Director of Bibliotheca Alexandrina Mustafa El-Feki honours Lotus Abdel-Karim (Photo courtesy of BA Public Relations Office)
A mega cultural celebration was organised by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina's (BA) Media and Communication Sector on Wednesday.
BA Director Mostafa El-Feki met with Alexandria's innovators, media figures, and those interested in culture in an open discussion about the cultural scene.
El-Feki honoured a galaxy of cultural and creativity icons: the name of the late journalist Ahmed Bahaa El-Din, Lotus Abdel-Karim, founder of the salon and magazine Shomouaa (Candles), and the name of Mostafa El-Abadi, who came up with the idea of rebuilding the BA. The latter's award was received by his brother Ambassador Hassaan El-Abadi.
The honourees included Mohamed Shaker, former dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts, Alexandria University, who granted housing units for the library to benefit from, the name of Mohamed Ghoneim, deputy minister of culture whose award was received by his wife and daughter, visual artist Ezz El-Din Naguib, and the name of the late Farouk Wahba, former cultural adviser at the Egyptian Embassy in Vienna.
During the celebration, El-Feki announced that the BA will be among the bodies to nominate the state's highest awards for the first time in its history. He said, "After strenuous efforts, we succeeded in achieving that, because the library is an ancient institution that deserves to be among the nominating bodies."
El-Feki stressed that the library is a cultural edifice that opens its doors to all Egyptians and is extremely concerned with the challenges facing the country, especially those related to extremism. He also pointed out that the library possesses most of the documents of the two late presidents Gamal Abdel-Nasser and Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat.
He added, "If the BA provides its cultural services across Egypt along with its international message, then it works to support the cultural work in Alexandria, whose name the library holds."
The celebration was concluded with a mesmerising musical concert, led by renowned composer and maestro Rageh Dawoud, who was honoured by the BA Arts Centre’s 17th International Summer Festival, that took place from 26 July to 31 August 2019.
Director of Bibliotheca Alexandrina Mustafa El-Feki congratulates visual artist Ezz El-Din Naguib (Photo courtesy of BA Public Relations Office)
Maestro Rageh Dawoud presents the musical concert (Photo courtesy of BA Public Relations Office)
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