Emad Abu Ghazi, the Egyptian Minister of Culture, on Wednesday overturned a decision by the Committee of the 22nd Youth Salon to accept all submitted works, upon receiving dozens of complaints that the decision violates Salon rules.
Therefore, Reda Abdel Rahman announced that members of the Salon had resigned; claiming Abu Ghazi’s decision was an illegal interference in the internal affairs of the judging committee that approved the mentioned works.
Meanwhile, Abu Ghazi claimed he had not received any resignations; and that he respects decisions of all committee members, while denying that such action can threaten the Salon scheduled to take place on 9 October 2011.
The minister has assigned Shakir Abdul-Hamid, the acting head of the Fine Arts and secretary general of the Supreme Council for Culture, to take all necessary measures to ensure that this year’s Salon will take place on time and according to the legal rules of the organization.
Artist Hamdi Reda, a member of the Salon jury, confirmed the committee’s decision to resign and boycott the Salon if Abu Ghazi didn’t retract his decision. Reda claimed the minister made his decision without consulting the jury or the committee.
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