Egyptian Epiphany Orthodox Christians celebrated Epiphany on 19 January, commemorating the baptism of Jesus Christ in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. As Sherif Sonbol's snapshots show, Christians in Egypt celebrate Epiphany by eating sugar cane, qolqasia. Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni inaugurated the Sohag Culture Palace last week, with the attendance of Governor of Sohag Mohsen El-No'mani and President of the General Organisation of Culture Palaces Ahmed Nawwar. The palace, as well as the Children Culture Palace, had undergone renovations that took up more than LE7 million in budget funds. Hosni declared that the General Organisation of Culture Palaces is helping to achieve the aims of the Ministry of Culture by raising youth cultural awareness and developing culture palaces. Sohag Culture Palace is located in the Culture Square in Sohag. It is equipped with a theatre with an 800-seat capacity, a lavish library containing more than 20,000 books, a tech-club containing 12 computers, a VIP hall and a children's library. On the occasion of celebrating the year of Zoltan Kodaly -- one of the greatest Hungarian composers of the 20th century -- the office of the Cultural Counsellor of the Hungarian Embassy, in cooperation with the Cairo Opera House, is organising a Kodaly recital. The event will feature distinguished Hungarian duo, Miklos Szenthelyi (violin) and Judit Faludi (cello). The concert will be held on 26 January at 8pm in the Small Hall of the Cairo Opera House. The Arab Writers Union (AWU), presided over by Mohamed Salmawy, editor-in-chief of Al-Ahram Hebdo, hosted a cultural evening last week in honour of the Palestinian Minister of Culture Ibrahim Ebrasen. The discussions tackled the role of the writer in the Palestinian cause. The cultural meeting was attended by AWU members. Duke of York, Prince Andrew, was the guest of honour at the meeting of the Egyptian British Businessmen's Council at the Nile Hilton Hotel last week. The event was attended by high-profile personalities among which were Minister of Industry Rachid Mohamed Rachid, British Ambassador to Egypt Dominic Esquith, Chairman of the British-Egyptian Businessmen's Association Mohamed Nosseir and the delegation accompanying the prince. photos: Ayman Barayez On the occasion of Archaeologists Day, held for the second year in a row, the Cairo Opera House has recently held a celebration to honour a number of veteran archaeologists. Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) Secretary-General Zahi Hawass presented the Golden Necklace to Youssef El-Nahrayani, Kamel Amboula, Ibrahim El-Nawawi, Fahmi Abdel-Alim, Ahmed El-Sawy, Gamal Eddin Mokhtar, Soad Maher and Abdel-Aziz Saleh. The event was privileged with the presence of US Ambassador to Egypt Francis J Ricciardone, Editor-in-Chief of Nisf Al-Donia magazine, Afkar El-Kharadli, Al-Akhbar newspaper critic and commentator Ahmed Ragab and charming actress Libliba. Al-Gomhuriya Theatre last week hosted an event marking the release of the Atlas of Egyptian Folkloric Musical Instruments, which is considered the second part of the comprehensive Atlas of Traditional Heritage. Head of the General Organisation of Culture Palaces Ahmed Nawwar inaugurated a photography exhibition held on the sidelines of the celebration. The exhibition featured the two parts of the atlas entitled "The Bread" and "Atlas of Folkloric Musical Instruments". Nawwar pointed out the significance of the atlas, which is considered a comprehensive registry of a multitude of Egyptian traditional musical instruments. Cordoba Gallery for Arts is organising next month an exhibition of water paintings by plastic artist Ali Dessouki. Dessouki 's exhibition focuses on portrayals of Egyptian customs and traditions from the 1960s till 2007. Inaugurated by prominent Novelist Gamal El-Ghitani, the exhibition will run from 3 February until 20 February. The Catholic Centre for Cinema has chosen six Egyptian films out of a total of 40 screened in 2007 to participate in its 56th round. Morgan Ahmed Morgan, Qass wa Lazq (Cut and Paste), El-Torbini, Taimor and Shafika and Fi Shaket Masr Al-Gadida (In the Helioplis Flat) are the films selected for this round. Lovely actresses Lubna Abdel-Aziz, Youssra, Magda Zaki and director Ali Abu Shadi are among the members of the judgement panel. President of the International Union of Muslim-Christian- Jewish Dialogue and Peace Education Ali El-Semman held a reception at his residence to honour prominent archaeologist Ali Radwan for winning the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO's membership. The reception was attended by Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) Secretary-General Zahi Hawass, gorgeous actress Hala Sedki and singer Mohamed Tharwat who enthralled the audience with a lovely song about Egyptian antiquities.
