On behalf of the Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni, head of the General Cultural Organisation, Ahmed Nawwar inaugurated Darb Al-Ahlam, the first Utopia project, in Mit Shammas district, Giza. Utopia is a first-of-its-kind initiative to rejuvenate those parts of the countryside that have fallen into disrepair. According to Mahmoud Monaisi, the general coordinator of Utopia, "the idea is to mark a place beautifully in a way that is related to the countryside and helps raise cultural, artistic, environmental and social awareness. We chose Mit Shammas because it contains rural architectural heritage that is in danger." The Utopia team includes some of the country's most talented young artists: Magdi El-Kafrawi, Raouf Samaan, Ahmed El-Askalani, Shadi Adib, Ahmed Samih, Mena Shenouda and Malak Makram. The inauguration ceremony included performances by Al-Tanoura and Al-Nil bands. To mark the conclusion of Germany's six-month EU presidency term, the German Ambassador to Cairo Bernd Erbel hosted a music concert at the small theatre of the Cairo Opera House, followed by a reception at his residence. Addressing his guests, Erbel noted that Germany would hand over the EU presidency to Portugal, to be followed by Slovenia. "The past six months of this year witnessed not only essential developments within the EU, but also developments in the relations between Egypt and the EU, and Egypt and Germany," Erbel noted, referring to the German Chancellor Angela Merkel 's visit to Egypt in February, when she met President Hosni Mubarak, and to the accession of both Romania and Bulgaria to the EU. "The chancellor's visit reflected the excellent bilateral relations between our two countries, and aimed, as well, to enhance the good neighbourly cooperation between the EU and Egypt in all fields." Minister of Higher Education Hani Helal was among the attendees. photos: Ayman Barayez Early this week, the International Museum Day was observed at the Manial Palace on Roda Island, with musicologists from across the country. The message of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) proved pertinent: "we are all responsible for universal heritage". At the event, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Zahi Hawass stressed the importance of museums in raising awareness of heritage and teaching a sense of individual and collective responsibility towards cultural heritage around the world. Former museum heads who were honoured for their devotion to the cause included Ahmed Nawwar, Ali Hassan and Mohamed Saleh. The Ecuador Embassy handed a collection of books to the Cervantes Institute Odolfo Bio Casares Library in a ceremony held at the Cervantes headquarters in Doqqi, reports Amira El-Naqeeb. The books make up a comprehensive introduction to Ecuador, its culture and literature, and gives it a Latin American edge over any other library in the Middle East. Present at the ceremony were Spanish Ambassador Antonio Martinez, Ambassador of Ecuador Franklin Bahamonde and Director of the Cervantes Institute Luis Javier. The Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA) is hosting an event on the late artist couple Raaya El-Nemr and Abdel-Ghani Abul-Enein, role models as cultural figures and the embodiment of a successful marriage. Abul-Enein was an artist, designer and folk art scholar; he left his mark on journalism among other fields. El-Nemr founded the Kafr Al-Shurafa Cultural Palace designed by the late architect Hassan Fathi : one of the country's most vibrant centres of popular and folk-oriented arts. The couple were collectors of folk art and El-Nemr especially travelled all across the country to acquire jewellery, costumes, wood and metal works; the treasures will be exhibited together with Abul-Enein 's folk-inspired paintings. Worth noting is that the couple's heirs have donated their library of 4,000 volumes to the BA. The AUC's best three students, Alia Atia, Sara Farrag, and Boshra Tobah, were awarded the President's Cup at the Cairo International Conference Centre, having scored the same grade point average of 3.98. Farrag, a business administration major, pointed out the university's liberal arts education as a major factor in her success. Atia, a mechanical engineering major, said she had taken advantage of all that AUC had to offer: "I did not deprive myself of anything." Tobah, an economics major, though always the kind of student to focus on grades, had supplemented her academic work with a social network and extracurricular activities at AUC; she is now working for the United Nations Development Programme in a joint project with the Egyptian Ministry of Investment. Present at the ceremony were journalist Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, who delivered the keynote speech, comedic superstar Adel Imam and Minister of Agriculture Amin Abaza. At the American University in Cairo's (AUC) Oriental Hall, the John D Gerhart Centre for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement recently hosted a seminar on Arab philanthropy, stressing the private sector's social obligations and partnership with the Arab Foundations Forum. The panel featured centre director Barbara Ibrahim and Atallah Kuttab, general director of the Welfare Association, a private Palestinian development organisation. Invitees included chairman of the board of the Sawiris Foundation for Social Development, Mohamed Shaker and executive director of the Lead Foundation and NGO, Karim Fanous. The Gerhart Centre was established in 2006 to further the AUC's mission to promote social responsibility and active citizenship. The Arab Foundations Forum, also founded last year, is an umbrella of grant-making foundations operating in the Arab region. The forum started as an initiative of the Welfare Association from its offices in Jordan and currently includes members from Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Kuwait and Egypt; its secretariat is still based in Amman. Head of the Supreme Constitutional Court Maher Abdel-Wahed received the Italian ambassador to Cairo, Antonio Badini on occasion of the end of his term in Cairo. Abdel-Wahed and Badini reviewed the steps undertaken so far to activate constitutional judicial cooperation between Egypt and Italy. This is taking place within the framework of a protocol for technical judicial cooperation that was signed between the two countries. The meeting was attended by deputy head of the Supreme Constitutional Court Adel Omar Sherif and Andrea Catalano, the political counsellor of the Italian Embassy in Cairo.
