Blinded by the lights Last Tuesday, the Physics Department at the American University in Cairo (AUC) organised a public sighting of the partial solar eclipse in Cairo with the first Egyptian solar telescope, Soha Hesham reports. Students and media figures gathered at the Science Garden at the AUC's Downtown campus to mark the phenomenon from 9am till noon; the eclipse peaked at 10:30am. The event featured eclipse glasses, a venuscope and a state-of-the-art solar telescope capable of detecting the surface of the sun with a high degree of detail. photo: Ayman Barayez At Al-Gezira Sporting Club in Zamalek, a silent vigil was held to mourn victims of the bombing of Alexandria's Two Saints Church on New Year's Eve. It was led by president of the Al-Gezira Sporting Club Islam El-Sanhouri, the president of the Al-Gezira Rotary Club Adel Abdel-Shafi, along with members of the club Sherifa Sorour, Mona Fathi and businessman George Hathout, among others. photos: Abdel-Hamid Eid The newly released blockbuster Al-Wattar (The Chord) was privately screened at the Golden Stars cinema. The film, directed by Magdi El-Hawari, features Ghada Adel, Mustafa Shaaban, Arwa Gouda and Ahmed El-Saadani. The cast of the film celebrated its release in the presence of such superstars as Ahmed El-Saqqa, Ahmed Helmi, Karim Abdel-Aziz, Sherif Ramzi, Ola Ghanem, Aiten Amer, its producer Mohamed El-Adl, the dancer Dina and the TV presenter Ingy Ali. The National Folk Arts Troupe celebrated its golden jubilee at Al-Baloon Theatre in Agouza with an exhilarating operetta. A number of celebrities were honoured for their efforts to create the troupe, including actress Aida Riyad, once a member of the Folk Dance Troupe (she participated in the operetta), and actors Laila Taher, Seif Abdel-Rahman and Magdi Sobhi. To celebrate New Year, the Lebanese singer Ragheb Alama performed at the Semiramis InterContinental Hotel. Guests enjoyed the celebration, which also featured a fashion show by Talaat Sharkass. Actresses Iman, Donia, Rasha Mahdi, Ghada Ibrahim and Nermine El-Fiqi, as well as belly dancer Fifi Abdu and Alexandrian business tycoon Hani Aziz and fashion designer Hani El-Beheiri were all present. Under the auspices of the Higher Institute for Theatrical Arts (HITA), the Arab Theatre Festival (Zaki Tolaimat) inaugurated its activities at the Fine Arts Academy. Honoured were actors Yehia El-Fakharani, Mahmoud Yassin and Sawsan Badr. Present were the head of the Fine Arts Academy Sameh Mahran, the head of the HITA Abdel-Moneim Mubarak, HITA professor Samira Mohsen and actress Wafaa Amer who presented the celebration. The class of 1993, which was also honoured, included actors Ahmed El-Saqqa, Magdi Kamel, Ramez Galal, Manal Salama, Hisham El-Meligui, Lashina Lashin and Salma Gharib. At the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) offices in Zamalek, Francisco Lara, vice-president of La Asociación Plataforma Para El Fomento de Los Oficios Artisticos (APFOA) presented Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the SCA, with APFOA's Personality of the Year Award. Hawass received a beautiful original bronze statue of Don Quixote and a certificate in recognition of his efforts to preserve Egypt's cultural and archaeological heritage. Hawass was chosen by the APFOA for bringing the wonders of Egypt's heritage to the world through discoveries and restoration projects he presided over. The archaeologist was delighted by the prize, remarking that it highlights the relationship between Egypt and Spain, particularly in the field of archaeology. There are two Spanish expeditions currently working in Egypt on the noblemen's tombs on the west bank of Luxor and at Al-Bahnasa in Middle Egypt. Hawass previously received the Medal of the Spanish Order of Arts and Culture from Spain in recognition of his contributions to world culture. He was also chosen as a recipient of the Egyptian Pioneer Award from the Spanish Egyptological Society. The award was presented to the five most influential Egyptian "pioneers" and included Umm Kolthoum, Omar Sharif, Ahmed Zuweil and Naguib Mahfouz. To create an open-access information resource on philanthropic practices in Muslim-majority countries and Muslim communities worldwide, the John D. Gerhart Center for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement at the American University in Cairo (AUC), in partnership with the Center of Excellence for the Middle East and Arab Cultures (AUC Library,) is launching the Muslim Philanthropy Digital Library (MPDL) in March 2011. Covering the period from 1900 to the present, the library encompasses video and sound recordings, a visual exhibition, original documents, reports, graphics, waqf (endowment) documents and scholarly theses. The project was inspired by Indiana University Center on Philanthropy, which established a digital library on philanthropy in the West. "Due to the absence of an organised source of information on the tradition of giving and philanthropy in the Muslim countries, the Gerhart Center took the lead in establishing MPDL. This aligns with the centre's mission to extend our resources beyond the university's boundaries to meet the community's needs," said Sherine El-Tarabolsi, the project manager. Last week the Al-Sharaa poetry troupe celebrated the 80th birthday of Salah Jaheen, one of the pillars of Egyptian poetry in an evening held at El Sawy Culturewheel, where poets Amin Haddad, Bahaa Jaheen and Ahmed Haddad, along with Hassan Haddad, Omar Jaheen and the singer Samia Jaheen recited some of Jaheen's best-loved works including his famous quartets and a selection of verses from his long masterpiece Ala Esm Masr (In the Name of Egypt). It was a full house, where the audience enjoyed the enchanting poetry and the brilliant performance of Al-Sharaa. Al-Sharaa troupe, founded by the poet Amin Haddad, started holding poetry evenings in 2000 in which Amin upheld an idea propagated by his father, the great vernacular poet Fouad Haddad, who first thought of mixing songs and music with readings. At the Diwan Bookstore in Zamalek, the novel Shaiaa min Al-Madi (Something from the Past) by Sherif Abdel-Samad (the Goethe Institute media officer for five years) was launched. Published by Al-Ain Publishing House, the book tells the story of two men and a woman whose painful experience during adolescence keeps them together well into adulthood, seriously altering their future. Publisher Fatma El-Boudi was present. More celebrations of the New Year were hosted by the ART satellite channels presented by Poussy Shalabi with attendance from actors Sawsan Badr, Ghada Abdel-Razeq, Khaled Abul- Naga, Maged El-Kedwani, Mohamed Ramadan, Atef Youssef and Kenda Aloush.
