Under the Aswan spell Aswan's glamour continues to provide rich material for foreign and Egyptian sculptors who are participating in the 15th round of the annual Aswan International Sculpture Symposium that commenced activities earlier this month and runs through 20 February. Photographer Bassam El-Zoghbi spotted this fisherman in the Nile of Aswan. Al-Sawy Puppet Theatre show surprised Al-Sawy goers last Friday, featuring for the first time on stage excerpts from late president Gamal Abdel-Nasser 's speeches, accompanied by the voice of late singer Abdel-Halim Hafez, who was known as the voice of the 1952 July Revolution. Some 40 years after he passed away, a marionette incarnated the character of Nasser, mimicking his facial features, gestures and movements. Hafez, with his national songs, and Nasser, with his speeches, revived brilliantly the era of the Suez Canal nationalisation as the concert coincided with celebrating the golden jubilee of the beginning of the construction of the Aswan High Dam. Al-Sawy Cultural Wheel Director Mohamed El-Sawy promised that the coming concert would feature late president Anwar El-Sadat and his most remarkable speeches. On the occasion of commemorating the 54th anniversary of Sudan Independence Day, Sudanese Ambassador to Egypt and Permanent Representative of Sudan at the Arab League Abdel-Rahman Ser Al-Khetm honoured Director of the Cairo Opera House Abdel-Moneim Kamel, granting him the Sudanese Embassy's most prestigious shield. The award goes to the influential role played by the Opera House in promoting the sublime art and reinforcing the cultural and artistic ties between Egypt and Sudan. photo: Ayman Barayez Within the framework of parliamentary exchanges between Egypt and India, parliamentary speaker Fathi Sorour welcomed the goodwill delegation of Indian parliamentarians. The Indian delegation was led by Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Water Resources Pawan Kumar Bansal while Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Planning Narayansamy was among the delegation. Sorour and Narayansamy discussed bilateral relations in the presence of Indian Ambassador to Egypt R Swaminathan who accompanied the Indian delegation. Marking the new project entitled "The Development of Information Technology for the Supreme Council of Antiquities" in cooperation with KOICA (Korea International Cooperation Agency), a remarkable inaugural ceremony was held at the conference hall of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) premises in Zamalek. KOICA provided the SCA with a central management information system that allows the SCA to utilise online workspace that will help its work of managing the antiquities more efficiently. The ceremony was attended by Korean Ambassador to Egypt Yoon Jong Kon, SCA Secretary-General Zahi Hawass, resident representative of KOICA Egypt Office Jae Woong Lee, First Under-Secretary of the Ministry of International Cooperation Nabil Abdel-Hamid Hassan, a galaxy of archaeology professors at Egyptian universities as well as a bevy of concerned state officials. Veteran comedian Adel Imam hosted a stand up protest at Al-Haram Theatre against the killing of Egyptian soldier Ahmed Shaaban in Rafah and to denounce religious extremism such as the last incidents of Nagaa Hammadi. Imam invited an array of celebrities, among them veteran actress Lebleba, scriptwriter Youssef Maati and comedian Mohamed Heneidi, while Imam spoke of the grave incidents. Within the framework of the cultural activities organised by the Egyptian Museum came a remarkable seminar introducing veteran comedian Mohamed Sobhi. Sobhi talked about his long theatre and cinema career and discussed the recent political crisis. The seminar, which was held at the museum's garden, was attended by a large number of Sobhi 's fans. The lavish wedding ceremony of former Miss Egypt and model Fawzia Ahmed and scriptwriter Ahmed Abdel-Fattah took place at Al-Massa Hotel. Abdel-Fattah is the scriptwriter of the latest successful blockbuster Omar wa Salma. The ceremony was graced with an extensive celebrity presence, among them singer-cum-actor Tamer Hosni, actors Sherif Mounir, Khaled Mahmoud, Yasser Galal, Ahmed Zaher, Mohamed El-Shaqanqiri, Maged El-Masri and Tarek Lotfi as well as actresses Abeer Sabri, Hanan Mutawei and Egyptian fashion designer Hani El-Beheiri. photos: Abdel-Hamid Eid Sawt Al-Qahira radio presided over by Ibrahim El-Aqabawi, in cooperation with Al-Tayseer company presided over by Ahmed Abu Bakr, held a press conference under the auspices of Minister of Information Anas El-Fiqi marking the special occasion of Egypt's membership in the Academy of Television Arts and Science (ATAS), the academy that organises the prestigious Emmy Awards. The press conference was attended by vice-president of ATAS, Camille Baderman, cultural councillor at the American Embassy, Heinz Mahony, and actresses Tayseer Fahmi, Soheir El-Morshedi and Hanan Mutawei. In the presence of the first secretary at the Egyptian Embassy in Paris, Karim Saad, the Afro-Asian Lawyers Federation for Human Rights, presided over by Esmat El-Merghani submitted a paper on the crimes of violating human rights. Among participants at the conference were Republic of Albania President Bamir Topi, French Minister of Justice Pascal Clement, Mozambique Foreign Minister Jose Pacheco, his Kenyan counterpart George Saitoti, Ireland's attorney-general, Paul Gallagher, Deputy President of the Europe Investment Bank Marta Gajecka, War Crimes Attorney- General in Serbia Vladimir Vukcvic and head of the International Organisation for Fighting Crime in Canada Elis Croulx, as well as a galaxy of ministers, ambassadors and university professors from across the world. The Cairo Opera House Main Hall witnessed a prestigious ceremony celebrating archaeologists. The event was attended by luminary high-profile figures including world-renowned archaeologist and Supreme Council of Antiquities Secretary- General Zahi Hawass as well as internationally acclaimed actor Omar Sharif, who presented the ceremony that began with Sharif 's speech recognising Egyptian archaeological icons who spent their lives in the field of Egyptology. Highlights of the event included parts of Aida opera followed by honouring a bevy of archaeological figures such as Abdel-Moneim Abu Bakr, Hassan El-Masri, Saleh Mohamed, Nassef Hassan and Zeinab El-Daramali as well as a number of excavation workers including Farouk Sayed, Mohamed Abdel-Raouf and Nassef El-Sahmawi.
