Motherhood in miniature This hard-to-come-by miracle of miniature art was caught by our sniper of a photographer Sherif Sonbol amid the festive Ramadan spirit. Packages come literally alive as these beauties in miniature arrange and rearrange themselves around them. A delightful Ramadan Sohour (pre-dawn meal) took place at the Sofitel Gezira Hotel in honour of the cast of Ramadan TV series Al-Batniya. The series stars talented actress Ghada Abdel-Razek, belly dancer-cum-actress Lucy, and actors Haggag Abdel-Azim and Ahmed Falawkass. It is an adaptation of the 1980s film with the same title, which starred cinema actress Nadia El-Guindy. The cast of the series enjoyed a variety of delicious oriental foods for their Sohour along with the charming ambiance of Ramadan melodies. photo: Abdel-Hamid Eid As part of the Fourth Libyan Youth Forum, talented Egyptian pop singers Tamer Hosni and Mohamed Hamaki performed in a thrilling concert. Hosni and Hamaki rocked the stage till dawn, with the attendance of a large number of Libyan fans. A lavish reception was held at the Al-Sawy Cultural Wheel on the occasion of the launch of the new Korean channel Korea TV on Egyptian satellite NileSat. The reception was crowned by the presence of director of Al-Sawy Cultural Wheel Mohamed El-Sawy, South Korean Ambassador to Egypt Yun Jong Kon and Assistant Foreign Minister for Asian Affairs Ambassador Mohamed El-Zorqani. Omani Ambassador to Egypt Abdel-Aziz Hanaai held a spectacular Ramadan Iftar at Cleopatra Hall in Semiramis Hotel. The Iftar was attended by an array of high-profile personalities, among them the Cultural Attaché at the Omani Embassy in Cairo Salem Al-Habsi as well as media figures Amin Bassiouni, Al-Ahram Al-Arabi magazine editor-in-chief, Abdel-Atti Mohamed, Samir Ragab, Khaled Imam, Amin Mohamed, Safaa Hegazi and Hanan Youssef. photo: Ayman Barayez Osrati (My Family) Association, presided over by Samia Abul- Fotouh, held a charitable Ramadan Iftar at the Pharaonic Village. More than 500 orphans enjoyed the Iftar to the melodies of pop singer Hamada Hilal. The association distributed school bags among the children as part of their Ramadan programme. The event was attended by a number of association members including Al-Ahram back page editor Mona Ragab, Gihan Halawa, Tahani Zaher, Farah Sherif, Hanan Sabri, Faten Fakhri as well as Rana Ghoraba. Culture Minister Farouk Hosni, along with head of the General Organisation for Cultural Palaces (GOCP) Ahmed Megahed inaugurated the annual Ramadan cultural and artistic festival in Al-Mahka Theatre at the Salaheddin Citadel. The inauguration ceremony featured a spectacular performance by Al - Tanoura whirling dervishes and Al-Khayala troupe. Hosni and Megahed toured the location and listened to Al-Sira Al-Hilaliya (Al-Hilaliya Epic) recited by Ezzat El-Qershi, as they also witnessed part of the puppet show held at the Children's Theatre. Al-Shorfa Palace was graced with the performance of the Al-Haki Al-Shaabi (Folk Story Narration) troupe that Hosni and Megahed also watched, after which they visited a plastic arts exhibition as they finally made it to the branch of the various publications of the GOCP. A bevy of high-profile figures attended the inauguration ceremony, among them Executive Director of the Grand Egyptian Museum Mohamed Ghoneim, professor Emad Abu-Ghazi, head of the National Centre for Cinema Khaled Abdel-Samie, head of the Egyptian Actors Union Ashraf Zaki and actor Khalil Mursi. In a warm gesture, Hosni was eager for the second year running to gather with the Egyptian and Arab intellectuals in a seminar conducted by head of the Egyptian and Arab Writers Union Mohamed Salmawy at Naguib Mahfouz hall. For the first time in the holy month of Ramadan, the Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture (MACIC) is organising, in collaboration with the Egyptian Ministry of Culture, the Cairo Opera House and the Mubarak Public Library, Damanhour branch, an evening of Indian folk dance and music performed by folk troupes from the Indian states of Chattisgarh and Rajasthan in Cairo, Damanhour and Alexandria. The performances will take place at the Cairo Opera House on 7 September, at the Mubarak Public Library in Damanhour on 9 September and at the Sayed Darwish Theatre in Alexandria on 11 September. The dancers will perform the panthi dance, one of the more prominent dance forms of the central Indian state of Chattisgarh, reflecting the rich cultural heritage of the indigenous tribal groups of the region. The dance is usually performed by the people of Satnami tribe, in memory of their spiritual leader or guru, Guru Ghasidas. A 10-member group of musicians from the north-western state of Rajasthan will play various musical instruments and will render both popular folk songs from north-western India, as well as devotional or sufiana music. The performance will include songs composed by saints following the Sufi and Bhakti traditions of the Indian sub- continent such as Baba Buleshah, Baba Farid, Meera and Kabir. Egyptian Ambassador in Hungary Hisham Alzamity received the Commander's Cross Order of Merit from Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom at the Sandor Presidential Palace in Budapest, Hungary, on completion of his four-year assignment there. To meet the need for risk management education, the American University in Cairo (AUC) and the Professional Risk Managers' International Association (PRMIA) are offering the Complete Course in Risk Management. This non-degree executive education course will be offered from 25 to 29 October this year in Cairo and is designed to provide participants with a broad and solid foundation of knowledge to effectively practise risk management. "The events of the past 18 months underscore the importance of risk management and clearly illustrate that much work lies ahead. Being a partner with PRMIA is a significant step forward as we strive to enhance the quality of risk management education across a wider audience through the American University in Cairo and its International Executive Education Institute (IEEI), said Stephen Everhart, associate dean of AUC's School of Business. "Providing managers with tools and a framework for examining the presence of 'Black Swans' won't prevent the next financial markets seizure, but it may lessen the amplitude of the swing." PRMIA, in conjunction with AUC and other leading academic partners around the world, sets the international standards for graduate level education in risk management and financial engineering by offering training and development programmes in finance and risk management worldwide, and reinvesting the proceeds of these activities into further educational efforts, scholarly research and scholarships. Of all the capital's venues, the Cairo Opera House no doubt has the lion's share of Ramadan night entertainment. In all, 23 concerts will be held at the Cairo Opera House, 16 of which will be at the Open-Air Theatre while five concerts will be held in the Small Hall. Among the gems on show are folk and traditional music and dances from different Arab and Islamic countries including Palestine, Iraq, Morocco, Sudan and Indonesia. In addition, the Opera House will screen two films during Ramadan followed by a seminar conducted by veteran film critic Rafiq El-Sabban. Further Cairo Opera House Director Abdel-Moneim Kamel has revealed that a galaxy of the most highly sought-after artists will be enlivening the concerts of Ramadan festival, among them Nubian pop singer Mohamed Mounir, powerful voices Medhat Saleh and Ali El-Haggar. This is all in addition to percussionist Nesma Abdel-Aziz playing on marimba, pianist Fathi Salama performing his east-meets-west compositions, Al-Mawlawiya troupe, Said El-Artist with his band and the Nubian drums troupe, led by Intissar Abdel-Fattah.
