The noise of Cairo - documentary

Cairo seems to be buoyant on expression as this trailer for a documentary shows. Freedom and art, repression and art, revolution and culture, education and propaganda, censorship and liberation expression no matter what: these are issues the arab world is exploring. Cairo has always been a epicenter in the Arab noise and the shaping in the arab identity.

Rap in Tahrir Square - Cairo by Dia al Deen

A video clip in a rap style: The lyrics are simple but they express needs of the Egyptian street , going well with the Nile revolution.
" We live like cockroaches ...
This is the meaning of Freedom,
and it tastes better with Mouloukhia ...
Do you see the disaster in our lives
Everyone turns his back
and prays God to be spared ..."

Rap makes sense with the demands and discontents of the people. The Tahrir phenomena is a wave spreading. The Arab world is holding its breath waiting for the outcome and wishing for the best to be achieved.

(Thanks Abdullah for posting the clip on your facebook page)

Garbage Dreams

Garbage dreams: a beautiful documentary on an ugly subject: three teenagers work form morning to night collecting garbage in Cairo, Egypt, and recycling it at the Zabaleen city. Documentary's reviews are praising the broadness of the approach from the teenagers' dream to the condition of these workers, to the globalization effect on the industry to a society that turns away from some sour issues.
It has won many awards and should be a good documentary to watch.
web site link

Aslam al Silahdar Mosque, Cairo - restoration

The Aslam al Silahdar Mosque is now reopened to the public after a 3 year restoration. The 650 year old mosque was given a face lift with the help of the Agha Khan Trust for Culture. Mameluke architecture, hidden in the Darb al Ahmar distric, the mosque is one out of the 456 registered islamic monuments in Cairo.
What time frame do you need to visit each of these buildings? and this is only the Islamic heritage!
Stones, designs, geometrical intricacy, visual illustrations... memories from the past to show evidence of the artisans' skills. Testifying on a way of life, they give richness to the present.
Through a meticulous restoration program in using materials as in the past and only modern technology to fortify the new,  the whole approach is about preservation of the spirit inhabiting the space.
Cairo remains an open treasure hunt to explore the Arab's history through beauty of stones.

link to the Agha Khan trust
(photos by AP)