At a refreshing break from the monotony of Ramadan nights the ancient Amir Taz palace recently hosted a celebration of Egypt’s 20th century culture giants in the fields of theater, cinema, music and literature organized by the American embassy.
The idea was the brainchild of American Ambassador Francis J. Ricciardone who had visited the Voice of America (VOA) Arabic Service headquarters in Cairo when he first arrived two years ago.
During the visit, he came across archived interviews with the most refined personalities in the arts and culture scene, and since then has initiated plans to put together a selection of historic interviews for the public.
For the occasion, three CDs were given to guests, each filled with exclusive recordings with the likes of Naguib Mahfouz, Mohamed Abdel Wahab, Tahia Karioka, Mohamed El Mogi and Youssef Wahby.
The CD entitled “Bainee wa Bainak (Between You and Me) uses revamped pictures of these stars in pastel colors, produced by the embassy and designed by Tree Films.
The intimate conversations discuss broad topics from art to light politics, and give an interesting insight into a past era through these stars’ perceptions. All the interviews were conducted in Arabic by prestigious reporters of that period.
More than 300 invitees started to pour into the courtyard of the palace at around 9:30 in the evening. Guests included family and friends of the legendary idols, with many contemporary celebrities like Fifi Abdo and Nour El Sherif featuring among the crowd.
Public Affairs Counselor Haynes Mahoney from the US embassy gave the welcoming speech, followed by Ibrahim Abdin, author and former director of VOA, Gamal El-Ghitani, author and editor-in-chief of Akhbar Al Adab, and Ricciardone who gave a warm speech, impressing the audience with his perfect Arabic.
Actor Nour El Sherif, the most frequent star of Mahfouz’s films, gave the final speech, as well as a reading from Mahfouz’s Dream 188.
The program ended with a musical tribute to Abdel Wahab by prominent Iraqi oud player Naseer Shama, featuring his customary touch of contemporary guitar-like fast beats blended with traditional music.
The final reception was at an even more beautiful courtyard in the palace where the voice of Om Kulthoum and Abdel Halim Hafez wafted through as black and white clips from old films played on a large projection screen in the background.
“Bainee wa Bainak will be made available to Egyptian libraries, universities and cultural institutions for research and instruction. The American embassy in Cairo and VOA are exploring ways to share the entire VOA Arabic treasury with the public.
All the radio clips and transcripts are available online at: http://egypt.usembassy.gov/voa
