Egyptian Minister of Culture Ines Abdel-Dayem has inaugurated a series of seminars dubbed 'Cultural Relations', which aim to strengthen creative cooperation between Egypt and countries around the world, with the first seminar celebrating Mexico's National Day 

Before the inauguration, Minister of Culture Ines Abdel-Dayem, welcomed Mexican Ambassador to Cairo José Octavio Tripp, Deputy Assistant Foreign Minister for Latin American Affairs Ashraf Mounir, head of the Supreme Council for Culture Hisham Azmy, novelist Mohamed Al-Mansi Qandil and emerging novelist Tarek Imam.

(L-r) Mexican ambassador José Octavio Tripp, his wife (left), Culture Minister Ines Abdel-Dayem, Hisham Azmy and Ashraf Mounir

The activities of the ‘The Cultural Relations’ seminars, held in cooperation with the Foreign Cultural Relations Sector and the Supreme Council for Culture, started with an evening marking Mexico National Day.

“The Cultural Relations seminars have been launched within the framework of ‘Culture Between Your Hands’ initiative to continue the enlightening message of the Egyptian culture ministry,” said Abdel-Dayem, adding that it is a distinct model for partnership and cooperation between the state institutions and the Ministries of Culture and Foreign Affairs.

Abdel-Dayem explained that this series aims to consolidate the bonds of friendship between Egypt and the various countries of the world. In addition to shedding light on the activities of creative communication with the nations of the world. Afterwards, she congratulated Ambassador Tripp on the occasion of his country’s national day, handing him a selection of the Ministry of Culture publications – translated to English and Spanish, including The Treasures of Our Museums and The Persian Manuscripts books.

On this occasion, ambassador Tripp said, “First of all, many thanks for your kind invitation to take part in this important event, it’s a great privilege to open with Mexico the series of ‘The Cultural Relations’ seminars, and not only to celebrate the independence of my country but its relationship with Egypt too.”

“Egypt and Mexico are world powers in cultural terms due to their millennial and prestigious backgrounds, and our status as ‘ancient civilisations’ is a factor of identity and pride in the international arena. We are proud of being Mexicans and Egyptians. As a result, cultural activities have been the main pillars of our bilateral agenda over time. Every year, we see a dynamic interaction between Mexico and Egypt in several and diverse areas of the cultural spectrum. For instance, last year Mexico was the guest of honour of the prestigious Cairo Film Festival, while Egypt was the winner, for the second time in a row, of the Festival of Cultures in Mexico City. During the last three years, the Embassy of Mexico has organised, with the permanent support of the Ministry of Culture, around 30 cultural events in Cairo and Alexandra in areas such as music, dance, photography and cinema. We almost have had one cultural event per month in Egypt and it is amazing, frankly speaking,” Tripp expatiated a little further.

He added that this activity clearly shows that Egyptians love culture in all its expressions, and that Cairo is the cultural capital of the Arab World.

“And we see a similar phenomenon in Mexico. Until now for instance, the Egyptian Pharaonic Exhibition hosted almost 15 years ago in Mexico City still holds the record for most visitors at the Archaeological Museum of Mexico. Considering this natural attraction, now on we must be more ambitious in order to make possible a formal and systematic interaction between the cultural communities of both countries offering economic opportunities for artists and creators from Mexico and Egypt. Cinematographic, musical and dance expressions have the quality, appeal and potential to succeed in both countries,” Tripp said.

“I am sure that Egypt and Mexico have the cultural power to innovate in this aspect in order to make culture the main engine of the bilateral agenda, not only in cultural terms but economically as well.”