CAIRO - 29 March 2021: Products of Konouz factory for replicas will be available at the Official Store of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization as of the morning of Sunday April 4, 2021.
Dr. Khaled El-Enany, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, inaugurated the factory of archaeological replicas in Obour City, which is the first of its kind in Egypt and the Middle East.
It is established in cooperation with the "Kenouz of Egypt for Archaeological replicas" company.
The minister was accompanied by Dr. Mostafa Waziry, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Major General Hisham Shaarawi, Chairman of the "Kenouz of Egypt for Archaeological replicas", Dr. Ahmed Ghoneim, CEO of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, and Major General Atef Moftah, General Supervisor of the Grand Egyptian Museum and the surrounding area project.
Professor Ahmed Obeid, Assistant Minister for the Minister’s Office Affairs Sector, and Professor Iman Zaidan, Assistant Minister for the Development of Museums and Archaeological Sites.
The minister started the opening ceremony by expressing his sincere condolences to the families of the victims of the Sohag train accident, wishing a speedy recovery to all the injured and that God protects Egypt and all Egyptians.
The minister described the opening of the factory as an important and inevitable step, expressing his pride and great happiness for the completion of this ambitious and successful project, whose construction work began about a year and a half ago, and which came to keep pace with the requirements of the local and global market in the manufacture of archaeological replicas, as this is done at the highest level of distinguished technical expertise at the hands of Egyptian artists and specialists with high experience and competence.
The minister explained that this project is not commercial, but rather aims to introduce the Egyptian industry to the world and contribute to protecting the Egyptian cultural and cultural heritage and the intellectual property rights of the Egyptian antiquities.
The minister added that this comes in line with the state's strategy for sustainable development and to enhance the utilization of the ancient civilizational and archaeological heritage that is rich and characterized by the Egyptian state in a way that meets the tourism and economic needs with a positive and unique cultural return for the Egyptian identity.
It will also work to develop the material resources of the ministry and thus increase national income.
Dr. Khaled El Enany pointed out that every antique replica produced at the factory will have a special stamp of approval from the Supreme Council of Antiquities, and a certificate stating that it is a counterfeit piece, a true copy and that it is produced by the Ministry, in addition to the presence of a barcode through which all information on this piece can be identified in the two languages: Arabic and English, such as the material it is made of, the weight, name and place of display of the original piece, which contributes to protecting the unit’s products from counterfeiting.
The minister talked about the archaeological replicas that are among the important products that are marketed in the tourism sector, reflecting the importance of these archaeological models and the world's interest in them and the attempt to acquire them locally and internationally as souvenirs, indicating that the production of Egyptian replicas was the request of many tourists, as they are Valuable souvenirs bearing the Egyptian state stamp, which Egyptians abroad can give as gifts, adding that these replicas will be made available to various hotels and tourist bazaars at special prices, and that the factory can also manufacture for other museums in the world due to the efficiency of the Egyptian workforce.
The minister announced that the first official sales outlet for these reproductions will be opened in the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization as of April 4, after the museum would have been officially opened and would have received the parade of royal mummies, indicating that official sales outlets for these reproductions will be available in all governorates, museums and markets in the near future to facilitate promoting the Egyptian industry.
He added that some products will also be exported outside Egypt, in addition to their participation in foreign tourism exhibitions.
Dr. Khaled El Enany thanked the team and all those working on this huge project.
During the inauguration, the minister checked out the entire plant's departments, manual and mechanized production units, and the exhibition hall, and listened to the factory workers about the mechanisms of its workflow.
Dr. Mostafa Waziry pointed out that the establishment of this factory was not the first sign of the ministry’s interest in producing archaeological replicas.
It came as an evolution to merge the archaeological replicas unit that the Supreme Council of Antiquities established in Salah al-Din Citadel in 2010 with the Art Revival Center that was established in 1982, explaining that for the first time, there will be a large factory more prepared for this work.
He added that the factory employs about 150 artists, restorers and craftsmen with high experience and efficiency in the field, most of them are from the ministry, indicating that most of the products are handmade.
Major General Hisham Shaarawi, Chairman of the "Kenouz of Egypt for Archaeological Replicas", indicated that this factory had been completed at the end of 2020, and then began a trial operation for it, during which it produced 6,400 different pieces, including wood, ceramic, stone, metal, and a group of King Tutankham's treasures.
* - Learn about the details of the first factory of antique reproductions in Egypt: *
The total area of the factory is about 10k square meters, and it is equipped with the highest technology and the latest specialized machinery, which includes manual and automated production lines for casting metals to produce and raise the efficiency of products from metalwork, a line for wood and carpentry to produce all woodwork, and a line of molds required for production lines, sculpture, printing, drawing and coloring, including the production of colored glass and printing of t-shirts, in addition to an exhibition hall for showcasing the replicas.
The Kenouz Factory is keen on having a role in the field of preserving the environment and exploiting all resources, as it started a production line for recycling in terms of utilizing waste in the manufacture of artworks and paintings such as eggshells, tree leaves, and others.
Maximum utilization of the existing Egyptian technical competencies will be achieved and job opportunities will be created for young people to keep pace with the local and international market requirements, and to meet the increasing demand for the purchase of Egyptian antiquities models.
Kenouz Factory for archaeological replicas includes many sections and workshops, which include the casting and reproduction department, the drawing and coloring department, the metal casting section, the woodwork department, the inlay section, the metal crafts section, the sculpture department, the ceramic department, the packaging department, all the aforementioned sections and departments are provided with the latest technologies , operating and automated manufacturing machines, including a metal casting line, a DMG machine for making forms and metal molds, a laser machine for engraving and working on metals, and devices and machines for designing, printing and robotic machines for carving and shaping solid rock masses such as granite, basalt, durite, 2D rotor, 3D woodwork router and marble router
The Supreme Council of Antiquities has paid attention to the production of archaeological replicas since 1982, when the Art Revival Center was established to be the start of a project for producing archaeological replicas, and the center continues to produce to this day.
Then the Supreme Council of Antiquities inaugurated the archaeological unit for archaeological replicas in the Citadel of Salah al-Din in Cairo in 2010, where the replica unit worked to open new ideas for the production of archaeological replicas that are identical to the original artifacts in all eras.
Then the art revival center was merged with the archaeological unit for archaeological replicas in the citadel, and then the Kenouz company was established.
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