Cairo’s music scene certainly has a lot to offer; from classical music at the Opera House, to jazz-fusions at El Sawy Culturewheel, music fans can quite easily find a rhythmic way to spend a hot summer night in the city. Now new venue Bikya bookshop gives music lovers another option.
Bikya book-café provides a fusion of the arts; more than simply a bookshop, it is a house of talent. Hosting a series of musical events, art exhibitions, creative workshops and other endeavours since the project launched in Nasr City in March 2011 and in Maadi last month, the place has become a reliable source of homegrown entertainment for culture-lovers in Cairo.
Saturday night at Bikya’s Maadi branch witnessed a convergence of impressive local talent. A stellar musical line-up was preceded by a stand-up comedy routine by Mohamed Shaheen, who struggled to pull laughs out of the dense crowd filling up Bikya’s space.
The heat was undeniable, the audience tightly-woven, but they buzzed with excitement as High on Body Fat, the popular musical comedy duo made up of Marwan Imam and Ahmed Safi El-Din, took the stage. As always, the double act had the crowd smiling from ear to ear (literally, for the audience were at ear to ear proximity,) roaring with laughter at the familiar lyrics, and dancing around to the upbeat tunes.
Next, the highly talented Hany Mustafa and Farida El-Gueretly mounted the stage with serene dispositions, enchanting vocals and guitars, to play a line-up of original and cover songs. The musical act put the crowd in a trance.
Bikya continually seeks to unearth local talents and pursue an eclectic mix of cultural ventures. Above all, the book-café aims to offer a space for people to unleash their creativity.
The bookshop/cultural hotspot is owned and run by Rana El-Faramawy, Reem Khamis, Sarah Boctor, Yara Taha, and Nancy Emad, who conceived the idea while still at school. While some students may have spent their free time caught up in fist-fights or partying, the five young women behind Bikya battled to find good quality second-hand books in the popular used-literature fair Souq El-Azbakeya in Cairo. The girls would make the weekly trips to this book dreamland, competing to find extraordinary books at bargain prices.
"The process of looking for the book and the pleasure of finding it was as important and exhilarating as buying the book itself," reminisces Rana El-Faramawy, one of the owners and the public relations head at Bikya. "Which is why the idea of simply finding the book on the shelf is never what we aim for."
And the owners have not abandoned their childhood games. Bikya is no library. It is a cozy, messy place welcoming treasure hunters and bookworms alike.
The book-café emerged as the product of passion for hidden treasures and a drive to promote cultural creativity in Cairo.
Opening Bikya was not a solid decision; it just happened, and Faramawy confesses they "didn't give it much thought." The raw place evolves and grows, drawing art enthusiasts and literature aficionados to its homey space.
The Bikya purpose was twofold; to create a comfortable arena for creativity and productivity, and to promote culture. And the project develops as they proceed, says Faramawy. But Bikya was built on four indispensible pillars: "second-hand books, culture, art and coffee."
Like the stellar books the young women used to dig up from Souq El-Azbakiya, now the partners strive to expose hidden gems and overlooked talents in the arts.
"We have some buried talents that are equivalent and sometimes better than the international (music) scene," says Faramawy.
Today, Bikya sucks up young talent and projects. To promote the Cairene culture scene and provide a platform for local talents to flourish, Bikya encourages young artists, photographers, musicians, painters and writers to participate and lead events and workshops in its hospitable space.
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