The central Cairo underground metro station of Anwar al-Sadat was last Monday the scene of the unveiling of two 5.6m x 2m murals entitled “City of Peace”. The murals are the work of a number of Egyptian young people with special needs, along with two young Austrian artists—also with special needs. The two murals are each formed of several squares of overglazed ceramic, each square created by one of the young people.
The idea was the brainchild of the two young artist brothers Ayman and Emad Atef al-Meery; the first is a student in the faculty of art education, while the second is a Masters degree student at the same college. “City of Peace” is the result of collaboration between the Egyptian Culture Ministry and the Austrian Culture Centre in Cairo.
The event was attended by General Abdel-Fattah Mohamed Abdel-Aziz, deputy of Cairo governor, Thomas Nader, Austrian Ambassador in Cairo, Mohsen Shaalan, head of plastic arts sector on behalf of culture minister Farouk Hosni, Magdi Azab, chairman of the board of the Cairo underground metro, and Clemens Mantl, the Austrian minister deputy head of mission director cultural forum.
The distinguished Egyptian caricaturist, Mustafa Hussein, surprised everybody by dropping in on the event, and took part in unveiling the murals.