Cultural and artistic events.. Any new in the year of Egyptian-Tunisian culture?

Cairo - 

Since the declaration of 2022/2021 as the "Year of Tunisian-Egyptian Culture", many events have taken place, the last of which was a few days ago choosing Tunisia as the guest of honor for the 38th session of the Alexandria International Film Festival in Egypt, amid a wide activity celebrating the historical and cultural symbols exchanged between Cairo and Tunisia.

The same question arises: What did Cairo offer this year?

Then a second question: Is there a possibility to develop such cultural years beyond just seasonal events, especially between two culturally prominent countries such as Egypt and Tunisia?

The official answer was a pledge to develop and continue cultural coordination between the two countries, but an academic and a writer spoke to Al Jazeera Net about necessary conditions that require activating the cultural movement between the two countries, foremost of which is the upholding of cultural freedoms and discreet academic originality, in addition to stopping any political interference in this cultural movement with the aim of reformulating the two countries. Post-Arab Spring policies that have nothing to do with culture.

solemn pledge

On the official level, the former Egyptian Minister of Culture, Enas Abdel Dayem, revealed in official statements that the Egyptian-Tunisian cultural year will not be "just a year, but the beginning of the return of strong cultural and artistic relations between the two countries, and therefore many cultural projects will result from this."

The Minister explained earlier that after visiting many cultural sites in Tunisia - including the House of Books and Documents - she discovered the existence of fraternity between the two countries in many cultural content, stressing the depth of cultural, social and historical ties between the two countries, especially in the field of art and culture.

Pawn chance

In his turn, the academic and researcher in discourse analysis and linguistics, Yasser Fathi, believes in an exclusive interview with Al-Jazeera Net that the existence of a general tendency to support the Egyptian-Tunisian cultural year requires finding appropriate policies for it based on environments that enjoy cultural freedoms and support for creativity and discreet academic originality supported by effective executive procedures that are not based on “paralysis.” “There is no rhetorical, time-orientated service that is not supported by appropriate policies.

Fathi adds that the opportunity to develop the upcoming cultural years between Egypt and Tunisia depends on achieving at least the factors of cultural freedom and scientific originality among officials and influencers in the cultural field in order to enrich the procedures and not make them seasonal procedures focused on a narrow scope and one direction, making them just "completion of papers."

He believes that the presence of Ibn Khaldun and Bayram al-Tunisi in the cultural year is a new confirmation of their great cultural position in the cultural scene between the two countries, as they are inspiring cultural icons. .

Comparative Studies

In the direction of the future, Professor of Criticism and Cultural Studies and Supervisor of the Scientific Center for Translation in the Book Authority, Dr. Hatem El-Gohary, sees the Egyptian-Tunisian Cultural Year as an opportunity for the establishment of a new research and scientific field related to culture, which is "Comparative Arab Cultural Studies".

El-Gohary added in previous statements on the sidelines of the "Joint Cultural Conference between Egypt and Tunisia: Reality and Hopes" that the current Arab "cultural studies" track follows the impact of the European School of Cultural Studies, which deliberately exploded Arab contradictions, and looked as if they were colonial studies.

common heritage

Historically, the cultural ties between Egypt and Tunisia have a common depth in the past and the present - according to observers - historically led by the presence of the great scholar Abd al-Rahman Ibn Khaldun (1332 Tunis-1406 Cairo), a Tunisian-born who spent a large part of his life in Egypt and took the position of Maliki Judge in Cairo. During which he put his famous introduction "Ibn Khaldun's Introduction".

The great Egyptian poet Bayram al-Tunisi (1893-1961) of Tunisian origin, who is considered one of the most famous Egyptian colloquial poets and a leader in the development of the Egyptian and Arabic song sung by Umm Kulthum, also appears in the scene.

This cultural fraternity appeared in the Sheikhdom of Al-Azhar, where the Tunisian scholar Sheikh Muhammad Al-Khidr (1876-1958 AD), the Tunisian-born Sheikh, assumed the position of Sheikh of Al-Azhar during the period from 1952 to 1954, and he was one of the founders of the Arabic Language Academy “Majma’ al-Khalideen”.

The common Egyptian-Tunisian feelings harmonize in the heritage of folk biographies, and historical writings refer to the migration of the tribes of "Bani Hilal" and "Bani Salim" to Tunisia, which generated an inspiring literary effect from the oldest folk biographies known in Tunisia as "Al Jazia Al Hilaliya", and in Egypt With the "Hilal Biography".

According to the State Information Service in Egypt (governmental), Egypt was the main crossing point for the movement of pilgrims from Tunisia and the Maghreb, and this resulted in human interaction and cultural exchange between these pilgrims and the Egyptian people.

Technically, Cairo has also embraced many artists and artists from Tunisia, such as Hend Sabry, Latifa, Dora and Dhafer El Abidine, and art festivals witness a mutual presence between the stars of the two countries.

The slogan "The Answer is Tunisia" is still present in the cultural discourse between the two countries, according to observers, especially among the supporters of the Jasmine Revolution and the January 25 Revolution in Egypt, which produced two icons close in terms of conditions and culture, the two departed young men Khaled Said and Mohamed Bouazizi.

Multiple activities

These cultural ties necessitated the launch of a Tunisian cultural year to restore cultural relations again, according to the announcement by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Tunisian President Qais Saeed to choose 2021-2022 as the year of Egyptian-Tunisian culture in April of last year.

The Egyptian side inaugurated the first activities of the cultural year in the presence of Saeed himself in an Egyptian-Tunisian artistic evening as a reception and inauguration event at the Egyptian Opera House, which was revived by the Tunisian singer Lotfi Bushnak and the Egyptian singer Reham Abdel Hakim, which the Tunisian president described as “a symbolic event for the fusion of the Egyptian and Tunisian cultures together and the depth of relations.” culture between Egypt and Tunisia.

After that, the events in Egypt varied, including the launch of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture on September 7, 2021, a research competition on "Ibn Khaldun" in which researchers of the two countries participate in the Arab reality in Ibn Khaldun's writings and the forward-looking thought in his philosophy and its impact on the establishment of sociology and the extension of his thought to the West.

Egypt participated in the 36th session of the Tunis International Book Fair, which was launched on November 11, 2021, while it was the guest of honor at the Carthage Theater Days Festival in the same year.

In March 2022, the Supreme Council of Culture in Egypt held a celebration honoring the late great poet Bayram al-Tunisi via the Internet for the conditions of the Corona pandemic, with the participation of Tunisian-Egyptian cultural symbols, including the poet Ahmed Swailem (Egypt) and Al-Jalidi Al-Aweni (Tunisia), according to official data.

And last April, civil society, through the leftist Tagammu party, participated in the Egyptian-Tunisian cultural year with a conference titled "The Common Cultural between Egypt and Tunisia: Reality and Hopes."

In its recommendations, the conference called for the establishment of scientific chairs and academic specializations for the School of "Comparative Arab Cultural Studies", and the exchange of knowledge achievements between Arab countries, paving the way for making comparisons and coming up with common ones.

Wide Tunisian participation in the “Joint Cultural Conference between Egypt and Tunisia” https://t.co/eR23E117lY pic.twitter.com/i3Tzrmo87I

— Diyar (@eldyarnet) March 25, 2022

Last May, an Egyptian delegation participated in a number of artistic and cultural events in Tunisia, in the presence of Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly.

Within the framework of the activities, the Alexandria Film Festival for Mediterranean Countries announced a few days ago that Tunisia will be chosen as the “Guest of Honor” for the 38th session of the festival, which will be held from 5 to 10 October.

The agenda of the cultural year includes - according to official statements - proposals to implement joint exhibitions in traditional and heritage crafts and handicrafts, and exchange experiences in the field of libraries, digitization, restoration of paintings, historical documents and cinema.

In the same context, official discussions were held on activating cooperation between the Supreme Council for Egyptian Heritage, the National Heritage Institute and the Agency for Heritage Revival and Cultural Development in Tunisia, and an agreement to implement twinning between the Tunisian National Library and the Library of Alexandria.