When it comes to the City Victorious, Cairo, the capital of synthesis and historical melting pot of civilizations, few modern writers have succeeded in capturing its essence and connecting its seemingly distant parts better than eminent Egyptian writer Gamal Al-Ghitani.
This Monday, the French Culture Center brought Al-Ghitany together with the talented oud player Mamdouh Al-Gibaly to discuss what the Egyptian capital means to them, each in his own way.
“Every glance of memory is connected to a certain place, a certain point in space, Al-Ghitani said at the beginning of the warm, intimate discussion that primarily centered on one particular point: No place can be understood without drawing connections between it and its own memories. Can anyone understand Cairo without its past?
Al-Ghitani confided how as a young boy walking down the streets of Islamic Cairo, he used to wonder about the people who stepped on the same rocks he was stepping on over the ages. The intrigue he felt for the memory of the place is what drove him to study history.
Al-Ghitani articulated his ideas very casually, jumping restlessly from one line of thought to another. The intricate oud interludes serve as much needed break for contemplation.
His overarching conclusion about the history of Egypt as a whole and not just Cairo is simple. He finds all forms of expression that this land has hosted (architecture, literature, music, and religions) are all linked with the country’s infatuation with the infinite and the eternal.
Al-Ghitani spent the rest of the evening deciphering the symbolism underlying all these art-forms (including the art of religion) using examples in different historic periods – Pharaonic, Coptic and Muslim – to demonstrate how the true essence of the Egyptian spirit remains unchanged despite taking on different forms.
“Life is but a passage; Al-Ghitani echoed this philosophy which was full-heartedly embraced by Egyptians at the beginning of their civilization. And since they adopted and embraced this view, they aimed at immortality. Writing was one of the first inventions this desire has produced.
Most of what he discussed on Monday has already been published in several works of his. The discussion, in many ways, functioned as a very concise summary of the ideas found in his books: “Rinn, in which he turned his gaze towards language, “Moton Al-Ahram (The Pyramids’ Engravings) where he recounted his attempts to uncover the mysteries of the pyramids, and “Malameh Al-Qahera fe Alf Sana (Cairo’s Face in One Thousand Years), in which he explored Islamic Cairo.
“A complete vision is realized for he who crosses the barrier of time, he said, before giving way to another intense oud solo.
When a great thinker tackles the topic of history in a French cultural organization, you can’t help but automatically draw parallels to the works of the greatest French philosopher of modern times, Michel Foucault, who studied the same subject and arrived at some startling conclusions.
When you categorize Al-Ghitani thinking methods, the comparison to Foucault doesn’t seem so farfetched.
While Foucault is viewed as a rigorous scientific researcher who specialized in the meta-historic, Al-Ghitani’s works represent an archaeological encyclopedia of the Egyptian culture written in its own language, as if the culture is speaking of itself to itself.
The music stops; Al-Ghitani clears his throat for another round. This time, he delves into Cairo’s architecture.
He talks about the many structures Egyptians have built in their quest towards eternity, in their mission to “conquer the nothingness : the pyramids, the Jewish temples, the churches, and the mosques. He highlights the continual use of the art symbols: the obelisk and the minaret reaching out for the sky.
He also draws attention to the structure of Islamic Cairo, and particularly the Al-Mu’izz li Din Allah Street which he calls “our Islamic Valley of Kings. The area, with its shaded streets that branch out in small steps, has the ambiance, and the look, of a place culled from the “One Thousand and One Nights tales in the way it never stops branching. It also grows shadier and more private as one gets closer to the alleyways where the houses are.
Comparing this natural architecture harmony with the long and wide boulevards introduced with the foundation of European Cairo at the dawn of last century is less shocking, Al-Ghitani added, when compared to the new posh suburbs of the 21st century.
He expressed his dismay at seeing a new palace in newly constructed Shorouk City that resembles a Roman Coliseum and wondered how a person can live inside a place where slaves used to fight to death. He even showed greater disappointment when talking about a palace, built in the shape of the White House, gracing the emptiness of our yellow Egyptian desert.
The night ended on a more hopeful note. Al-Ghitani asked the oud to remind the audience of how music is only another manifestation of the history which connects all arts, a history glimpsed at in one memorable evening.
