River man The Memnoun Colossi in Luxor, captured by the late New Zealand photographer John Feeney, take on a special connection with the Nile. Feeney, who described himself as "a river man if ever there was one", was born in New Zealand, where two rivers flow into one. Known for film production, writing and storytelling as well as photography, Feeney was based in Cairo for 40 years. An exhibition of his work will open at the AUC Sony Gallery on 29 November. The Hayati (My Life) Society, headed by Awatef Serageddin, gave a charity party for the benefit of the Ashmoun Hospital in Menoufiya at the Ramses Hilton. Presented by actress Nadia El-Guindi, the event featured a fashion show by the renowned Italian designer Renato Balestra and a recital by composer-pianist Omar Khayrat. At the Cervantes Institute, headed by Luis Moratinos, Alvaro Nil gave a lecture entitled "A journey around the world on a clown's bicycle". In the last three years Nil, a lawyer- turned-itinerant clown, has toured 30 countries, covering 38,000km, on his bicycle. Nil spoke of his experience with malaria and children with malaria, finishing with a brief performance that featured magic tricks. Singer Diana Carazon was on a short visit to Cairo where Ramses Hilton's Public Relations and Advertising Manager Amal Rateb, Public Relations Manager Maha El-Kady and Food and Beverage Operations Manager Hazem Ibrahim welcomed her. In collaboration with the Embassy of India and the Culture Ministry, the Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture (MACIC) presents the Bharatabatyam dance of Jayalakshmi Eshwar and her troupe. As part of the "Made in India" programme, the troupe's visit, featuring two performances -- one at the Cairo Opera House and the other at the Alexandria Arts Centre -- is sponsored by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations under the India-Egypt Cultural Exchange Programme. The Townhouse Gallery hosts the renowned contemporary artist Susan Hefuna in "Knowledge is Sweeter Than Honey". Working in multimedia, Hefuna reflects on living in two cultures and "Knowledge is Sweeter Than Honey" is her latest project. It consists of three separate installations: collection of 15 large wooden mashrabiya screens to be exhibited in the Factory Space, on which are inscribed statements such as the title of the show; "Vitrin of Afaf", a collection of intimate everyday objects belonging to the sisters, mothers or wives of the lane workers, exhibited in a traditional vitrine format -- all over Cairo; and a series of objects and drawings on the first floor of the Townhouse. In addition to the exhibition there will be a small artist-book containing an interview Hefuna gave the well known curator Hans Ulrich Obrist. (see Listings p.9) photos: Ayman Barayez To fund the emergency room at the Cardiatric Department of the Abul-Reish children's hospital, the Attaa Bela Hodoud (Unlimited Giving) NGO held a charity fashion show at the Golden Hall of the Mohamed Ali Pasha Palace. It showed the latest designs of Egyptian fashion designer Baheg Hussein, displayed by Miss Egypt 2006 Fawzeya, who was made up by stylist Amina Shelbaya. Shelbaya also exhibited an exquisite collection of jewellery. Presented by Nahla Abdel-Aziz, the event drew in presidential advisor Osama El-Baz, actresses Nadia El-Guindi, Basma, and Manal El-Fatatri, media figures Omayma Tammam, Mona Ragab, Eqbal Baraka, Mona Serag, Rola Kharsa and Rasha Magdi as well as a group of NGO chairpersons, such as the wife of the Saudi Ambassador Hesham Al-Nazer, Garden City Lions Club President Awatef Serageddin, Randa Rezq, Bahia Youssef, Laila El-Aswad, Samia Abul-Fetouh, Wafaa El-Ansari and Soha El-Qadi. The Love Awards Festival will be the subject of a television show presented by actress Hanan Tork, who recently took the veil, and Saudi anchor Ahmed Al-Shiqairi. The show, a promotional documentary about the forthcoming, second session of the event -- based on the idea of creative work inspired by love for the Prophet Mohamed -- to be held in Abu Dhabi in April-May 2008, caters to devout fans of the festival worldwide. The show consists of 25 episodes aired over a period of six months, each of which will be broadcast weekly and exclusively on one satellite channel, highlighting the different award categories and enabling viewers from around the world to appreciate the beauty of the works included in a range of languages. Artists as well as political and religious figures from all over the world have also been invited to appear on the programme. Both a public vote and the jury determine the winners. "We have worked hard to enrich the programme with interesting information," Al-Shiqairi announced, "presented in a refreshing manner." For his part, Egyptian actor Wagdi El-Arabi, the festival's official spokesman, emphasised the importance of the programme to the festival: "the programme is one of the marketing pillars of the festival, which will provide an incentive to sponsors. Negotiations will soon start with various satellite stations to introduce the programme and offer exclusive rights to the festival itself. Only one station, of course, will be chosen to broadcast the programme and the awards ceremony." The first session closed with UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan named "Personality of the Year", and the late Syrian director Mustafa Al-Aqqad at the top of the list of honourees. More than 900 guests indulged in nostalgic bliss at the Nile Hilton hotel, revelling in the sounds of ABBA and enjoying a fabulous dinner concert. ABBA UK came especially to Egypt for this one night performance and played all the famous original ABBA songs including "Dancing Queen", "Mama Mia", "knowing Me Knowing You", and "Money, Money, Money." Leader Singer Jaqueline put it well: "Cairo was a blast. Just great. We were surprised and overjoyed to come to Egypt. The crowd was great- fabulous."
