Bahia For three consecutive days at Al Gumhouriya Theatre, the Foursan Al Sharq Lil Turath (Knights of the Orient for Heritage) Theatre Company, an affiliate to the Cairo Opera House, presented Bahia, a show based on the book by the late poet Naguib Surour entitled Yassin and Bahia. Sherif Sonbol was there to capture the drama created by Mohamed Fouad, choreographed and directed by Karima Bedair, with sets and costumes by Anis Ismail. The show endeavoured to answer the question raised in the book about who killed Yassin. Founded in 2009, the company aims at reviving Egyptian and Arab heritage using modern dance and designs. photos: Ayman Barayez Cairo's Traditional Turkish Spring Charity Bazaar took place in the garden of the Turkish Embassy Residence in Giza, Amira El-Naqeeb reports. The bazaar was inaugurated by the Turkish ambassador Hèseyin Avni Botsali and the wife of the Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr. It was held in collaboration with the Children's Cancer Hospital in Cairo and Al Nour Wal Amal Association. The ambiance was lively, as many of the guests enjoyed browsing the different Turkish products, as well as sampling Turkish food and beverages. Crowds queued to have a taste of original Turkish delight, lokum being one of the better known delicacies of Turkey, traditionally served with kahve (Turkish coffee). Handicrafts were appraised by the guests, and were almost all sold out. The Egyptian blind girls orchestra enchanted the distinguished audience with a performance that included both western and eastern music. Among the attendees were wife of the Turkish ambassador, the Minister of Health Fouad El-Nawawi, the Cairo Governor Abdel-Qawi Khalifa, the Deputy Foreign Minister Hassan El-Leithi, former minister of education Ahmed Zaki Badr, actress Mervat Amin, singer Ghada Ragab and a number of diplomats' wives. The Egyptian-Lebanese Friendship Association (ELFA) organised a farewell celebration at the residence of the Vice- President of the ELFA Ghazi Nasser in Zamalek in the presence of various Lebanese Embassy officials and diplomats. The ceremony honoured the Lebanese Consul Bilal Qeblan and the Political Consul Milad Raad on the occasion of ending their terms in Egypt. The inaugural ceremony of the 10th Arab Theatre Festival was held at Al-Hanager Theatre under the motto "Freedom of Thought: Revolution of Creativity". The ceremony opened with a collective dance performance, followed by the distribution of the awards by the Director of the General Egyptian Book Organisation Ahmed Megahed, the president of the festival Amr Dawara, actor and festival jury member of the Mahmoud Yassin. The winner of this year's round was the theatrical performance Beit Al-Nafadi (Al-Nafadi's House). The festival honoured the Libyan artist Cariman Gabr, the Syrian director Haitham Yehia Al-Khawaga, the actress Hala Sedqi and the multi-talented artist Samir Sabri. The head of the National Centre for Cinema Khaled Abdel-Geleil, Iraqi artists Fatma Al-Rabi'y and Fakhri Al-Akidi, Egyptian artist Mohamed Abu Dawoud, Iraqi director Fardous Medhat were all present at the ceremony. photos: Ayman Barayez Actor Ahmed Eid and actress Maye Kassab celebrated the private screening of their recently released film Haz Said (Said's Luck) at the Stars Cinema in City Stars Mall. The film, written by Ashraf Tawfiq and directed by Tarek Abdel-Moetei, features Eid and Kassab along with actor Wael Alaa and a number of rising stars such as Gharam and Sayed Sadek. TV presenter and poet Abdel-Rahman Youssef along with actor Sherif Ramzi did not miss the screening. Last week marked the end of a three-day appointment with the Italian satirical writer, poet and journalist Stefano Benni at the Italian Cultural Institute in Zamalek. It included the presentation of the Arabic translation by Hussein Mahmoud of The Last Tear, in collaboration with the National Centre for Translation. Fans and students came to listen to the voice of the acclaimed writer from Bologna. Defined as a confrontation between irony and pain, The Last Tear is nonetheless not a sad book, for as Benni said on the occasion, "The tragic goes along with the comic, it is indifference that is its real opposite." The Last Tear is almost a prophetic book but at the same time extremely current, written with an irony that underlines major truths. It has become a model of satire even for the Arab world. The second appointment, "Two Voice Meeting", was a collaboration by Benni and Zain Abdel-Hadi, the Egyptian writer and professor. Moderated by Hussein Mahmoud, a dialogue between the two took place about the writer's role and the necessity of satire to denounce the evils of contemporary times. "You write each book as if you were writing the last one, the way you love as if you were having your last love," Benni said. At the end of the meeting the writer was surrounded by a crowd seeking autographs. In his third day, Benni met the young students of those Egyptian schools where Italian language is taught, and to whom the Italian Cultural Institute has donated more than 100 copies of The Last Tear. More news on the Italian Cultural Institute! As announced during the last round of the Cairo International Book Fair, the children's section of the Italian Cultural Institute Library will now be open to the public. It includes Italian and Arabic books and offers a series of activities for children including theatre shows as well as a film screening every Saturday. A team of the School of Business's MBA programme at the American University in Cairo (AUC) won second place in the energy track of the Dubai regional finals of the Hult Global Case Challenge (HGCC), and was qualified to the final round in New York. The AUC team, made up of Ahmed Asaker, Ahmed Diab, Mahmoud Omar and Nermine Hashim, were also named "Most Inspiring Team" by the competition judges. HGCC is a call to action for the world's brightest university and college student minds to find innovative solutions to the world's most pressing social challenges. "HGCC brought a new dimension. This time we weren't just solving a case, we had the chance to address a global cause that impacts millions of lives every day," said Hashim of her team's focus on energy. The 2012 HGCC was themed around global poverty. Teams were able to choose one of three competition tracks to pursue: education, housing and energy tracks. The AUC team was competing in the energy track on behalf of the Solar Aid Foundation, a British NGO. At the Factory space of the Townhouse Gallery, the Art Factory Sale took place where more than 60 works of art by some of Egypt's best known established and emerging artists were on sale for five hours only. The selling began at 5pm and continued until 10pm. Half of the proceeds of the Art Factory Sale will go to the artists while the other half will support Al Fann Midan, a major cultural initiative that aims at making art part of people's daily life. Al Fann Midan is Egypt's biggest and fastest growing cultural celebration, presented in the streets and squares of 12 Egyptian cities on the first Saturday of every month. Al Fann Midan will be celebrating its first anniversary on Saturday 7 April. The Art Factory Sale included works by Mohamed Abla, Hani Rashed, Shadi El-Noshukati, Hamdi Reda, Moataz Nasr, Omar El-Fayoumi, Shaimaa Aziz, Mohamed Menissi, Amr Fikri, Suzy El-Masri, Houreya El-Sayed, Yasser Gerab, Ahmed Magdi, Assem Sharaf, Britt Ghali and many more. During a visit that highlighted the cooperation between the Ministry of Culture and civil society, Culture Minister Shakir Abdel-Hamid visited Egypt's Girl Society for orphans after it was selected by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network in Paris as the best society for taking care of orphans. During his visit, Abdel-Hamid commended the efforts of the society represented by lawyer Essmat El-Merghani and granted outstanding students a large collection of books to be distributed among the society's different branches as well as free tickets to the children's theatres and free subscription to all libraries affiliated to the Ministry of Culture. photo: Bassam El-Zoghby The Downtown Contemporary Arts Festival (D-CAF) is Egypt's first-ever international and multi-disciplinary contemporary arts festival. It opened on 29 March, bringing together more than 100 local, regional and international artists across multiple sites in downtown Cairo. The festival will run for two weeks, through 14 April 2012, featuring exhibitions, music, theatre and dance. D-CAF is an independent initiative launched by some of the country's most established artists, curators and cultural operators. According to Artistic Director of D-CAF Ahmed El-Attar, "We're at a critical juncture in Egypt's development and must recognise the vital contribution that art can make to social and political progress." Alongside the 90 Egyptian artists participating in the festival, more than 93 international artists will come from abroad. D-CAF will draw on the established cultural venues of downtown Cairo but will also break new ground by using non-traditional spaces such as historical buildings, galleries and alleyways around Tahrir Square. "We see downtown Cairo as a natural meeting point for artists from East and West... D-CAF harnesses the symbolism of downtown Cairo as the crucible of Egypt's historic change," says El-Attar. The D-CAF team is working in collaboration with the Studio Emad Eddin Foundation, the Townhouse Gallery, the Contemporary Image Collective, the Falaki Centre and other independent arts institutions. Envisaged as an annual festival in Egypt, D-CAF aspires to number among the most important Arab art events in the region. (see Listings )
