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The second edition of the Hakawy International Arts Festival for children came to an end Wednesday, the 28th March at the Cairo puppet theater. Organized, by AFCA foundation for Arts and Culture, the weeklong festival that started on the 21st march, offered a variety of free activities and shows in multiple venues across Cairo and an unforgettable moment in Alexandria on Stanley Bridge with the German Art installation “Priceless” by the paper theater (directed by M. Yohannes Volkmann). |
This edition was held under the auspices of the sector of foreign cultural relations at the Egyptian ministry of culture and M. Hossam Nassar (1st Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Cultural Relations) and supported by UNESCO, the German Embassy and the French institute.
Hakawy 2012 was inaugurated on Mother’s day (21st of March) at the Gomhoreya Theater and saw the commemoration of 15 artists who have worked during their career on children related activities and culture such as Hala Fakher, Gamal Ismail, Ahmed Maher and many others .The day ended in a fashionable way and made the audience travel in Egyptian traditions with the famous puppet operetta “El Leila el Kebira”.
The 22nd march and 23rd march children from French speaking schools (Sacré Coeur and Nefertary) came to see the francophone day of Hakawy at the Ghad Theater who hosted the French theater company “Le Vélo théâtre” and it’s show “there is a rabbit in the moon”. The main character, Thomas Snout hosted the children and their parents into his workshop and took them into his fantasist world, by exploring the night and dreams he collects. The show was presented 4 times and was accompanied by Francophone workshops outside of the theater celebrating the week of “La Francophonie”. AFCA decided to organize this special day, accordingly to it’s mission of encouraging the practice of foreign languages and specially the French language.
On the 23rd march, the day was supposed to be prolonged in the afternoon, with the German Art installation “Priceless” and a street carnival in El Korba but due to unforeseeable events and security reasons it had to be cancelled. AFCA had to readapt and respond to the situation, by moving Hakawy and the German show to the Stanley Bridge at Alexandria on Saturday, the 24th of March. “Priceless” is an interactive art installation by German artist Johannes Volkmann. It is a 50 meter table covered in white newspaper with paper plates and cutlery. People where asked to write something that they value that has no monetary value on the paper plates. Some of the plates where photographed to be turned into a postcard exhibition. The event met a big success as passerby’s flooded the venue to write what was priceless to them.