Farouk Hosny's Dream

"We will have the largest museum for Egyptian antiquities in the world."

This sentence was said one day by artist Farouk Hosny, who was the Minister of Culture at that time, while dining at the Arab World Institute in Paris during a casual conversation with one of the dinner attendees.

Words that came out spontaneously, without papers, budget, or an implementation plan, but it was the dream of an artist who believed that his country's civilization did not deserve the word "storage" that a foreigner had used to describe the old Egyptian Museum in Tahrir. Hosny considered it an insult to his country and its history. He replied calmly, but he was burning up inside: "We will have the largest museum in the world."

He returned to Cairo convinced that what he had said should not remain just a sentence or a dream, but a project that must be implemented—a museum project worthy of the name of Egypt, its civilization, and its antiquities.

The Minister was thinking with the confidence of an artist who sees beyond numbers:

"Big projects bring their own funding." And from that moment, the dream began to move.

The idea transformed into a national project, preparations, studies, and selections began... and a beehive of activity worked with full effort and patriotism after he was able to secure the necessary funding.

The museum's site was chosen at the foot of the Pyramids, to be a normal extension of the history carried by the sands around it.

Before construction began, the statue of Ramses was transported and was placed at the museum's entrance according to the project plan. Years of continuous work began until the dream became a reality, as Egypt has a monumental edifice worthy of its history extending back thousands of years.

Construction then halted, and later, leader President El-Sisi strongly pushed for work to resume day and night to complete the achievement; the opening date was set for the upcoming November 1st in a grand international ceremony with significant global attendance, restoring Egypt's global status with a museum worthy of its civilization.

The trial operation began in October 2024... a year ago, and it witnessed unprecedented attendance. The area around it, along with the entrance to the Pyramids, transformed into a first-class cultural and tourist destination.

Today, as we await the official opening ceremony of the Grand Egyptian Museum, we must remember that moment when Farouk Hosny said his sentence in Paris, without paper or committees, just a dream of an artist who believed in his country and its capabilities... and that his country deserves its place among nations.

A dream that began with a word, And transformed into the largest museum for the antiquities of a single civilization in the world... awaiting the attendance of world leaders and celebrities and global media coverage.

All appreciation to artist Farouk Hosny, whose dream has become a reality that Egypt is proud of.