As the revolution rose from the people, so did art, Amira El-Naqeeb writes I approached the famous Midan Abdieen (Abdieen Square) in Downtown Cairo, music was already seeping from the festival tent. The sound heralded the presence of the Fan Midan Cultural Festival, the brainchild of the Coalition of Independent Culture and now co-sponsored by Egyptian Block, a coalition of political parties and movements. The Fan Midan is one of several cultural initiatives that sprouted in the wake of the 25 January Revolution. As I entered the tent I was swamped by a wave of cheering and applause to the Nile Folkloric Band, who were giving their rendition of an Egyptian folk song. The happy vibes were contagious and before long I was swinging to the beats myself, even though I didn't know the words or the tune. Two Italians were standing behind me, clapping and swaying to the rhythm. After the Nile band had played their last tune, I introduced myself to the Italians and asked if they knew any Arabic? Neither of them did, but they said that regardless of this they were enjoying the tunes and the atmosphere. It was the first time they had been to a festival in Egypt, and they found out about it on the Internet and were interested in checking it out. This was second such event held by this organisation. The first, that I also attended, was in August during Ramadan, the fasting month for Muslims. I couldn't help but notice the dynamics of the people at the time, the media presence and quality of the audience. Then it was a sort of picnic site, with families from the neighbourhood using the garden to gather around the food they had brought and talking loudly, hardly listening to the programme. Street vendors also took advantage of the opportunity to carve out a space to sell their wares. For me it was especially interesting because I was trying to document how people in Egypt perceived the idea of street festivals. This time the venue was less crowded, and it drew a less eclectic crowd; I saw some familiar artists, musicians, painters,and filmmakers. People gathered in small groups, chatting and listening to music, or checking out the displayed art in the corners of the festival. After taking an initial tour around, I decided to sit on one of the garden walls to have a short rest and enjoy the art of watching people go by. I sat across from a group of women, and from their simple ,traditional garments I could tell that they lived nearby. Some of them were mumbling about how this kind of activity with music and people dancing and swinging to the tunes was haram (forbidden by religion). Other women were bringing their children to play in the garden, at the same time scrutinising the visitors carefully. Heba El-Sheikh, a member of the Field Work Committee in the Coalition of Independent Culture, told Al-Ahram Weekly that the idea of Fan Midan sprouted after the Revolution, when a group of independent Egyptian artists and intellectuals from various fields got together to form the coalition. The festival is only one activity among other objectives of the coalition, some of which, El-Sheikh said, were to reinforce the Revolution and its demands and revive and develop the cultural scene in Egypt, ensuring that it is decentralised so as to reach all of Egypt and not only the large cities. "Through the coalition we want to form a pressure group, to help solve the problems that independent artists faced all through the past fallen regime," El-Sheikh added. "We want to restructure the Ministry of Culture, with legislation in the Constitution that supports art and culture and has regular funding -- not just the crumbs or leftovers of the State." The funding process for such activities so far is through personal connections, networking and donations from the coalition members, or some businessmen who patronise and support culture in Egypt. Ideally the Fan Midan will take place in the first week of every month, while similar events will be held simultaneously in governorates around Egypt with the aim of spreading the event throughout the country. Meanwhile another street festival has been taking place in Maadi, one of Cairo's upmarket suburbs. This festival, also free of charge, was held for several consecutive weeks after the Revolution. In the spirit of freedom, some of the girls in the audience felt comfortable enough to form circles and dance in the street to the tunes of a band,of young men singing political songs. As someone in the audience, remarked this is another form of freedom of expression in a society that has been suppressed for so long. Plastic Artist Hani Rashed told the Weekly that he loved the idea of putting art in public spaces and within arm's reach of the average Egyptian. The most important aspect for him is that it costs nothing. "I believe that art is only thing that would really make an integral change in society." Rashed said it was very important that art should be connected to and express the problems of wider public, not just he elite of the society. "The Revolution united all Egyptians with all their layers and segments, and art should follow," he said. Saad Youssef is an art director who has attended three former events of the Fan Midan and most of the street events that have taken place in Cairo recently. "I believe the idea of a cultural event taking place in front of the Abdieen Palace, in the Cairo governorate, is a revolutionary act in itself," he said. "I grew up Downtown, and before the Revolution it was forbidden even to sit on the fence of the garden." According to Youssef, most of the previous events held in the Cairo streets were to accommodate the taste of "hip and upscale youngsters". The Fan Midan, however, is trying to some extent to balance its content to cater to the simple, regular man in the street, and that is what makes these events so popular. Another initiative that has blossomed out of the Revolution is the Egypt Now Festival. This came about towards the end of February, and Mariam El-Hitami, who is on its managing team, said that just as the youth participation on the forefront of developments was critical, it was equally important to support the young people who took the path of political advocacy. A number of organisations contributed to this emerging initiative, Hitami said. The Nebni (We Build) Foundation teamed up with the Midas agency to take over the event development and management, while the JWT multinational advertising agency created the creative conceptualisation, and several other bodies and individuals helped the project on a voluntarily basis. The event was held between 1 and 18 July this year and was multi-faceted: the Egypt.Now Art and Craft Fair took the form of a flea market on Gezira Promenade in Zamalek, with Egyptian arts and crafts displayed in a large open air market. Local artists and craftsmen exhibited and sold their products in an open bazaar in an attempt to encourage local economic activity. Then there was the Egypt.Now Music and Film Festival, with concerts by leading Egyptian bands such as West El-Balad , Zabaloon, Rash and SanKhashab. "Our vision is to keep working on positively promoting Egypt as a safe tourism destination, and stressing that while the Revolution is still in the works we are keen on developing and reforming the infrastructure, since we plan on having this event again in January 2012," Hitami said. The event was free for locals and tourists throughout. To keep track of upcoming events, log on to http://www.egyptdotnow.com.
