On a balmy summer evening, the audience listens in rapt attention to the storyteller, as he leads the group on a walk from the Sultan Hassan Mosque through Darb Al-Ahmar road, through the Tentmakers’ market and back to the mosque; recounting the history of the Islamic monuments that they pass on the way.
Passion about the subject lends strength to his voice and he does not need a microphone to make himself heard as he brings to life stories of the rulers, the political machinations, the betrayals, the culture and the architecture of an era gone by. At every halt, the neighborhood’s residents gravitate towards the group, drawn by the raconteur’s skillful and knowledgeable narrative.
The audiences are members of the virtual cultural group “Pen Temple Pilots (PTP) and the master storyteller is Mohammed El Razzaz, aka Camel, who started it all in 2002.
“I had just come back from Europe and wanted to enrich the cultural scene in Cairo by creating a community of people passionate about culture, says Camel. The starting point was when Camel founded a group on yahoo, which initially consisted of a close circle of friends and then expanded by word of mouth to its current strength of 345 members. “And we are growing by the hour, he added.
The choice of a name for the group required months of reflection. “The name came as some sort of revelation says Camel. “Pen refers to a literary or artistic tool like a pen or paintbrush; “Temple signifies respect for culture and “Pilots are the knights of modern age that take the pen (culture) to new heights. Camel asserts that the name wasn’t inspired by Aussie rock group Stone Temple Pilots.
More suited to the frantic times that we live in; an online group allows people with a shared passion to meet in a virtual space that can accommodate everyone, obliterating time and space inconvenience.
“It is a logical springboard to launch and announce events, explains Camel.
There are no demands on the time and contribution for any member who has the luxury to decide the level and extent of involvement.
However, at any of the PTP events, you will be struck by the camaraderie and familiarity of the attendees; the anonymity associated with an online group is markedly absent. “What started as an online group has grown to become a community, a family, says Rehab Ragaee, moderator for PTP.
Starting with a classical musical night in 2002, today PTP runs the entire gamut of events from Cairo Walks, book discussion sessions, movie nights, poetry nights, game nights and presentations and lectures, averaging around four events a month. Earlier this year, PTP went international, with two presentations made by Camel on Islamic Cairo in Granada, Spain under the auspices of PTP.
The events are conducted free of charge and there is no membership fees.
Describing the criteria to become a “templar Camel enumerates “willingness to walk down a street to learn about its history, eagerness to attend a movie screening and discuss it, appreciation enough for poetry to discuss it on a full moon night on the felucca, all of which translates into passion for culture and a desire to share it with others.
To sustain its activities, the group partners foundations/NGOs that share a common objective. A mutually beneficial relationship ensues with these foundations that provide space for hosting the PTP events and in turn, PTP promotes them.
The walk conducted by PTP for underprivileged children in collaboration with a nongovernmental organization was purely for altruistic reasons. By the end of the walk, the children had the different architectural styles at their fingertips and could easily identify whether a particular monument belonged to the Ottoman or the Mamluk era by deciphering the architectural nuances of its minarets.
The Cairo Walks are also the most popular events hosted by the PTP and “there has not been a single Cairo Walk that has witnessed less than 30 attendees, reveals Camel, starting with the very first one in July 2005.
Apart from gaining insights into the history, art and architecture, these walks are an opportunity to explore monuments that one has read about but not had the courage, time or the requisite knowledge to venture into. An interesting way to unlearn all the history taught in schools.
As PTP enters its eighth year, it has maintained its rhythm and grown from strength to strength. Not one to rest on its laurels, the group plans keep re-inventing itself to keep pace with the times. It may change course, lose some members to other exigencies of life and acquire new, blood but its object of promoting culture seem to remain unchanged.
