The way to Mecca Coinciding with the hajj this year, the Photographic Gallery at the American University in Cairo shows Mecca and Medina: A Photographic Journey, by the renowned photographer Faruk Aksoy. Aksoy is Turkish photographer and filmmaker who has had access to the sacred sites in Mecca and Medina for the last 20 years. The result is a collection of stunning photographs often from unprecedented angles numbering in the hundreds. Thus Aksoy gives the viewer his own experience of the pilgrimage. Born in Istanbul in 1952, Aksoy graduated from Istanbul University and studied photography in Switzerland. In the 1980s he worked on several documentary films in Britain, after which he spent some time working in Saudi Arabia. He was the cameraman for documentary films like National Geographic's Inside Mecca and the BBC's The Hajj: The Journey of a Lifetime. He has also experimented with 3D photography, and this exhibition includes several 3D photos. Aksoy is the author of several books including The Blessed Cities of Islam: Mecca-Medina. ( see Listings p.4 ) Today, 4 November, the Italian Embassy in Cairo represented by Italian Ambassador Claudio Pacifico celebrates the Italian Unity and Armed Forces National Day. Celebrating the Austrian National Day, the Austrian Ambassador to Egypt Thomas Nader and his wife Ingrid Thorbjoernsrud gave a lavish reception at the headquarters of the embassy in Garden City. High-profile figures present included the Dutch Ambassador to Egypt Susan Blankhart, the Finnish Ambassador to Egypt Roberto Tanzi-Albi and the President of the Central Agency for Organisation and Administration Safwat El-Nahhas. photos: Nasr Attia The Egyptian-German Friendship Association (EGFA), presided over by Reda Sheta, held a spectacular celebration in collaboration with the Arab Investors Union to celebrate the German Unity Day. On the occasion the German Ambassador to Egypt Michael Bock highlighted the strong ties between the two countries in various fields, while the Minister of Waqf (religious endowments) Mahmoud Hamdi Zaqzouq confirmed the importance of the dialogue across religions and cultures. Farid Fadel 's exhibition Searching for Nubia opened spectacularly at the Mahmoud Mukhtar Museum. Fadel and his wife Mona Zaki welcomed their guests with a Nubian dance troupe, while the exhibition showed 120 paintings and drawings on Nubia before the evacuation. Present, among others, was the Minister of State for Administrative Development Ahmed Darwish, the Qalioubiya Governor Adli Hussein, and the ambassadors Dominic Asquith, Jean Félix Paganon, Marc Franco and Jong-Kon Yoon as well as the head of Garden City Lions Club Awatef Serageddin, the actress Nelly and the Nubian pop star Mohamed Mounir. (see Listings p.4) The globally known fashion designer Hani El-Beheiri presented his 2010 collection of soirée and wedding gowns at the Fairmont Heliopolis Hotel to actresses including Ragaa El-Geddawi, Hala Sedqi, Dalia El-Beheiri, Hanan Mutawei, Haifaa Wahbi and society ladies Awatef Serageddin, Bahiya Youssef, Samia Abul-Fotouh, Fatma Barada and the wife of the Libyan Ambassador to Egypt Kawthar Buneikhela. photos: Ayman Barayez The Egypt-Belgium Friendship Association (EBFA), presided over by Rafik Attia, hosted a charity event for the benefit of the Happy Childhood for Special Needs Children Care Association at the residence of the Belgian Ambassador to Egypt Bruno Néve de Mevergnies. Singers Ahmed Harfoush and Maye Selim as well as belly dancer Dina all gave performances to a coterie of diplomats including Jean Félix Paganon, Tan Hung Seng, Marc Franco and Victor Carazo. photo: Abdel-Hamid Eid The Lebanese singer Nancy Agram featured in the annual celebration of a leading mobile company in Egypt under the title "Family Day". The Riff band also participated in the celebration which was held at Dream Park. The Final Exit, a new novel by Mustafa Kamel Abdel-Rahim, was released this week. A sarcastic reading of Arab politics by the Egyptian writer and businessman, it combines standard Arabic with Egyptian dialect to address issues often considered taboo. "SIWA & TANGIER: A Heritage for A Better Life", funded by the European Union within the EuroMed Heritage programme, is a project in which students from five primary schools students (10 to 12 years old) in Siwa will be introduced to their heritage through a programme from 30 October until the end of the school year 2010/2011. The programme will feature thematic field trips to historical sites, water springs, agricultural fields and other sites. After each trip, the students will participate in a workshop at the school to discuss what they have learnt. The programme will make use of two school teachers and the headmaster of each school, a guide from the Antiquities Department as well as local story-tellers. Students will also be expected to research relevant themes with help from their parents and relatives. The Arts Festival of the Red Sea Countries, held under the auspices of Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni, concluded its activities in Suez. The head of the General Organisation for Culture Palaces Ahmed Megahed and the Suez Governor Seifeddin Galal attended the closing ceremony where Galal announced that the festival will henceforth be held annually instead of biannually. The Palestinian cultural consul Mohamed Al-Azaar and his Yemeni counterpart Khaled Omar were also present. The grand finale featured a group dance show by all the Egyptian troupes participating in this year's festival including Suez, Toshka, Ismailia, Port Said and Aswan, followed by a review on the activities of the festival presented by its director Abdel-Rahman El-Shafei.
