By Marwa Al-A’sar
The permit to hold Al-Fan Midan (Art is a Square) festival on Saturday has been restricted for reasons to be announced later, said Mohamed Habib, one of the festival’s founders.
“The real reasons will be announced during a press conference tonight,” added Habib, a member in Sout El-Sada (Sound of the Echo) band.
Habib added that the festival organisers preferred not to comment for now, leaving a short statement on their official Facebook page.
The festival – which features art, film screenings, music and theatre – takes place on the first Saturday of every month, mainly in Cairo’s Abdeen Square and in several other cities around Egypt.
In their short statement, the organisers promised to explain the difficulties they had been encountering in the past months and how they intend to face them.
Meanwhile, the book signing of ‘Memory of oppression, a study on the torture system’, supposed to be held during the festival, has been postponed.
On her Facebook page, writer and novelist Basma Abdel-Aziz apologised to her readers, saying the book signing will be held next Saturday at Alef bookstore in Maadi, Cairo.
Last month, the security forces in charge of Abdeen presidential palace blocked Abdeen Square, refusing to let the organisers set up the festival.
The forces said the organisers should have received a permit from the Abdeen police station, even though the standard procedure followed over the past three years was to apply for permission from the Cairo governorate.
The festival was held one week later after the intervention of Minister of Culture Gaber Asfour.
