Reem Kassem is a very determined
young woman. Approximately one month after last year´s revolution in Egypt,
when the authorities´ main concerns were peace and order in the streets, she
managed to persuade the military in Alexandria to allow her to go ahead with an
open-air music festival, that brought together dozens and dozens of volunteers,
from people painting the stage in one of the city´s abandoned parks to the
musicians who performed. I could listen to her telling the story of her
dealings with the military again and again. She hasn´t stopped since and I am
sure her role will be decisive in the future of the cultural sector in Egypt.
mv
In Egypt, it has always seemed that
the only thing capable of bringing people together is football. Whenever the
national team is in action, everyone feels the same way. Young people gather in
coffee shops, others get together at home and others just set up screens
outside so that people can watch the game in the street. Change only happens
when people cry out and when there is a collective need for it. The Egyptian
people were looking for other ways of gathering together, for new tools through which they could express themselves and engage in meaningful dialogue.
Start with Yourself Festival: Exchange to Change (Photo: AGORA) |
This is where the cultural sector
came in and provided cultural and artistic activities for the general public.
In recent years, there have not been enough cultural centers in Egypt and the
activities they offer have failed to meet the needs of the Egyptian society.
Inevitably, cultural activities are very much centered in Cairo, followed by
Alexandria, while the rest of the country is totally ignored. On top of this,
traditional forms of cultural activities held in concert halls or conference
centers failed to attract new audiences – it’s always the same old faces.
There are two layers in the
Egyptian cultural sector: the government-led and the independent. The first is
represented by the Ministry of Culture and its associated entities; the second one
is the underground scene. Almost all regions in Egypt have national theaters,
opera houses, cultural palaces and official dance and music groups of the
Ministry. The underground scene, which emerged in 2006 and grew rapidly from
2009 to 2011, is represented by young emerging and young professional artists
in all disciplines who are not financed by the Ministry of Culture and are
therefore not controlled by the government. They perform mainly in private or
in foreign cultural centers and, to some extent, they are the counterparts of
the NGOs and non-governmental initiatives in Egypt.
Start with Yourself Festival: Social Change (Photo: AGORA) |
Because underground artists were
successful in providing what official artists could not, either through their
performances in non-governmental cultural centers or through the social media,
they have gained a large number of fans who believe in alternative arts. For
example, the band Massar Egbari (meaning “compulsory road”) performs
songs about social problems, such as unemployment, traffic chaos and bad living
conditions. This band, and others with the same mission, engages with the
public not just in an artist-audience relationship, but in a kind of connection
where the audience can use the band to discharge its negative energy and
recharge with hope. The audience feels comfortable communicating its problems
through the band‘s songs and music. This is how the independent layer of the
cultural sector started influencing the country’s youth; mainly through the
underground scene. It has therefore become an urgent priority to fulfil the
need for more and more cultural events, theatres, venues and projects to meet
the growing needs of the people.
In 2009, artists and cultural
operators noticed the growing community desire for public events and street
art. Cultural managers started their fight to get permits. There were many
attempts to organize public space events that were either hindered for security
reasons or stopped in the planning stage by policy makers. The process ended
with what has become known as the “Cultural Revolution”. When the protests
started on 25th January, a new window opened, giving artists a sign
that they should take the lead. In less than five days, songs were composed,
poetry was written, theatre productions were initiated, photography exhibitions
were prepared and short films were made. Stages were built in public spaces for
artists to give revolutionary artistic performances. As a result, the
underground scene officially became the ideal representation of contemporary
culture and, in a way, served to shape the new cultural policies.
During the past year, independent
cultural entities have been very active. Many of them are newly established
with a mission oriented towards public space and street art. The creativity to
bring the arts to non-traditional spaces has astonished the Egyptian public and
has changed a lot the way they perceive things. Funding organizations have
dedicated special attention to projects working on engaging new audiences and
promoting free access to culture. The last thing we need at the moment is to
treat the public as mere spectators. The current phase of political transition
is a time for participation and social change and the cultural institutions
should be taking the same line.
Start with Yourself Festival: Dream... Achieve... Change (Photo: AGORA) |
Art in the public space can be
perceived as a reflection of our identity and collective culture. It has the
highest potential to celebrate the diversity within a society and strengthen
its sense of belonging. However, in the past years there was hardly any public
engagement or interest and so the separation between the individual and the
community have increased. The current cultural realities in Egypt are changing with the use of
public space by independent artists, the reinvention of public space by
multi-arts festivals and the presentation of new art forms in public.
Reem
Kassem joined the Bibliotheca
Alexandrina Arts Center in 2003. In 2010 she became the Head of Performing Arts
Programming. She programmes and coordinates the monthly performing arts program
and the performing arts festivals, she manages the membership of the BA Arts
Center in international networks and she promotes its performing arts
productions internationally. In 2011, she established AGORA for Arts and Culture, an independent organization connecting arts practice and non-formal
education with social development. In 2012, she established AGORA
International, a new branch based in Marseille. She has participated in a
number of cultural forums in european and northern african countries.
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