What better place to spend a night beside than the Nile, writes Nesmahar Sayed Some years ago Mohamed El-Sawy, an engineer, spotted a space underneath the 15 May Bridge in Zamalek that was filled with garbage and used as a shelter by homeless people and drug addicts. Inspired to create something better, El-Sawy cleared the garbage and created the Al-Sawy Cultural Wheel (SCW). The centre opened in 2003 and is now a target for youngsters and adults there to enjoy the cultural events that take place in its many rooms. Entering the garden of the Wheel one finds oneself in the Khan Al-Saqiya. El-Sawy has set up the khan as a market for items and activities related to Ramadan. This year the khan has grown significantly and consists of small shops selling various products in the garden area, including accessories, antiques, leather products, handmade clothes and a book shop. Copies of the Quran and religious books make up the usual sales during the holy month. The garden is often crowded with people booking tickets for bands and other events or for entry to Qaryat Ramadan (Ramadan Village) at the River Hall overlooking the Nile, and launched this year at Al-Sawy for the first time. The wall through the tunnel to Qaryat Ramadan is covered with photographs by Fathi Abdel-Salam to illustrate the Ramadan atmosphere, with its lanterns and well-lit mosques. Chairs and small tables covered with khayamiya are set up in the River Hall, on whose walls hang framed verses of the Quran and Arabic proverbs written in different styles of calligraphy. Parallel to the hall, people sit beside the Nile in the trawah (fresh alley) place chatting and drinking soft drinks. In the sekka (side street), young people sit to read in the open air: There is a different, decent attitude to amusement during Ramadan. El-Sawy says Ramadan nights at the Wheel are free of the pollution that appears in many other outdoor places and tents, and which increases in Ramadan. "[We have] no shisha, no smoking nor any of the negative attitudes that are unfortunately related to Ramadan these days," El-Sawy told Al-Ahram Weekly. The Ramadan Village consists of The Nahr Hall, the fresh alley, the side street, the Nile garden, the "intellectuals'" post and the Karma, all of which overlook the Nile. The entertainment programme at the village features a puppet show that has revamped its performance during Ramadan to include old comic scenes. "Tonight we will do Marie Mounib and Badie' Khairi in Ella Khamsa [Up to Five]", a very popular play," El-Sawy tells the audience. Old Arab songs of greats including Um Kalthoum, Shadia and Laila Murad are played on the takht. Not only are there the visiting bands and groups, but Sohour is served at the very reasonable price of LE15. El-Sawy is particularly proud of Zoqaq Al-Herafeyeen (crafts alley), which he owes to the excellent cooperation between the Wheel and the Asala association for supporting contemporary and heritage arts. According to Gharib Abdallah, supervisor of the project, the Wheel sponsors khayamiya -makers, weavers, sculpture, mother-of-pearl work, copper and glass manufacturing by offering participants in the workshops the raw materials and the place they need to work and sell their products to visitors. "Young people are being introduced to these crafts and want to buy products that reflect our heritage," Abdallah says. So could the experience of the Cultural Wheel be repeated in other parts of Cairo and other local governments? El-Sawy replies with a fervent, "yes". El-Sawy has returned to Cairo this week after a short visit to Alexandria, where he looked for a site to establish a branch of the Wheel. "Our extension will cover other governorates in Egypt that lack any space for cultural activities that we succeeded in making here in Cairo," El-Sawy says.
