And the winner is... Recent days have brought good news for Al-Ahram Weekly's talented photographer Sherif Sonbol, who just received Al-Ahram newspaper's monthly press award jointly with the daily Al-Ahram photographer Sayed Abdel-Qader. Sonbol was granted the award for photographs of special traditions and wedding ceremonies in Nubia published in the Weekly, Issue 983. Sonbol has also been celebrating with the American University in Cairo Press its Coptic publications, marking its 50th anniversary, including his book of photographs The Churches of Egypt : From the Journey of the Holy Family to the Present Day (AUC Press, 2007). photos: Ayman Barayez At the American University in Cairo's Margo Veillon Gallery, newly opened in AUC's Cultural Centre downtown, the first ever exhibition of paintings by late president Anwar El-Sadat's widow Jehan El-Sadat was opened last Sunday. It featured 50 paintings depicting the Egyptian landscape and was attended by a bevy of luminaries including former Iranian emperor Farah Bahlawi, Lina Boutros Ghali, education expert Nawal El-Degwei, Moroccan Ambassador to Egypt Mohamed Farag Al-Dokali and his Lebanese counterpart Khaled Ziyada, among many others ( see Listings p.6 ). The Diwan Bookstore in Zamalek hosted the internationally acclaimed chef Bobby Chinn last Sunday, signing copies of his book, Wild, Wild East: Recipes and Stories from Vietnam. In addition to the book signing, Chinn also performed a live cooking session similar to his performances on his show "World Café Asia" aired on the Discovery Travel and Living channel. The Hala Febrayer Festival (Welcome February) in Kuwait has concluded with a spectacular concert by veteran Algerian singer Warda, powerful Saudi voice Mohamed Abdu and Moroccan singer Asmahan Lemnawar. Fans flocked to the concert to enjoy a delightful evening to the melodies of their beloved stars. Liberty Lions Club (LLC) presided over by Gamal Abu Zekri held a notable seminar at Sonesta Cairo Hotel. Head of the People's Assembly Foreign Relations Committee Mustafa El-Feki was the keynote speaker, talking about political developments in the Middle East. Members of the LLC including Mohamed Zeidan, Olfat Ezzat, Iman El-Barqouqi, Gigi Elish, Tarek Tawfiq, Fatma Aref and Amal El-Manaili were all present. Within the framework of the International Day for Fighting Against Cancer, a campaign was launched entitled Yanabei Al-Hayah (Streams of Life) in Alexandria, under the auspices of Alexandria Governor Adel Labib. The campaign aims at raising awareness about, and gathering donations for, the Aiadi Al-Mustaqbal (Hands of the Future) Centre in Alexandria that aims to treat cancer for free. A large number of donors participated in the campaign and a marathon that included the presence of a galaxy of celebrities, among them gorgeous actress Hala Shiha and her husband TV presenter Amr Ramzi and Miss Egypt Elham Wagdi, followed by a press conference with the participation of numerous media figures and celebrities, including Lebanese singer Nesreen Zeriqan, football player Ahmed Emmara, and head of the Egyptian Doctors Board Bassem El-Sawah who were all impressed by the campaign. This week has witnessed the opening of a number of remarkable exhibitions! At Al-Masar Gallery in Zamalek, Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni inaugurated the exhibition of late philosopher, painter, educator, humanist and founder of the Contemporary Art Group in 1946 Hussein Youssef Amin (1904-1984), including a collection of study sketches, oil paintings, pastels, aquarelles and handwritten notes and articles. The opening was attended by Al-Ahram theatre page- editor Amal Bakir, cartoonist George Bahgory, artist Farid Fadel and his wife Mona Zaki, artist Ayman Salah Taher as well as director of the gallery Walid Abdel-Khaleq ( see Listings p.6 ). The Cervantes Institute in Cairo (Spanish Cultural Centre) organised the 13th Cultural Forum of Arab and Egyptian Universities in Qena governorate. The opening ceremony featured a Spanish flamenco troupe composed of Spanish guitarist Fernando Pérez, Puerto Rican dancer Dalia Ferrer, along with Egyptian percussionist Ayman Mabrouk. The forum that concludes its activities today was inaugurated by South Valley University President Abbas Mansour as well as a galaxy of deans from various higher education institutions. For the second time, Egypt won the cup of the 19th World Big Game Trolling Championship that recently concluded in Hurghada. The Egyptian team included Adel Wali, Helmi Azab, Seif Khairi, Mohamed Taymour, Ayman Hassouna. The latter was awarded best trolling fisherman. South Africa's Embassy in Cairo marked 100 days before the World Cup in South Africa starting 11 June. Celebrations took place in South African embassies around the world. Orascom Development celebrated the closing event of the newly launched cultural exchange programme El-Gouna Writers' Residency. The event, which was held under the patronage of renowned Egyptian philanthropist Yousreya Loza-Sawiris at El-Gouna Library, featured presentations from authors from the United Kingdom and United States. The El-Gouna Writers' Residency hosts three sessions a year, in February, May and June, and offers one month complimentary accommodation to aspiring authors to work on their literary projects in El-Gouna, on the Red Sea. "This is the first programme in the Middle East and Africa to offer such a programme and an inspiring environment to talented authors, where they can experience unique opportunities and exposure to different cultural contexts," said Engineer Tarek Danish, assistant to the Orascom Chairman Samih Sawiris and member of the El-Gouna Writers' Residency Advisory Board. "The residency has been a very successful and a beneficial experience for me in so many ways," commented Khadijah Ibrahim, British in-house resident of the programme. "This peaceful environment has been a great inspiration and has helped me to produce my work. El-Gouna is the perfect setting for the arts and artists alike -- to be both nurtured and celebrated," he added. photo: Abdel-Hamid Eid In a spectacular evening, Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni inaugurated the 20th Cairo International Film Festival for Children (CIFFC) along with President of the CIFFC Fawzi Fahmi and Vice-President Soheir Abdel-Qader at the Cairo Opera House Main Hall. The ceremony started with an operetta entitled Future Children directed by Walid Aouni, depicting children's dreams and ambitions. Following the operetta, Hosni honoured a galaxy of celebrities who contributed artwork for children during their careers, among them veteran actors Samira Abdel-Aziz and Mohsena Tawfiq, Abdel-Rahman Abu Zahra and Yehia El-Fakharani, singers Mohamed Tharwat and Afaf Radi, actor Ahmed Nabil, comedians Mohamed Heneidi and Ashraf Abdel-Baqi, singer Talaat Attia, Shawqi Hegab, and Lebanese singer and UN Goodwill Ambassador Nancy Agram. Two Indian films: Roadside Romeo (animation) and Putani Party participated in the competition category of the film festival which is due to be concluded today at the Opera House. The adult jury members included Revathy Menon, an acclaimed actor and director from South India, Pankaj Advani, director and screenwriter, Vinay Rai and Meenakshi Vinay Rai, who have a long experience of making short films and feature films for children and have been participating in the children's festival since 2001. In addition, four Indian children led by 11-year-old Shruti are also in Cairo to represent India as the international child jury. Shruti is a winner of the Indian national film award Rajat Kamal for one of her short films Children of Nomads. The other three children are Miheek, Advaya and Divya. Before the ceremony came to an end, Agram sang along with children to two of her most adored children songs. The ceremony ended with the screening of the Polish film The Magic Tree directed by Andrzej Maleszka, while outside the Main Hall Theatre entrance there was a performance of the famous operetta Al-Leila Al-Kebeira (The Big Night).
