El Sawy Culture Wheel
Cultural center in Gezira Island, Cairo, Egypt From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
El Sawy Culture Wheel (Arabic: ساقية الصاوى) (transliterated: Sakkiat Al-Sawy) is a cultural center on Gezira Island in the Zamalek district on central Cairo, Egypt. Named after its founder and owner, Abdelmoniem El-Sawy, it is considered one of the most important cultural venues in Egypt[1] and receives more than 20,000 visitors each month.[2]
El Sawy Culture Wheel was established in 2003 by Mohamed El-Sawy. Prior to its construction, its location, beneath the 15th May Bridge in Zamalek, was a shelter for homeless people and those struggling with addiction.[3] El-Sawy named his center in honor of the five-part novel series: "El-Sakkia" (lit. 'The Wheel') written by his father, Abdel Moneim El-Sawy, an Egyptian novelist and a former minister of culture.[4]
As of April 2009, El Sawy Culture Wheel has 3 branches: the main branch in Zamalek, a branch in Algeel Algadeed school, and a temporary branch in Qena. The main branch has eight halls: Wisdom hall, River hall, Earth hall, Word halls 1 and 2, Garden Hall, El Naseeb and Bostan El Nil.[5] The permanent premises in Qena is scheduled for opening in Ramadan, 2009.[6]
The center is home for various activities and cultural events. Every year, it chooses a main theme for most of its events, the 2009 theme was "dignity", through which it aimed to address some social problems, such as begging.[1] The center has organized hundreds of concerts and musical events, including those for oud, jazz, musical theatre, children chorus and performances for several Egyptian and Arab bands, singers and entertainers.[1] It also hosts several seminars, workshops, art exhibitions, book fairs and movie shows.[1]
It is allegedly a non-government controlled private cultural centert and its events are claimed to have more freedom and higher quality than those in government-controlled centers. It is, however, owned by members of parliament.[7] In addition, it organizes a number of conferences and festivals, including an annual theatre festival,[8] the "Sakkia animated film festival",[9] El Sawy culture wheel festival for documentaries,[10] and the El Sakkia conference for Arabic language and Poet Laureate Ahmed Shawqi.
The Sawy includes several sections for arts and music training and a number of libraries, including a music library and children's library.[2] and it offers several art classes in painting, sculpture, piano and violin for children and youth.[4]
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