EYE ON EVENTS

CURRENT EVENTS -- 2003

George BAHGORY Places in the Heart KHAN Al-MAGHRABY gallery  18 El Mansour Mohamed St., Zamalek, Tel.: 7353349 Tuesday the 22 of April till Friday 9th of May
Hamdy REDA Hany EL-GOWELY Dialogue CAIRO ATELIER gallery  2, Kareem El-Dawla St. , Down Town , from Taalat Harb Square Sunday 4th of May through 9th of May 2003

PREVIOUS EVENTS -- 2002

Big film month
This year's Cairo International Film Festival begins a bit earlier than usual, in mid-October, in order to conclude before Ramadan starts in early November. This year's round should be a comeback from last year's, which was nearly cancelled in the aftermath of 9-11.Some 42 countries are participating with 140 films. Two Egyptian films are in the official competition, including The new Ahmed Zaki film "Ma'ali Al-Wazir" (His Excellency The Minister), a Wahid Hamid scripted take on the rise and fall of a minister and all of those around him.

FLASHBACK 1: A look at last year's festival
FLASHBACK 2: A look at Film Fest 2000

Gazing at destruction
A collection of photographs documenting the destruction of the World Trade Center and the rescue efforts that followed has opened in the lobby of Al-Ahram headquarters on Galaa Street downtown. The press giant's chairman and editor-in-chief Ibrahim Nafie, along with US Ambassador to Egypt David Welch inaugurated the exhibit on Sunday night.
Called "After September 11: Images from Ground Zero" the exhibits' images inevitably link not only back to the event, but to thoughts on how the world has changed one year later.
The exhibit runs until the 21st.

One year later: A failure of PR
The archives: TERROR AFTERMATH

Experimental Theater up and running
The annual International Experimental Theater Festival is currently taking place at venues across town, including the Cairo Opera House, as well as places like Beit El-Harawi. 30 troupes from around the world are taking part, and shows run daily till September 11.

PR mavericks coming to town
Set to take place at the J.W. Marriot City, the 2002 International Public Relations Association (IPRA) conference runs from October 14-15, 2002, and should bring 400 or more participants from 90 countries to Cairo to discuss the future of PR.
The conference will be covering topics such as the Changing Dynamics of PR; Restoring Confidence (PR & The Economy); Global Partnership Between PR & Investor Relations; and Diversity in PR: An International Perspective of Priority Issues.
To read more about PR in Egypt, click here

Minister to open festival
The new Ahmed Zaki film "Ma'ali Al-Wazir" (His Excellency The Minister) will open the Alexandria Mediterranean film festival which begins 18 September.
The Zaki film -- a Wahid Hamid scripted take on the rise and fall of a minister and all of those around him -- will be representing Egypt in the festival's official competition.
Al-Akhbar reports that actor Omar Sherif will also be given a lifetime achievement award at the festival.

Beach season
Alexandria's shores have begun to be deluged by sun-seekers. At right, a rainbow of umbrellas graces the royal bridge at the Montaza palace grounds on the Eastern side of the city (photo Mohammed Atia/cairolive)

CAIROKIDS.COM SHOWS YOU HOW TO PROTECT YOUR CHILDREN IN THE SUN

Open-air Alexandrina
The summer arts program at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina hits one of its high notes this weekend with three nights of performances in the open air theater. The show is being put on by famed Lebanese director Nidal Al-Ashqar and the the Medina troupe. Called "Words in Search of Rhythm", it begins, starting Friday 12 July, each night at 9pm.

DONT MISS THE NEW DARDASHA
Life and death at the Bibliotheca
In the world of images, death gets the most respect, while birth gets the last laugh

Let's go to the festival
This year's International Music Festival has begun. Major shows are taking place at the International Conference Center in Nasr City, including a 22 August concert featuring Nawal Al-Zoghbi as a headliner. The festival is a several-week affair, with guest artists from around the Arab world and the rest of the globe, performing and competing for prizes for best lyrics, music and vocals.

It had to happen eventually
That's right... quicker than you can say " quicksilver" ... Skateboarding has come to Egypt.
As a trend it is still very fringe, if anything, but that may soon change thanks to a skateboarding festival of sorts sponsored by Protech, and taking place at the north coast's summer hot spot -- Marina.
Advertised in Thursday's Al-Ahram, "Nokia Totally Board" is the name of the event, set to feature skate-boarding shows, courses, contests, and prizes. The event is also sponsored by several newcomers to the Egyptian franchise scene, Mountain Dew and Quicksilver.
It begins on August 15.

Almost ready
Workers have been toiling day and night for the past 18 months to finish the connector bridge -- the on-ramp of which is pictured above -- linking the 6 October and 15 May flyovers. The bridge will make it a cinch for commuters to head from Heliopolis or Nasr City to Mohandiseen, the Alexandria Desert Road and 6 October city, without having to deal with downtown traffic. It is set to open for business any day now. 

Beittedine is the place to be
Lebanon's Beittedine festival will begin on 3 July, with a showing of the long-running British musical Cats. The festival will close with two nights, on 9-10 August, of singing by the famous Arab diva Fairouz.  In between are lots of other concerts, including a 15 July show featuring Egyptian singer Hakim, Algerian vocalist Cheb Khaled, and Palestinian oud player Simon Shaheen.

Celebrating Soad
Starting 22 June, movies featuring the revered starlet Soad Hosni will be air on several broadcast television channels for a week straight in commemoration of the one year anniversary of her death.

Boxing it big
Egypt's first pay per view sporting event is coming to TV screens on June 9th, when Mike Tyson fights Lennox Lewis. Pay-TV platform Showtime will be making the fight available for LE99 on its Home Cinema channels that already offer pay-per-view movies via Nilesat.

Bon voyage
The Papyrus boat takes off today (Monday May 13) for a trip around the Mediterranean to celebrate the completion of the new Bibliotecha Alexandrina. ...
Read more about the papyrus boat here (4th item)

Trash at the Pyramids
An odd exhibit has opened near the Pyramids at Giza. A German artist named Ha Schult who specializes in covering large spaces with garbage sculptures has been given free reign of a desert area near the grand monuments to display his globally-recognized work. The Culture Minister inaugurated the exhibition on Sunday. It runs till May 20. Ha Schult has previously decorated places like the Great Wall of China and Moscow's Red Square.
Cairo Live goes to the exhibit
Photo-rich version for speedy browsers

Tracking the IT course
"Digital divide in an integrated world" is the title of an important international IT conference to be held in Cairo later this month. The annual event gathers leaders in the field to discuss developments and prospects for the future of IT in the region.
This year's conference will take place from 27-29 May at the Semiramis Intercontinental. To see cairolive.com's coverage of last year's summit, click here. 

Bibliotheca delay
The gala celebration planned for the inauguration of the new Alexandria Library will not take place on April 23 as planned, in light of the current state of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Music institute renovated
The Arab Music Institute --  on Ramsis Street near Isaaf downtown -- reopens this week after an extensive renovation that is meant to breath life back into its status as a mind-spring of musical talent, as well as showcase the building's fantastic architecture. Built in classical style, the institute was home to some of the greatest music making in 20th century Egypt. One part of the renovated structure has been converted into a multi-media museum honoring Mohamed Abdel-Wahab, who spent a lot of time there.

Palestine Hotel reopens
"Fundoq Filisteen", the popular hotel within the grounds of Alexandria's Montaza palace, has reopened, after a several-month renovation effort that cost LE35 million. The hotel overlooks the Mediterranean and is located right next to the the palace and its stunning gardens.

Annual flower show in progress
Over 100 booths have been set up on the grounds of the Agriculture Museum in Dokki, displaying the best Egypt's plant and flower growers have to offer. Amongst this year's favorites are ward baladi (local roses) in new colors, one of which has been nicknamed the "Mercedes".