In an interview with Daily News Egypt, Dr Jessica Winegar, author of “Creative Reckonings: The Politics of Art and Culture in Contemporary Egypt” and professor at Northwestern University, reflected on the groundbreaking change Cairo’s contemporary art scene has undergone in the past two decades. Winegar discussed the blossoming of Egypt’s contemporary art scene against a …

Mona Abaza has given the Egyptian art scene a great addition with her second book "Twentieth Century Egyptian Art: The Private Collection of Sherwet Shafei." As a young journalist curious about Egyptian art, it was Sherwet Shafei who guided me across what was hitherto unknown. Little did I know that Shafei had played a similar …

In of the busiest parts of Sarrayat El-Kobba lies the Museum of Saad El-Khadem and Effat Nagy, just around the corner from the underground station by the same name. Yet the place somehow still retains the peace and serenity of bygone days. The energy of two of the most influential artists of the 40s and …

In a city where taste is contagious, the relationship between art and interior design is fraught with issues of authenticity, originality and, most importantly for the designers themselves, harmony. Local interior designers are both aestheticians and educators: A lack of knowledge about interior design and all of its components means that clients overseeing the decoration …

All eyes at the Sundance Film Festival used to be glued to one big premiere that would have opening night all to itself. Now the festival starts with enough choices to fill a small multiplex. Robert Redford’s independent-film showcase kicked off Thursday night with two fictional tales, two documentaries and a collection of short movies, …

But the controversial Iraqi politician is not the protagonist of this tale. This is Tamara Chalabi’s story; one of an inheritance of exile and a struggle to connect with a distant, troubled homeland. "He has his own tale to tell, although I acknowledge that my father has played a pivotal role in shaping my relationship …

A Chinese political satire and a Japanese psychological thriller are the top contenders at the fifth Asian Film Awards as organizers announced the nominations on Thursday. Jiang Wen’s "Let the Bullets Fly" and Tetsuya Nakashima’s "Confessions" each received six nominations, including best picture and best director. "Let the Bullets Fly" follows a battle of wits …

The Cinéma du Réel documentary film festival kicked off on Sunday evening at the French Cultural Center (CFCC) in Mounira with a line-up of documentaries on diverse subjects ranging from Palestine to the school infirmary. Cinéma du Réel is an international documentary film festival founded in 1978 by the Public Information Library in Paris. The …

Academy Award hosts Anne Hathaway and James Franco are unlikely to be seeking tips from Ricky Gervais. The British comedian was brash, profane and cruelly funny at Sunday’s Golden Globes, delivering his trademark humor as promised for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in his second go-round as host of the ceremony that has "butt-talking" appearances …

A financial crisis thriller starring Kevin Spacey and Demi Moore and a French 3D animated feature will vie for the top prizes at next month’s Berlin film festival, organizers said Tuesday. The 61st edition of the festival, running from February 10-20, will showcase 22 films in its main program including 16 in the running for …

PORTLAND: Nearly 10,000 years ago, man’s best friend provided protection and companionship and an occasional meal. That’s what researchers are saying after finding a bone fragment from what they are calling the earliest confirmed domesticated dog in the Americas. University of Maine graduate student Samuel Belknap III came across the fragment while analyzing a dried-out …

This past Saturday was a somewhat dreary winter day. Along the streets of downtown Cairo people could be seen clutching their jackets and sweaters tightly, shielding themselves from the cold. At the Townhouse Gallery, however, the mood was upbeat with an abundance of enthusiasm and excitement. Clusters of people milled about, with cameras of all …

Made-in-England favorite "The King’s Speech" leads the race for the British Academy Film Awards, Britain’s equivalent of the Oscars, with 14 nominations announced Tuesday, including best picture. Colin Firth is the best-actor front-runner for his performance as stuttering monarch King George VI, with Geoffrey Rush nominated for best supporting actor as the unconventional speech therapist …

British super spy James Bond will head to the glitzy gulf emirate of Dubai, itself no stranger to real-life espionage and assassination, in a new book titled "Carte Blanche," local papers said Tuesday. "When I thought about the setting for the new book, I thought immediately about Dubai," the book’s author, Jeffery Deaver, told reporters …

Made-in-England favorite "The King’s Speech" leads the race for the British Academy Film Awards, Britain’s equivalent of the Oscars, with 14 nominations announced Tuesday, including best picture. Colin Firth is the best-actor front-runner for his performance as stuttering monarch King George VI, with Geoffrey Rush nominated for best supporting actor as the unconventional speech therapist …

Host Ricky Gervas humorously insulted nearly every A-lister in the room at the Golden Globes, while the big winner was "The Social Network" — a movie about a guy who riles up everyone on campus with his new and invasive website. It all seemed fitting Sunday night. Besides best drama, "The Social Network," about the …

Clearly, there is something about the plays of Eugene Ionesco that lend themselves to an Egyptian context. Perhaps this is why two of them appear in the five performances of Downtown’s 2B Continued Festival of Theater and Dance this week. It is perhaps also why director Ahmed Shawky El-Bohy chose to tailor his adaptation of …

The five other guys in the Grammy-nominated Zac Brown Band have achieved a Zen-like state of trust in their eponymous leader — but it’s taken some time. The guy has some off-the-wall plans, after all. "The first couple times that Zac had a couple of crazy ideas," fiddler Jimmy De Martini said, "we were like, …

British actress Susannah York, one of the leading stars of British and Hollywood films in the late 1960s and early 1970s, has died in London at the age of 72. York died of cancer Saturday at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London. Her son, the actor Orlando Wells, said York was an incredibly brave woman …

In the isolated Beirut neighborhood of Karatina, the Sfeir-Semler Gallery occupies a space apart — both literally and metaphorically. As one of Beirut’s most successful and prestigious commercial galleries exhibiting work by some of the region’s most exciting contemporary artists, the Sfeir-Semler is in a league of its own, leading Beirut’s contemporary art scene and …

NEW YORK: Eight-year-old Marissa Campis is playing a game that is part of the new exhibition, “1,001 Inventions: Discover the Muslim Heritage in Our World” at the New York Hall of Science in Queens, New York. The touch screen displays a family room, asking visitors to select the items invented during the height of Islam’s …

By Heba Elkayal A plethora of designers from the Middle East have started to make their mark on the international fashion scene exhibiting in prominent trade shows in New York and Paris. Some have made an over the top splash with vibrant designs that combine kaftan silhouettes with modern touches. One example is Emirati designer …

In her book “The Art of Making Dances,” early 20th century contemporary dance pioneer Doris Humphrey observed “all dances are too long.” This couldn’t have been truer in the case of a 30-minute piece entitled “Exit does not Exit” choreographed by Shaymaa Shokry under the mentorship of Laurence Rondoni. Opening the third 2B Continued Festival …

Egyptian sculptor Mahmoud Mukhtar (1891–1934) is widely viewed as the godfather of modern Egyptian sculpture. Apart from his artistic success and iconic status as a pioneer in modern Egyptian sculpture, Mukhtar’s trajectory reflects Egypt’s turbulent and dynamic atmosphere from the outset of the 20th century to the interwar period. Mukhtar exerted a profound influence on …

  For more than a decade, the Townhouse Gallery has acted as a catalyst nurturing independent arts, fulfilling its mission to promote contemporary art within the Middle East and internationally. It has done so by hosting a variety of cultural and educational events, including theater and experimental music performances, film screenings, public lectures and workshops …

It’s unfortunate that today we see more pertinence and understanding of the social structure and construct in which we live in from product, fashion and furniture designers — our applied artists — than we do from our visual artists. It has become exceedingly difficult to hear of a contemporary artist who has managed to persevere …

A stone’s throw away from the underground station near Qasr El-Nil Bridge is Egypt’s Modern Art Museum on the Opera House grounds, surrounded by green manicured lawns that separate visitors from the bustle of Cairo. It was not always nestled peacefully in this Zamalek site. The seeds of the idea were first sown by the …

  Mark Twain was the kind of man who might tell an off-color joke, then grievously apologize, who wrote stories and essays he knew would offend and kept others private for the same reason. A century after his death, Mark Twain remains censored, and uncensored. The author and humorist worried enough about what he could …

As the inauguration of the 2011 Cairo International Book Fair approaches, getting up to speed on this year’s top Arabic novels, many of which have been translated into English, is imperative. The shortlist for this year’s International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) is a good place to start. The IPAF, popularly known as the Arabic …

Like most budding world cinemas, Arab cinema continues to suffer from a severe state of inconsistency. The excitement induced by a strong, diverse selection of films screened across the region in 2009 signaled a new direction for a stronger, more focused Arab cinema. Alas, prophecies turned to be false as the last batch of Arabic …