WATANI International
13 December 2009
Underground water
Last October saw the inauguration of a project to tackle the rise in underground water in Luxor’s West Bank. The project is the fruit of cooperation between the American Agency for Development, the Supreme Council for Antiquities and the General Authority for Drinking water and Sanitary Drainage. The project involves the establishment of an advanced drainage system to protect the temples of Medinet Habu, Amenhotep III, Seti I and the Ramesseum.
Volta heritage
From 9 November till today the Scientific Planetarium Centre at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, under the sponsorship of the Italian University of Pavia and the Italian Embassy in Cairo, has been hosting an exhibition entitled “From the Voltaic Cell to photoelectricity”.
Honouring the Italian physician Alessandro Volta, inventor of the voltaic cell, the exhibition focuses on the historical, cultural and scientific heritage left by Volta, displaying a collection of the precious original tools he used in his experiments. The exhibition also displayed a collection of animations prepared by the group of history and physics at Pavia and the Lumbardo Institute, which collated Volta’s original manuscripts.
Indian dance
As a guest of honour in the 33rd Cairo International Film Festival held in Cairo from 10 to 20 November, the Indian Anart Dance Ensemble—seven dancers and five players—presented two of its prominent performances on the opening ceremony of the festival.
Anart specialises in a mix of classical kathak dance and modern dance, combining creativity and intelligence. The leading classical dance kathak, well-known in the north of India, derives from the word kathak meaning narration, or the skill of storytelling.
The ensemble has performed in more than 30 countries all over the world and has won several prizes.
Norwegian Jazz
A number of cultural activities were held during November under the sponsorship of the Norwegian Embassy, among them a Jazz concert at the Norwegian Cultural Centre in Alexandria. The same concert was held in Cairo at the Azhar Park, where a musical written by Noura Amin was also shown. A peace celebration was held at the Ghouri Centre, Cairo, by the Norwegian singer Unni Lovlid.
Excavations at Nelson’s
“Ten years of Italian excavations on Nelson Island,” was the theme of a lecture given by archaeologist Paolo Gallo of Turin University in October at the Italian Institute for Antiquities. “Excavations have taken place on this island because it was a vital location for the navigation of Egyptian goods to Greece at the end of the Egyptian trade route,” Dr Gallo said. “To save the ancient archaeological items on the island, excavations were launched in 1998 under the supervision of Turin University.”
Nelson is a small island in Abu Qir Bay off east of Alexandria. It was once a city linked to the mainland through the two large cities of Canopus and Herakleion, both now submerged. In 2000 Dr Gallo, who was famous for his submarine work, discovered a series of burials on the island. Further digging and research (in collaboration with British historian Nick Slope) determined that the graves dated from the 1798 Battle of the Nile and another land battle in 1801. The remains of British officers, sailors, women and children were uncovered.
In 2005 the remains of 30 Royal Navy mariners and officers recovered from the island were reburied at Chatby Commonwealth War Cemetery in Alexandria. Only one body, that of Master and Commander James Russell, was positively identified. The internment was attended by Sir Derek Plumbly, the then British Ambassador to Egypt; Alan Cobden, who was HM Consul-General to Alexandria at the time; General Abdel-Salam al-Mahgoub, the Governor of Alexandria; members of the crew of HMS Chatham, and a descendant of Commander Russell.
Italian language week
Under the slogan of “Together side by side”, the ninth round of the Italian language and culture week in Egypt was held in Cairo at the premises of the Italian Archaeological Institute. The event was attended by the Italian ambassador Claudio Pacifico; the President of Meroga University for foreigners in Italy Stefania Giannini, who has responsibility for encouraging the spread of the Italian language in Egypt; and Education Minister Hani Helal.
An exhibition entitled “Art and Project” was held to mark the European Year for Creativity, prepared by the Satirana Art Institution and displaying 54 wooden models and samples of vehicles by Mario Maioli. Another exhibition was held on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the futuristic movement prepared by Chiara Delle Site and displaying samples of the futuristic planes.
During the cultural week a roundtable was held on “Leonardo’s sons…Art, science and technology in Contemporary Italy”.
This week saw the International Conference for Preservation of Cultural Heritage. During the same period, the third conference on “Environmental Tourism, developing the lands of the Mediterranean” was held in cooperation with Palermo University.