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Egyptian mezzo soprano Farrah El-Dibany has performed La Marseillaise the French national anthem, in the beginning of the final FIFA World Cup match against Argentine in Doha, Qatar on Sunday.
Farrah El-Dibany has sang during the re-election of Emmanuel Macron on April 24.
She was awarded France’s Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in the grade of Chevalier (Knight) by France’s Ambassador to Cairo Marc Baréty during an official ceremony in April.
Born in Alexandria in 1989, El-Dibany is one of the well-known Egyptian singers of her generation, establishing herself on an international scale in a short time.
“Festivities and celebrations affiliated with the Journey of the Holy Family in Egypt are now on UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity,” professor Nahla Imam, heritage consultant at the Egyptian Ministry of Culture and country representative of Egypt at the 2003 Convention of Safeguarding the Intangible Heritage of UNESCO, told Ahram Online on Wednesday.
Imam credited the move to the efforts of the Egyptian ministries of culture and foreign affairs, adding that Egypt’s efforts were almost unanimously supported by UNESCO’s Inter-Governmental Committee.
This is the seventh intangible cultural heritage element that Egypt enlists in UNESCO. Prior to the Journey of the Holy Family, the Egyptian manual-textile industry in Upper Egypt was put on the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage Sites in Need of Urgent Preservation.
Egypt first enlisted El-Sirah El-Helalya (The Epic of Beni Helal) in 2008, Tahteeb(Stick Art) in 2016, the Aragouz Puppet in 2018, and the knowledge and traditions affiliated with palm trees in 2019.
According to the accounts of historians, the Holy Family spent around four years in Egypt.
Their trip started in the Sinai at Al-Farma, on the border with Gaza, where they arrived after fleeing Jerusalem. Their trip ended in Durnaka, Assiut, venue of the famous Monastery where the feast of Virgin Mary is celebrated in August each year.
Over 1,200 years old, and after facing extreme neglect for decades, the Basatin Jewish Cemetery finally reopens.
The Basatin Jewish Cemetery – the second oldest Jewish cemetery in the world, and one of Cairo’s few remaining Jewish cemeteries – has undergone extensive renovations and opened its doors once more.
With a foundation dating to the 9th century during Egypt’s Tulunid Dynasty, the 147 acres of land designated for the cemetery at the time included separate areas for Rabbanite and Karaite Jews and extended beyond the Tulunid capital of Egypt.
In more recent times, allegedly during the reign of Mamluk Sultan Qaitbay in 1482, the cemetery was divided into separate pieces of property totaling roughly 27 acres. These plots include the Basatin graveyard’s common burial grounds, the private Mosseri family cemetery, Rav Haim Capusi’s grave, the private Moise Cattaui Pasha cemetery, and the remaining Karaite section of the original cemetery.
Over the past three years, the American Research Centre in Egypt and the United States’ Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation and Drop of Milk Foundation have been working to restore the neglected cultural and religious heritage site.
After the completion of the conservation project, members of the Karaite Jewish community – known for exclusively respecting the principles of the Torah and disowning oral traditions like the Talmud and other writings of the Rabbis – from various nations attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony, and were able to revisit their families’ graves for the first time in decades.
The 44th CIFF’s closing ceremony took place on the stage of the Cairo Opera House on Tuesday evening.
Awards of the 44th Cairo International Film Festival are as follows:
International Competition
The Golden Pyramid Award Alam by Firas Khoury (France, Tunisia, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Qatar)
The Silver Pyramid Award, Special Jury Award, for Best Director Love According to Dalva by Emmanuelle Nicot (Belgium, France)
The Bronze Pyramid Award For Best First or Second Feature Bread and Salt by Damian Kocu (Poland)
Naguib Mahfouz Award For Best Screenplay A Man (Japan), screenplay by Kosuke Mukai
Best Actor Award Maher El Khair for his role in The Dame by (France, Lebanon, Sudan, Qatar, Germany, Serbia)
Best Actor Award Mahmoud Bakry for his role in Alam (France, Tunisia, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Qatar)
Best Actress Award Zelda Samson for her role in Love According to Dalva (Belgium, France)
Henry Barakat Award for Best Artistic Contribution (Awarded to the Cinematographer) 19B, cinematography by Mostafa El Kashef (Egypt)
The Horizons of Arab Cinema Competition
Saad Eldin Wahba Award for Best Arabic Film Mother Valley by Carlos Chahine (France, Lebanon)
Salah Abu Seif Award Riverbed by Bassem Breche (Lebanon, Qatar)
Best Non-Fiction Film Award Far From the Nile by Sherief Elkatsha (Egypt, USA)
Best Acting Performance Award Carole Abood for her role in Riverbed ( Lebanon, Qatar)
Special Mention for Film I’m Coming Home by Yassine Redissi (Tunisia)
Special Mention for Best Actress Lyna Khoudri for her role in Houria (France, Belgium)
International Critics’ Week Competition
Shadi Abdel Salam Award for Best Film PAMFIR by Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk (Ukraine, France, Poland, Chile, Luxembourg)
Fathy Farag Award Joyland by Saim Sadiq (Pakistan)
Special Mention Victim by Michal Blaško (Slovakia, Czech, Germany)
Short Film Competition
Youssef Chahine Award for Best Short Film Rosemary A.D. (After Dad) by Ethan Barrett (USA)
The Special Jury Award My Girlfriend by Kawthar Younis (Egypt)
Special Mention One F*cking Wish by Piotr Jasiński (Czech)
Special Mention Riverbed by Bassem Breche (Lebanon, Qatar)
CIFF Cash Awards
Best Arab Film Award (USD 10,000) 19B by Ahmad Abdalla, Produced by Mohamed Hefzy (Egypt)
Youssef Chahine Award for Best Short Film (EGP 10,000) Rosemary A.D. by Ethan Barrett (USA)
Youssef Cherif Rizkallah Award (Audience Award, USD 15,000) Alam by Firas Khoury produced by Marie Pierre Macia, Claire Gadéa and distributed in Egypt by Mad-Solutions (France, Tunisia, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Qatar)
Google search engine celebrated the late Hamed Gohar’s 115th birth anniversary on 15 November with a Google Doodle.
The Egyptian scientist, marine biologist and TV host, Gohar is considered the founding father of oceanography in Egypt and the Arab world.
Born on 15 November 1907, he studied medicine at Cairo University in 1925 before shifting to biology. He then received his master’s degree in oceanography from Cambridge University in 1931.
The note under the doodle adds that “Gohar discovered that dugong, a sea mammal that was thought to be extinct in the region, still existed in the Red Sea. He continued studying underwater life for 25 years at the Hurghada marine biological station.”
He worked with the Arabic Language Academy to create scientific dictionaries in Arabic and served as an adviser to the United Nations’ Secretary General and helped organize the first International Conference on Law of the Sea in Geneva.
The general public knows Gohar for his educational show called “The Sea World” which he hosted on national television for 18 years. The programme highlighted underwater scenery and natural sea life, bringing the viewers closer to marine biology.
Two graphic designers decided to share their most inspirational street finds with everyone on the internet – and launched an online platform to let everyone else share as well.
In Egypt, where there are streets and roads and passageways, there are signs and posters and billboards dating back decades and even centuries, each reflecting their own era of styles, tastes and contexts. It’s a beautiful mess of typography that often gets lost with time, and the Egyptian Type Archive was born to capture and encapsulate it for good.
The founders, Toka Assal and Abdo Mohamed, met online and bonded over their shared interest in street typography, drawing inspiration from their travels to cities across Egypt, from Aswan to Minya and Port Said. As graphic designers and type artists, they decided to share their most inspirational street finds with everyone on the internet – and launched an online platform to let everyone else share as well.
“When we started we didn’t even have a logo, we just used a picture I took of some text on a microbus that said ‘Semsem’ and ‘Semsema’,” Mohamed tells CairoScene. “We found out later that those were the names of the bus owners, a brother and sister. Although we know it’s not professionally designed, the text really looked like it was. But now everything is digital and fast-paced, so we’re losing the artistry and craftsmanship of typography and calligraphy.”
Exclusively focused on Arabic street typography in Egypt, the Egyptian Type Archive has amassed a loyal community on Instagram. They collectively document any text they stumble upon, from the quirky to the horrific to the beautiful, whether it’s an ancient sign on a vintage shop or an announcement sprayed on the walls of a local cafe.
“My favourite finds are food carts, their typography has a very distinct style embodying the essence of street art,” Asal shares. “It’s also very instinctual with the text written tackling hasad or rizq.” Here Asal refers to written prayers or phrases traditionally used to ward off the evil eye, or invite God’s blessing – a visual manifestation of deeply held beliefs and spirituality.
Mohamed and Asal’s view on what constitutes art or on the nature of street typography questions notions of ‘professionalism’, where they treat every sign and piece as a story on its own. Initially, they wanted to document the names of the calligraphers until they found that – more often than not – the text is created by commission, so the artists don’t normally sign their names under their work.
Although strangers in the street often regard them with confusion when they see them taking pictures of manhole covers or old movie posters, the founders believe their documentation serves a purpose to typographers, designers, and Egyptians at large. Through their work, and the work of their burgeoning community, they preserve a dying visual culture and ensure it survives to the next generation of Egyptian creators.
Read on for a list of regional female filmmakers who have been taking the industry by storm.
Farida Khelfa
Farida Khelfa is an Algerian-French documentary filmmaker. She is currently set to release a new film titled “From The Other Side of the Veil” that aims to dismantle misconceptions and stereotypes that often surround Arab women.
Kaouther Ben Hania
The Tunisian filmmaker made headlines in the film industry after her critically acclaimed movie “The Man Who Sold His Skin” was shortlisted for the Oscar’s Best International Feature Film award this year.
Ayten Amin
The Egyptian director has long chronicled the lives of women in modern Egypt. Her feature film “Souad” was selected for the cancelled 2020 Cannes Film Festival.
Danielle Arbid
Danielle Arbid is a Lebanese filmmaker. Her work has screened at numerous film festivals in France and the rest of the world, including New York, San Francisco, Tokyo and more.
Annemarie Jacir
The Palestinian filmmaker has written, produced and directed award-winning films such as “A Post Oslo History.” Her movie “Wajib” (2017) won her 18 international awards.
Nujoom Al-Ghanem
The Emirati filmmaker, writer and poet had to overcome societal stigma and family disapproval to make it. She defied the odds and produced films such as “Amal” (2011) and “Sounds of the Sea” (2015).
A fragment of the legendary star map by ancient Greek astronomer Hipparchus has been uncovered in St. Catherine’s Monastery.
Within the library of St. Catherine’s Monastery in South Sinai – the oldest continuously-running Christian monastery in the world – researchers have uncovered a fragment of history’s oldest complete star map, penned by ancient Greek astronomer and mathematician Hipparchus.
Hipparchus is considered to be the greatest astronomer in ancient Greece, and so researchers had been searching for his catalogue of stars for centuries. The manuscript in St. Catherine’s Monastery appeared to be something completely different; the pages contained a collection of 10th or 11th century Syriac text called the Codex Climaci Rescriptus. But as it turned out, it wasn’t just that – the pages were a palimpsest, or a parchment in which previous text was wiped clean so that it can be reused.
But much like scribbling your pencil over recently erased writing, it was possible to discover what was erased from a palimpsest. Researchers from the University of Cambridge, the University of Rochester in New York, the Early Manuscripts Electronic Library in Rolling Hills Estates, California and the French national scientific research centre CNRS in Paris worked together to find layers of writing that had been wiped away. Amongst them were the coordinates for the constellation Corona Borealis, and by comparing these precise coordinates with how the night sky would have been arranged in antiquity, the researchers found that the coordinates would have been made in 129 BC – right when Hipparchus was making his revolutionary cosmic calculations.
An excerpt of the discovered document was recently published in the Journal for the History of Astronomy, and is available online.
Egyptian doctors ranked among the top five ‘joiner doctors’ who joined the UK medical workforce in 2021, according to a report released the British General Medical Council (GMC).
The GMC, a UK public body responsible for maintaining the official register of medical practitioners within the kingdom, said that Indian, Pakistani, Nigerian and Sudanese doctors were the other four nationalities in the top five who joined the kingdom’s medical system that year.
The GMC report also found that the number of Egyptian – as well as Chinese and Sudanese – doctors who joined the UK’s medical system tripled between 2017 and 2021.
It explained that the number of Egyptian doctors who joined the UK medical workforce was 435 in 2017 and increased to 765 in 2018. But, these numbers, it added, increased by almost 200 percent in the following three years on average, registering 1,301 in 2019, 1,220 in 2020, and 1,312 in 2021.
More IMGs – less UK and European
The GMC report analysed statistics related to the UK medical workforce and discussed various challenges that faced the kingdom’s medical system in 2022.
It found that the number of international medical graduates (IMGs) who joined the UK workforce in 2021 exceeded the numbers of graduates from UK and European Economic Area (EEA) who joined the kingdom’s workforce.
These increasing numbers of IMGs came primarily from doctors from South Asia, the Middle East and Africa, the report found.
Doctors from these three regions comprised 84 percent of all ‘IMG joiners’ in 2021 at 8,900 doctors, a number which actually exceeded the number of 8,200 UK graduates who joined the country’s workforce in the same year, the report added.
According to the GMC report, the ‘joiner doctor’ category includes doctors who obtained a license to practice medicine in the year before applying for a job in the UK medical system.
The single fastest route to becoming a ‘joiner doctor’ is through enrollment in the UK’s medical graduate programmes, the GMC report found.
Egyptian doctors: Challenges and solutions
In recent decades, Egyptian doctors have faced increasing financial difficulties due to low pay as well as an increasing workload amid population growth.
According to a March 2019 study released by the ministries of health and higher education, the numbers of doctors who held a license to practice medicine in Egypt were estimated at 212,000 in 2018, with 82,000 of them – or 38 percent of the total – working in hospitals, both public and private.
The study also found there was an average of 8.6 doctors for every 10,000 citizen – or one doctor for every 1,162 citizen, when the global average was 23 doctors for every 10,000 citizen – or one doctor for every 434.
The Egyptian Medical Syndicate, which represents the country’s doctors, said in a report in April of this year that the doctor-to-citizen ratio improved to 9.2 doctors for every 10,000 citizen by March 2022 but remained far short of the global average.
The syndicate also said that 11,536 doctors resigned from the Egyptian public health sector from 2019 through March 2022.
Though these numbers do not represent more than five percent of the total of practicing physicians in the country, still, they have pushed many in the public to call on the government to improve the work conditions and salaries for doctors in order to stop any “doctors exodus” – real or not – and prevent any acute shortages that could impact the health system adversely.
The government has responded to these public calls by increasing the number of medicine faculties in the last few years in order to graduate more physicians.
It has also increased spendingon the health sector to EGP 128 billion in the budget for the FY 2022/23 up from EGP 108 billion in 2021/2022 – an 18.5 percent increase.
In 2021, the government, as per President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi’s directives, raised salaries and allowances for doctors and nurses in the public health sector by 75 percent.
Last August, President El-Sisi also instructed the government to offer financial incentive package for medical staff to improve their work conditions and raise their incomes.
Egyptian doctors check a patient s X-ray at the infectious diseases unit of the Imbaba Hospital in Cairo, during the novel coronavirus pandemic crisis. (AFP)
The Egyptian Chamber of Commerce in Alexandria, the first in Egypt and Africa, is celebrating its centenary, reports Ameera Fouad.
It has been 100 years of success, 100 years of international and local relations, 100 years of developing markets and companies, 100 years of trade agreements, and 100 years of boosting made-in-Egypt products.
The Egyptian Chamber of Commerce in Alexandria is celebrating its centenary this year, having been established in April 1922. It was the first national chamber of commerce to be established in Egypt, Africa, and the Arab region. Situated near the Raml Station in Alexandria, it acts as a national economic and business institution that fosters economic and business development in Alexandria and the Arab and Mediterranean region.
The idea of setting up the chamber developed after the 1919 Revolution, which demanded the freedom and independence of Egypt’s industry and commerce. With the agreement of traders and industrialists, the chamber’s first board members were elected in 1922.
Its first elected president was businessman Mohamed Effendi Tawfik. According to a report published by the chamber, 129 members joined it when it was founded, a large number, and in addition to the president 15 board members were elected.
The centenary of the chamber coincides with the 40th anniversary of the foundation of the Federation of Mediterranean Chambers of Commerce (ESCAMI). This brings together more than 500 chambers from 23 countries overlooking the Mediterranean and more than 22 million companies. It is headed by Ahmed Al-Wakeel, president of the Chamber of Commerce in Alexandria.
The ESCAMI chambers implement regional projects financed by the EU with a budget of more than 180 million euros in the sectors of the food and textile industries, tourism, transport and logistics, new and renewable energy, environment and training for employment, regional development, transport and logistics, and the participation of workers abroad in the development of their countries. There is also a regional programme for the development of trade and investment.
At a press conference held to announce the centenary, Al-Wakeel said that the Alexandria chamber was working on automating all the services provided to its affiliates by the end of this year at a cost of LE7 million as part of the country’s larger commitment to digital transformation.
“The process includes the establishment of an electronic portal for the chamber, in addition to launching an electronic application on mobile phones,” Al-Wakeel said. He added that it also includes the internal systems of chamber employees and financial and administrative aspects.
The chamber has begun to provide online services to its members, such as obtaining certificates and getting acquainted with the laws that regulate the business environment as well as regulations and tenders. In terms of financial inclusion and the electronic transformation, the chamber is currently studying ideas for signing a protocol with an electronic payments company.
During the press conference, Al-Wakeel stressed the leading role played by the software industry, not only at the level of the Egyptian market, but also globally in the light of the availability of suitably qualified professionals. “Our professionals compete globally and are considered one of the sources of our national income,” he added.
He also highlighted the importance of updating the laws on intellectual property rights in Egypt after the launch of the Egyptian Strategy for Intellectual Property, which guarantees the rights of companies and individuals.
DEVELOPMENT ROLE: One of the core roles the chamber undertook just after its establishment was to resolve the economic problems that resulted from World War I.
“Among these problems were the lack of sugar in the markets, the tram tariffs, the issue of reducing freight fees and freight for ships and railways, and reducing floor fees and many more,” said Ahmed Sakr, a board member of the chamber.
“The then council addressed all these problems to meet contemporary concerns and needs.”
Since its establishment, the chamber has paid special attention to fostering and developing national industry and made-in-Egypt products. In 1940, it held its first permanent exhibition for national industries in Said Al-Awal Street in Alexandria. Then king Farouk visited the exhibition and hailed it as a success.
To hold the exhibition, the chamber made an agreement with Banque Misr to allow exhibitors participating in it to pay an interest rate on loans for exhibitions not exceeding two or three per cent. This succeeded in encouraging and assisting manufacturers and Egyptian-made products at the time.
A hundred years on, the chamber is still keen on taking the necessary steps to cope with global developments and the environmental changes associated with the climate change crisis. “The chamber is one of the first buildings that uses solar energy in its historic building in the Raml Station area,” Sakr added.
The chamber also uses solar energy in the wholesale market in the Ameriya district, making it the first of its kind in the world to operate on solar energy. The market was opened last February in the presence of Ali Moselhi, the minister of supply, Mohamed Al-Sharif, the governor of Alexandria, and Christian Berger, the EU ambassador to Egypt.
“We are always striving to play our important role in terms of social responsibility and sustainable development,” Sakr said.
WOMEN’S ROLE: Realising the important role that youth and women play in the economic sector, the chamber has helped strengthen their roles in society.
It activated an amendment introduced to the chambers law in 2002 that allowed the election of women as board members of the Chambers of Commerce. In 2015, the chamber established its first committee for businesswomen to represent female entrepreneurs and others. The committee aims at helping them to solve their problems and providing them with opportunities and workshops that can help them to promote their own businesses.
In an interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, Al-Wakeel stressed the importance of women’s participation in the economy and comprehensive social and economic development. “It is an essential role that works to enhance Egypt’s long-term prosperity and stability,” he said.
He expressed his hope for more cooperation with embassies and other chambers in the field of women’s economic empowerment. The chamber is seeking networking opportunities and shared experiences with other countries in order to achieve a women’s economic renaissance and an effective developmental footprint, he said.
Reem Siam, founder of the Economic Council for Businesswomen, reviewed the Alexandria Chamber’s actions over the past seven years, praising steps taken to support female entrepreneurs and the programmes that the chamber has sought to implement in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Social responsibility: Many people relate the Chamber of Commerce only to industry and trade. But it also plays an important role in society and in facing up to many economic and other challenges.
“We have faced two major problems, a deadly pandemic and now the Russian-Ukrainian War, in just one decade,” Sakr told the Weekly. “But at the same time, we are working tirelessly for the sake of members and the wider population so that the markets will remain stocked with products.
“No one expected that the Russian-Ukrainian war would affect the Egyptian economy in the way that it has, especially the tourism sector. We must open new markets, encourage more types of tourism, and seek new opportunities in every sector,” he said.
In response to the high prices of commodities and high inflation, the chamber last month inaugurated a Food Commodities Exhibition under the auspices of the Northern Military Region, the Alexandria Governorate, and the Ministry of Supply.
The exhibition offers food commodities at discounted prices ranging from 10 to 30 per cent off at the General Abdel-Moneim Riad Complex on the Agricultural Road in the Smouha district of Alexandria.
It is divided into 50 sections with the participation of 35 exhibitors and offers discounts on various products. Companies affiliated to the Food Industries Holding Company of the Ministry of Supply, some major commercial chains, fresh and processed meat and poultry companies, and various food commodity companies have all participated in the exhibition.
“We believe that crises serve as catalysts for major transformations. The present anniversary marks an important point in history where everybody in the chamber is trying out innovative methods using digital technologies, open data, and citizen engagement for the greater welfare of our country,” Sakr concluded.
*A version of this article appears in print in the 13 October, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.
