib El-Hilali. My dears, children are always delightful to have around. As part of its continuous efforts towards reflecting a good citizenship attitude, Conrad Cairo recently organised a fun day for the children of SOS Kinderdorf International on the occasion of all of easter, Spring, mother's day and orphan's day. The fun was shared by children from Cairo, Alexandria and Tanta as well as Conrad Cairo's team. Everybody enjoyed the various entertainment: magician, face painter, Disney show, dancing and singing. I too, my delights, had a whimsical day amidst the laughter.
