ANSA praises creative dialogue between Egypt, Italy

CAIRO - 3 December 2019: The Italian agency ANSA praised the artistic dialogues between Egypt and Italy after the Ministry of Culture launched the activities of the new season of the Egyptian Academy of Arts in Rome.

The season is held under the title "Egypt and Italy: Dialogues of Art and Creativity."

The celebration began with the selection of Aswan as the capital of African youth. This comes within the framework of Egypt's presidency of the African Union. The celebration was attended by Egyptian Ambassador to Italy Hisham Badr, Ambassador Inas Mekkawi and Head of Foreign Cultural Relations Sector Heba Youssef, supervisor of the cultural and artistic activity of the Academy, in addition to a number of ambassadors of Arab, African and European countries in Italy.

The celebration witnessed the opening of an exhibition of plastic art entitled “Messages from the South” under the supervision of Ashraf Reda. It includes 32 works of 20 creators of different generations, ranging from photography, graphics, landscape and abstract art, with a vision that reflects the landmarks and the environment in Aswan and Nubia. This is in addition to a collection of photographs embodying the traditional life in southern Egypt.

In his speech, Ambassador Badr discussed the active role of the Ministry of Culture through the Egyptian Academy of Arts in Rome, as one of the arms of Egyptian cultural diplomacy and soft power, pointing out to the influential role of arts in promoting major projects. He referred to the uniqueness of Aswan and described it as Egypt's gate to Africa. Badr stated that Egypt adopts the youth of the continent as the pillars of the future, adding that Aswan will host many international conferences and forums during the coming period.

For her part, Heba Youssef reviewed the agenda of cultural and artistic activities during the new season of the academy.

Youssef explained that the convergence of both countries' civilizations in southern Egypt was the reason behind choosing Aswan as the icon of the opening, clarifying that Minister of Culture Inas Abdel Dayem paid special attention to the Egyptian Academy of Arts in Rome as a bridge of communication and a meeting point for cultural dialogue between the two countries.

At the end of the opening ceremony, a documentary film highlighting the most important historical and tourist attractions in Aswan screened. The film also portrayed the modern urban development projects in the city.

The ceremony concluded with a performance by the Aswan Folklore Group of the General Authority for Cultural Palaces.