Africa > North Africa > Egypt > Euro & Mediterranean artists at D-Caf Festival, backed by EU

Egypt: Euro & Mediterranean artists at D-Caf Festival, backed by EU

2013/04/27

Dubbed D-Caf, the 'Downtown-contemporaray arts festival' in Cairo is bringing a welcome splash of contemporary art to the city's increasingly dilapidated centre.

Running for 19 days, the second edition of D-Caf is a celebration of modern art in amount its forms, inclunding theater, dance, cinema, music and a miss-mash of genres and artists from Europe and the Mediterranean basin.

The European Union has lent its weight to 'Urban Visions', a program which took dance to the streets of Cairo. But unlike last year the festival is looking beyond the capital to Egypt's provinces for inspiration, and will feature the likes of a kids theatre show and workshop in Assiut, Upper Egypt.

Festival director Ahmed el Attar and EU Ambassador to Egypt, James Moran are taking in the ongoing spectacle from a national of the art press room in a creaking-at-the-seams last century building.

Moran defined the goal of the initiative as ''building bridges'' that allow people to see shows and events that they at no time normally would. But it will as well ''aid the country's development'', he said, and ''promote diversity, something that is fundamental to freedom of expression''.

Asked by reporters if the festival had been subject to any kind of political pressure, el Attar explained that as opposed to last year Egypt's Culture Ministry hadn't made any financial contributions to the festival. ''We got a letter from Interior Minister to support the initiative, but which asked us not to put on performances in the street. It arrived the day next we'd started'', he said with a smile. Moran explained how the EU will continue to support culture in Egypt in 2013 and plans to launch bids for cultural proposals up to a price of 300,000.

''It's the majority populated country in the region but Egypt has proportionally less bids than other nations''. ''We hope that the festival will spread the word and bring other proposals to the table'', Moran said. 

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