By Madame Sosostris Art for life Bassam El-Zoghby's lens captures part of a beautifully designed mural surrounding the Faculty of Fine Arts in Zamalek -- the graduation project of 48 students in the department of mural painting, Helwan University. It is divided into a number of separate paintings depicting scenes from Egypt's fine arts history and commemorating the iconic visual figures such as Bikar, Salah Abdel-Kerim, Mahmoud Mukhtar, Gamal El-Segini and Hassan Fathi. Ten paintings cover the fence in Ismail Mohamed Street and six in Al-Mansour Mohamed Street. According to professor Sabri Mansour, who has supervised the project, "I came up with the idea and it was welcomed by the dean, professors as well as the students. I named it 'An Artistic Bomb in Zamalek' and Zamalek dwellers who were watching the students on site were thrilled; they encouraged them, knowing they would be enjoying a beautiful sight every morning. It took four months to complete the project." �ô� With a nearly 1,000-strong audience, the opening ceremony of the sixth Arab Music Festival took place at the Alexandria Opera House in the presence of Minister of Culture and Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim, Alexandria Governor Osama El-Fouli and Director of the Cairo Opera House, flautist Ines Abdel-Dayeim, who delivered the inaugural speech. Abdel-Dayeim hailed the role of art and music in refining the tastes of people, pointing out that credit for founding the festival goes to music expert Ratiba El-Hefni. The first part of the concert featured the emerging opera singer Marwa Nagui, accompanied by the Abdel-Halim Noweira Ensemble, conducted by Salah Ghoubashi. The grand finale of the evening was the dreamy voice of Hani Shaker who mesmerised the audience with a number of classical Arabic songs as well as some of the best numbers of the late Algerian singer Warda. The festival that concluded its activities yesterday featured many gifted and promising singers such as Gannat, Karmen Suleiman, Rehab Metawaa, Riham Abdel-Hakim, Khaled Selim, Souma and the veteran Ali El-Haggar, as well as violinist Gehad Aql and pianist Omar Khairat. �ôï The Venezuelan Embassy in Cairo gave an elegant and lavish reception to mark the 201st Independence Day of Venezuela at the Sofitel Gezirah Hotel, overlooking the Nile. Among the Egyptians present were the Governor of the Al-Wadi Al-Gadid General Tarek Mahdi, the Secretary-General of the Arab League Ibrahim Mohieddin and the popular shaaby singer Hakim, who were warmly welcomed by Venezuelan Ambassador Victor Carazo. Members of the diplomatic corps and the Venezuelan community in Egypt were also present. �ô During a prestigious ceremony held at the headquarters of the Hungarian Parliament in Budapest, Deputy Prime Minister of Hungary Zsolt Semjen bestowed the Knight's Cross of Merit of Hungary on Mona Zaki, a leading expert in strategic thinking and international marketing, in recognition of her outstanding achievements and exceptional efforts in strengthening international diplomacy and bilateral relations with Egypt. The ceremony was attended by Arab and European dignitaries as well as key international figures. Zaki strives to place Egypt as a ripe market on the international business landscape. During the ceremony, Semjen praised Zaki for being an exceptional role model to women in the Middle East: a businesswoman who channels all her professional efforts and talents into building peace and prosperity. As the founder and CEO of Global Strategic Consultants, her specialisation provides consulting services in many areas of business and communications for multinational and private-sector companies both locally and internationally. �ô� The Embassy of the Republic of South Korea in Cairo organised a cultural contest entitled, "Korean Culture in the Eyes of the Egyptian Youth" which took place in the Faculty of Al-Alsun (Languages), Ain Shams University. Around 80 Korean language students participated in the first round of the competition, which included general questions on the South Korean culture, literature and history. According to the consul for Culture and Information at the Korean Embassy Park Jae Yang, the contest aims at promoting Korean culture among young Egyptians and reinforcing understanding between the two countries. �ôï This week will witness the opening ceremony of the Osian's Cinefan Film Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema, with special honours for veteran Egyptian film critic Samir Farid and veteran Indian filmmaker Manav Kaul whose latest film, Hansa, will be screened. The festival will feature the screening of various Asian and Arab films including the documentary Mawloud Fi 25 Yanayer (Born on 25 January), directed by Ahmed Rashwan, which has collected various awards from film festivals around the world. Films from China, India, Turkey, Japan, Korea, Nepal, Indonesia, Thailand, Iran, Philippine and Morocco and Algeria, such as Mout Lel Bei' (Death for Sale) directed by Fawzi bin Seidi and from Al-Taeb (Repentant) directed by Merzak Aloush, respectively. �ô The French Ambassador to Egypt Nicole Galey gave a reception at the French Embassy garden celebrating French National Day. Present were Minister of State for Scientific Research Nadia Zakhari, Minister of Justice Adel Abdel-Hamid, Minister of Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim, Vatican Ambassador to Egypt Michael Fitzgerald and his Moroccan counterpart Mohamed Farag Al-Dokali as well as high-profile figures and diplomats. �ôï An honorary ceremony was held for the Dutch Ambassador to Egypt Susan Blankhart at her residence in Dokki, to bid her farewell at her term's end. Attendees enjoyed a spectacular performance given by a Nubian folk troupe. Present were the Canadian Ambassador to Egypt David Drake, the French Ambassador to Egypt Nicole Galey, the Belgian Ambassador to Egypt Bruno Néve de Mevergnies and his British counterpart James Watt as well as former Chairman of the General Investment Authority Ziad Bahaaeddin and diplomats Abdel-Raouf El-Reidi and Wahib El-Meniawi. �ô� Iraq's permanent representative at the Arab League Qais Al-Azzawi organised a poetic and musical evening at his residence in Zamalek where Iraqi poet Amal Al-Samaraai read her work, followed by oud player Hassan Fawzi playing songs of late legendary singers Umm Kolthoum and Mohamed Abdel-Wahab. Among the attendees were actor Ahmed Abdel-Wareth, media figure Salam El-Shamaa, former judge of the International Criminal Court Fouad Abdel-Moneim Riad, Major-General Magdi Diab, poets Amal Radwan, Nihal El-Moula, Rana Gaafar as well as Egyptian and Iraqi diplomats. �ôï The Ukrainian Ambassador to Egypt Yevhen Kyrylenko met with 10 Egyptian children at the Safir Hotel in Doqqi before their trip to Ukraine to represent Egypt in the "World Change for the Better" programme at the Artek Camp, a young pioneer camp near Gurzuf. The 10 children come from various governorates around Egypt; they will participate in the camp alongside children from 55 other countries such as Japan, Russia, Romania, Algeria, Nigeria, Morocco and Lebanon. The participants, Shehab Walieddin, Ahmed Magdi, Karim El-Masri, Farah Hatem, Mazen Tarek, Mohamed Ibrahim, Youssef El-Bahi, Ramez Sameh, Ragi Rando and Habiba Hatem, gathered with Kyrylenko and the Egyptian-Ukrainian Coordinator Sherif Gad as well as Secretary-General of the Arab Union of Russian University Graduates Fathi Toughan. ô The Arabia Cinema company, headed by producer Isaad Younis, and Qualcomm company jointly held a press conference to announce the launch of Cinemobile Film Festival for films recorded by mobile phones -- headed by Hussein El-Qalla. The press conference enjoyed extensive media presence and the jury of the festival, including Jordanian actor Eiad Nassar, screenwriter Mariam Naoum and cinematographer Sameh Selim, were present. �ô� Building on the success of the highly watched Turkish TV series, Hareem Al-Sultan, the Kempinski Nile Hotel threw a lavish themed reception at its restaurant Osmanly, Cairo's only outlet for authentic Turkish cuisine. The event turned out to be a huge success and was attended by media personalities such as Rola Zaki, Anna Taraboulsi, Amany Kassem and Al-Ahram Weekly's very own People Editor Reham El-Adawi as well as businessmen and society figures. Stepping into Osmanly, the guests embarked on a pure, amplified and unforgettable Turkish experience -- a true "Ottoman" feel -- and were invited to play with the sultan's costumes, which were brought in especially from Istanbul. Guests were received by the hotel General Manager Fuat Koroglu and its Public Relations officer Iman Yasaky.
