A celebration held last week at the theatre of the Ministry of Youth and Sports marked the grand finale of this year’s summer youth programme Baladna, literally Our Country. The annual programme, sponsored by the Supreme Council of Culture (SCC) and the Ministry of Youth and Sports, aims to promote Egyptian cultural and artistic awareness among young people, through artistic and music activities and workshops throughout the summer season. The programme has trained 500 young trainers to be administrators of cultural activities, focusing on human resources, financing projects, marketing, social media, and public relations. The artistic activities included plastic art, caricature drawing, choir singing, Arabic calligraphy, theatre, and handcrafts.
Amal al-Sabban, Secretary-General of the SCC; and Amal Gamal-Eddin, Deputy to the Minister of Youth and Sports; participated in the recent celebration. Mustafa Ezz al-Arab, member of the youth Committee at the SCC and godfather of the Baladna programme, was also there. The celebration began with Ms Sabban and Ms Gamal-Eddin opening the art exhibition that displayed the works of the young people in plastic arts, caricature, Arabic calligraphy, and handcrafts. Then everyone gathered in the theatre hall where the national anthem marked the beginning of the concert.
A short documentary on Baladna programme was screened. The young people who had trained as a choir gave a performance. There was also a show of folk narration and singing. The renowned Al-Masriyeen ensemble presented a show of their latest songs, conducted by Hany Shenouda. The evening closed with theatre shows by those who had trained in theatre: Ismaouna (Listen to Us) and al-Shabaab (The Young People).
