As part of Egypt’s scheme to extend the partnership with civil society institutions, Minister of Culture Enas Abdel Dayem inaugurated the first Dandy Mall Book Fair, organised by the Egyptian General Book Authority headed by Haitham el-Haj, in co-operation with the Dandy Mega-Mall Foundation at its commercial centre on the Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road.
The opening ceremony of the book fair was attended by Dr Nevin Mohamed Moussa, head of the National Library and Documentation House, Dr Ahmed Bahy El-Din, Vice-Chairman of the Book Authority, Saeed Abdo, Head of the Egyptian Publishers Association, Omar Mohi El-Din Rouhi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Dandy Mega Mall, Sally Rouhi, Member of the Board of Directors of Dandy Mega Mall and Tarek El-Qolly, General Manager of Dandy Mega Mall.
Abdel Dayem said that the fair is a step forward in the field of organising book fairs, confirming the ministry’s intention to repeat this kind of fair with more various cultural and artistic activities.
“The aim of the fair reflects the importance of encouraging reading and increasing the citizen’s knowledge, which contributes to promoting awareness and enhancing the state’s partnership with civil society institutions to achieve sustainable development goals and to enhance The values of reading and enlightenment,” the minister said.
For his part, Haitham el-Haj, head of the Book Authority, confirmed that organising this fair in a commercial centre would help the book market flourish.
He thanked the Minister of Culture for her support for all visions and ideas related to human development, adding that the books presented in the fair include the publications of ‘Your Culture Your Book’ initiative, which includes hundreds of titles from various publishing houses and the Ministry’s sectors. As for prices, each book costs no more than LE20 to encourage the citizens and the fair visitors to buy more books and to encourage reading and knowledge, in addition to enjoying the artistic activities presented for the children.
Sally Rawhi, a member of the board of directors of Dandy Mega Mall, expressed her gratitude for the fruitful and constructive co-operation with the Ministry of Culture in promoting reading by organising book fairs, saying that it is a great honour for her institution to achieve the enlightenment goals of the State and help in raising awareness.
The fair will continue until March 19 with the participation of the various Publishing Houses and Sectors of the Ministry of Culture.
On the sidelines of the fair, various activities for children for developing their awareness of the importance of culture and arts. The activities include various workshops such as ‘Secret of Championship – How to become a hero’, presented by the scriptwriter Walid Kamal; drawing with music workshop by the artist Wael Awad, a storytelling and drawing workshop by the creator and artist Mohsen Abdel Hafeez, the storytelling workshop by voices and movements lectured by the creator Myriam Rizkallah, and the ‘Make a Gift for Mum’ workshop on the occasion of Mother’s Day, presented by Dr Ghalia Al-Zamil, the portable theatre by the artist Rahma Mahgoub, how to make Ramadan lanterns from strings by the artist Amr Amin, puppetry workshops by the artist Samar Mahrous and ‘Colour Revolution’ workshop by the writer Abdo Al-Zaraa.
The Ministry of Culture also presents a number of artistic events and intellectual meetings, including: the National Circus performances presented by the Artistic House of Folklore, the Big Night Show puppetry presented by the Artistic House of the Theatre, a book signing ceremony by the writer Sherine Hilal, media symposium, performances of the Tanoura Heritage Troupe, in addition to an open meeting with the journalist writer Mohamed Al-Baz with a signing ceremony for the book “The Misleaders,” which lists the dangers of destructive ideas of terrorist groups.
