photo: Mohamed Messara photo: Amr Abdallah Captured moments The American University in Cairo (AUC) Photographic Gallery is due to host an exhibition entitled "Libya: The Road to Freedom." It is a unique view of Libya captured by Reuters' Amr Abdallah and European Pressphoto Agency's Mohamed Messara. Both photographers were on the streets of Libya covering recent events, each from their own perspective. The exhibition is set to be inaugurated by renowned Libya expert, AUC President Lisa Anderson. ( see Listings p.22 ) photo: Nader Osama The new Chairman of the Board of Al-Ahram Abdel-Fattah El-Gibali called on Al-Ahram family to pay special tribute to his predecessor Labib El-Sibaai yesterday, Wednesday, at the Heikal Auditorium of Al-Ahram Building. The happy occasion was marked by the presence of a coterie of distinguished characters from the establishment including Editor-in-Chief Abdel-Azim Hammad, veteran columnist Salah Montasser, poet Farouk Gweida and chief editors of Al-Ahram publications. The 20th Arab Music Festival launched its activities in an extravagant ceremony at the Cairo Opera House Main Hall. The event was inaugurated by Opera House Director Abdel-Moneim Kamel and festival head Ratiba El-Hefni. The inaugural ceremony brought together a variety of Arab singers who expressed through their songs their countries' dreams about the Arab Spring. Among them were Nadia Mustafa and Riham Abdel-Hakim from Egypt, Mohamed Al-Gebali and Souma from Tunisia, Yehia Abdallah from Libya, Ahmed Fathi from Yemen, and Waad Al-Bahari from Syria. The ceremony presented two operettas featuring festival participants, which was warmly received by the applauding audience. The opening ceremony also honoured 11 personalities who have contributed to the enrichment of the Arab music scene in Egypt such as oud player Mamdouh El-Gebali, composer Ezzeddin Hosni, poet Ayman Bahgat Qamar, maestros Salah Ghoubashi and Selim Sahab, composer Raouf El-Ganayni, Arab calligrapher Aous Al-Ansari, music researcher Mohamed Gamal, director Gihan Mursi and media figure Mushira Kamel. On the sidelines of the festival, two Arabic calligraphy exhibitions were launched. photo: Bassam El-Zoghby The 22nd Youth Salon was inaugurated last Monday by Culture Minister Emad Abu Ghazi at the Palace of Arts in the Opera House grounds and its activities are also taking place at Mahmoud Mukhtar Cultural Centre. ( see Listings p.22 ) Internationally acclaimed Italian-based Egyptian artist Gamal Meleka was awarded the 2011 Italian Award of Criticism in Arts as the best sculptor in 2011, while Egypt's Consul to Italy Amr Abbas was granted the same award in the field of public service. The much awaited charity single and music video Bukra (Tomorrow) made its world premiere at an exclusive red carpet gala event on 11.11.11 at the One&Only The Palm, Dubai under the patronage of Sheikha Manal bint Mohamed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, president of Dubai Women Establishment, wife of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, deputy prime minister and minister for presidential affairs, UAE. The date was chosen to reflect a sense of oneness between all Arab countries and to serve as a beacon of hope for the future of the Middle East and North Africa region at a crucial time in its history. Four hundred VIP guests -- including leading Middle Eastern stars and international music artists -- witnessed the launch of the highly anticipated musical collaboration, which features 24 Arab stars from 16 nations across the Middle East and North Africa, Akon, and a special introduction to the music video recorded by Shakira. Legendary music producer Quincy Jones and Emirati social entrepreneur Badr Jafar, both executive producers on the charity single created an Arabic re- adaptation of Jones ' Grammy-award winning song entitled 'Tomorrow ( A Better You, A Better Me )'. The song has been produced by Jones and Grammy-Award winning Moroccan producer RedOne, with Arabic lyrics by iconic singer Majida Al-Roumi and music re-adapted by Iraqi singer Kadhim Al-Saher. The music video was directed by Syrian-American director, Malek Akkad. The evening was presented by popular MBC TV personality Raya Abi Rached and included a special introductory speech by Egyptian actress Yossra with spectacular live performances by four of the artists featured on the track -- Waed from Saudi Arabia, Diana Karazon from Jordan, Fahad Al-Kubaissi from Qatar and Asma Lmnwar from Morocco. The event was also attended by artists who lent their voices to the single including Saber Al-Rebaai and Latifa (Tunisia), Marwan Khouri (Lebanon), Tamer Hosni (Egypt), Salah Zadjali (Oman), Ahmed Jumairi (Bahrain) and Hasna Zallagh (Morocco). Bukra song simultaneously premiered live around the world on the Tomorrow-Bokra YouTube channel (YouTube.com/tomorrowbokra) with over 600,000 views in less than 72 hours, and regionally on MBC. The song is set to air on regional and international channels next week. Sony Music will release a compilation album entitled Bukra on 20 November which features the title charity single and for the first time brings together Arab and international artists in one album including Al-Saher, Marwan Khouri, Hosni, Michael Jackson, Usher and Shakira among others. Proceeds raised from the sale of this album, will be collected by the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture in support of the United Nations World Food Program, Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation and many other beneficiaries, to finance educational programmes in music, arts and culture for children from across the Arab world. The British Council is launching the English Challenge competition, the first competition of its kind in the Arab world on http:// learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/ar/. The English Challenge is open to all learners of English and will run through December 2011. Over 155 winners will be selected from 17 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to win a range of valuable prizes. Participants will only need to register on the British Council's Learn English website to take part in the competition. Through this competition, the British Council aims to help learners of English in the region develop the autonomy they need for improving their language skills outside the classroom. The competition is a way of introducing learners in MENA to the tools and materials they can use to develop their English language skills autonomously and achieve their educational and career aspirations. Nic Humphries, director of English Middle East and North Africa has given more details about the initiative: "Trying to improve your language skills by yourself is difficult but there is no reason why learners cannot achieve that with some 'serious fun'." English for the Future is a programme designed by the British Council in response to the need to support for English language skills development in the emerging labour market in MENA. It works in partnership with Ministries of Education across the MENA region and is supported by the commercial sector. photo: Abdel-Hamid Eid The premiere of Eid blockbuster Kaf Al-Qammar (The Moon's Palm) was held last week in City Stars cinema, for an exclusive audience of prominent artists and political and media figures. Kaf Al-Qammar by filmmaker Khaled Youssef casts Khaled Saleh, Ghada Abdel-Razek, Wafaa Amer, Joumana Murad, Hassan El-Raddad and Haitham Ahmed Zaki, son of the late Egyptian filmstar Ahmed Zaki, and Jordanian actor Yasser Al-Masri. It was scripted by Nasser Abdel-Rahman. Among the attendees were Nobel laureate Ahmed Zuweil, media figure Yousri Fouda, presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahi, producers Gabi Khouri and Hassan Ramzi, head of the Egyptian Catholic Centre for Cinema Father Boutros Daniel and director Manal El-Seifi, as well as celebrities Amr Saad, Amr Abdel-Geleil, Maged El-Masri, Amy Samir Ghanem, Amira El-Aidi, Maysara, Ashraf Meselhi, Sandy, Dina Fouad, Mohamed Karim and singer Mohamed Tharwat.
