Cairo Book Fair (Al Jazeera)

The Cairo International Book Fair ended its fifty-fifth session a few days ago with its bittersweet and bittersweet, but the fair appeared in the “Cairo” space - for the first time - in the year “1969”, under the supervision of the late Dr. Suhair Al-Qalamawy, who was the head of the “General Book Authority”, the largest and largest body. affiliated with the Ministry of Culture, which owns the largest printing presses, and has marketing and distribution outlets in all Egyptian cities, and in the majority of Arab capitals.

The time was the time of the “War of Attrition,” which had political and military circumstances, which there is no room to talk about here. What I meant to say here; The “Cairo International Book Fair” was a good step that made segments of the “middle class” accustomed to reading.

Book prices were cheap, this class had time to read, and economic and political transformations took place, making the Ministry of Culture rely on the “Cairo Fair” to mobilize groups of creativity and thought in the cultural directorates in the governorates, and to host great Arab creators to participate in the exhibition’s activities, such as: The Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish and Adonis, the Sudanese novelist Tayeb Salih, and others.

Everyone would come to Cairo and find it ready; Hotels, public transportation, radio and television programs, and all government bodies and sectors. The popular classes in Cairo and the governorates considered the exhibition an outing and a trip, breaking boredom without a large financial cost.

Over the years, the meaning of “national culture” shifted from a project adopted by the “state” to a “tourism project” that generated profits for government ministries. The intention here is that the “paper book” was a tool for achieving the presence of the Egyptian state in the three departments within which it operates: the department. The Arabic, the African, and the Islamic departments.

Successive Egyptian governments hosted Arab and Islamic countries and provided facilities to Arab, African and Muslim publishers who were keen to be present in Cairo.

Cultural tourism

The absence of the meaning of “national culture” as an element of the “soft power” of the Egyptian state, and the presence of the meaning of “cultural tourism,” made the “popular classes” and intellectuals withdraw from the scene. Because cultural tourism has made the Cairo Fair an expensive spectacle, beyond the financial capacity of these segments that live under the weight of inflation and the collapse of the value of the pound in recent years.

According to the nature of the “audience,” the contents of “paper books” change. The “rich” audience is interested in fun and entertainment. A major shift took place in the policies of Egyptian publishing houses, abandoning “serious culture” that deals with thought, history, and philosophy, and all branches that build “minds” and establish concepts. It is hostile to Zionism and imperialism and defines the dimensions of the “Egyptian personality” with its Arab, Islamic and African extensions.

Markets, bookstores, and exhibition pavilions were flooded with books suitable for the new audience, who buy an easy book like “How to Love Your Wife and Become a Millionaire in Two Hours.”

Publishing houses were not satisfied with printing entertaining books, but rather resorted to printing books that deal with the stories and memoirs of directors and artists who are pioneers of the film industry, and books that contain articles by pioneers of journalism in the 1940s and 1950s.

This shift in the behavior of publishing houses is intended to evade paying financial dues to authors. Because fifty years have passed since the publication of a book, it becomes permissible for everyone.

 Creativity drying up

In light of the creative and artistic drought that Egypt is experiencing, books that tell the stories of the lives of “Badia Masabni, Naguib Al-Rihani, Kamel El-Shenawy, and Mahmoud El-Saadani” have become a refuge and an escape for those who feel nostalgic for their youthful years and the days when they used to buy “Rosa Al-Youssef” and “Sabah” magazines. Al-Khair” and “Al-Hilal” and they read articles by writers who possess both craftsmanship and talent.

In general, I meant to say; I went to the Cairo International Book Fair, which was held in the desert east of Cairo, in a location whose official name I cannot determine, and I saw what saddened me. I saw faces I did not know, and I wandered between the pavilions of publishing houses. I was astonished by the terrible prices, and I did not find intellectuals and creative people. Because they were in closed rooms, or luxurious "halls", which defeated the purpose of holding the exhibition.

In the past, in the days when the exhibition was held at the “Exhibition Grounds” in “Nasr City,” cultural momentum was achieved, and communication between Egyptian creators and creators coming from sisterly Arab countries was taking place and bearing good results.

Discussions in the camps that were held for the branches of art and creativity made “national culture” present in people’s minds. The poor Egyptian citizen could watch a new movie, and he could buy cheap books, and the “citizen” was present in the minds of those in charge of the exhibition. The Andalusian Arab poet says: “Everything has a decrease if it is completed.”

Army of intellectuals

I returned from my trip to the “Desert” exhibition and I am confident that “national culture” no longer concerns those in charge of the Ministry of Culture, and that every Egyptian citizen must search for the sources of this culture and build himself on his own, and that the presence of the Ministry of Culture represents a burden on the state’s general budget. .

Therefore, the Ministry of Tourism must seize the headquarters, properties, and assets of the Ministry of Culture, since the concept of culture has become close to the concept of tourism, and therefore, the Ministry of Tourism must assume the task of organizing the book fair in Cairo.

It is not necessary - for marketing reasons - to be limited to “books.” The display of souvenir items can include: “reproduced Pharaonic statues, antiques and gifts from Khan Al-Khalili.”

The problem of the “army of intellectuals” remains, which “Eat Its Lives” is linked to the Ministry of Culture, and this army is easy to absorb into the Ministry of Education, Endowments, and Local Administration.

Although the presence of the Ministry of Culture within the ministerial formation in Egypt is longstanding (since 1957), and this ministry was important in promoting the people’s conscience, the prevailing “tourism marketing” that dominates the minds of senior “culture” employees forces them to sever their ties with the entity called the “Ministry of Culture” and assign them In any other entity concerned with tourism and making profits, apart from national culture, books and pointless headaches.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.