7 Hegaz street, Heliopolis
Cairo
Egypt
- International/Cultural relations
Based on the information we have gathered through research (primary, secondary and tertiary) we have visited areas of high illiteracy and poor living conditions in the capital and other governorates. During our visits we got to know a few of the residents of these areas who were highly interested and showed us locations where we could hold our exhibition. We decided that we would visit a different area every Friday, which would involve the exhibition, performances, readings and so on and return to it the Saturday of the following week to host a seminar in which readers will discuss the events of the previous week.
Therefore the areas in which we will hold the exhibition will be decided on a month in advance, with promotion beginning approximately two weeks before the events are held in the area.
Promotion will include basic posters and leaflets that will be displayed in the area and distributed to its residents. Primary research of visiting areas has shown that residents accept the concept and are almost always extremely cooperative.
We arrive at the chosen location Friday morning and begin setting up the exhibition and the stage, which will be open to the public from 1 p.m. to 7p.m. During the day there are three events that take place on the stage, musical performances, theatrical performances, poetry readings and the like, in addition there will be small sittings within the exhibition where illiterate children will be read to. In the exhibition, people can exchange books with us for free, buy books at highly discounted prices and read. On the Saturday of the following week a seminar is held at the same venue to discuss with readers the books they have read, this seminar will be hosted by a public figure (someone involved in art or literature), this will include debates and discussions with readers involved in the events of the previous week. At the end of the seminar a prize will be given to the reader who has shown most interest and enjoyment during the course of the events, this will be a set of books. The exhibition will return six weeks later to the same area.
We hold a belief that Egypt is rich in culture and creativity and that it played a prominent role in the development of human civilisation; and from this belief stems another,in the role of art, culture and creativity in the resistance of ignorance, backwardness and extremism.
We believe that the people of Egypt must unite under the banner of knowledge and culture to spread a message of intellectual awareness using art instead of Molotov Cocktails, to communicate using literature and not the throwing of rocks and the blocking of roads, to use music as the common language of the Egyptian masses.
We will resist through art, creativity and culture through popular book fairs that allow residents of poor areas and slums to read, exchange and buy books at highly discounted rates, through reading sessions with illiterate street children, through musical performances and poetry readings, through short plays and Monodramas. And with this we hope to restore the role of the Egyptian people in the advanced and culturally diverse world.
Exchange of books
Selling books at highly discounted prices
Books and reading sessions for street children
Conferences with the readers to discuss their understanding, intellectual benefit and enjoyment they received from reading the books
Musical performances
Theatrical performances
Dance performances
Poetry readings
Intellectual debates and discussions
Because Anna Lindh is interested in the spread of cultural and intellectual awareness in the Euro-Med region, we have found that our project is of high importance and even contributes to the delivery of the organisation's message. Through our work with a wide range of people, mainly people from poor areas, who have the aspiration of being intellectually and culturally aware, but do not have the financial means with which to achieve this goal, through buying a book or attending musical or theatrical performances. We believe that these people particularly need our assistance as neither the government (through the poor public education system) nor other private organisations have shown initiative or interest in assisting them.