On Monday, Goethe-Institute in Cairo hosted a press conference about the "Outside Cairo" Festival. The Regional Director of Goethe-Institute MENA Region Lilli Kobler, and the Coordinator of the "Outside Cairo" Project Doaa Ahmed participated in the event.
Kobler started her speech by asserting the importance of culture in connecting people, creating a common space between different people, and establishing a sustainable communication network and sustainable development.
She added that the aims of this project revolved around three main issues: strengthening the cultural scene by supporting the presence of cultural institutions as well as individuals, initiating more cultural activities outside Cairo, and increasing the visibility of cultural events by engaging cultural journalists to more cultural media coverage.
After that, she detailed the project activities. She said: "We organized workshops for cultural management, and offered several brands with programs, network events, and grants, we also offered workshops for cultural journalists and organized free trips to connect them with these projects outside Cairo."
Next, she reviewed several facts about the project. She revealed that 30 participants who attended the cultural management workshops, and they discussed several topics like the legal side of establishing a cultural institution, the means of proposal writing, and organizing a budget. The participants came from different parts of Egypt like Luxor, Aswan, Minya, Port Said, Assiut, Sohag, Qena, Damietta, Mansoura, Ismailia, and Alexandria.
14 cultural brands were granted cultural grants, and 15 journalists participated in the activities and the programs.
On her side, Ahmed talked about the events of the festival. The festival will be a 3-day-one and it will take place in 3 different cities. She explained that selecting the locations of the three days to be easier to the artists, and audience to move and attend.
The first day will take place on November 18, in Aswan. The events will include a discussion about the film industry. In addition, a storytelling workshop by Hassan El Greatly, and Nypatia podcast, which is one of the projects that won one of the cultural grants. It is a podcast hosted by Nawal Mahmoud, and it aims to train and educate women in Aswan about film criticism, and review.
After that, the show will be closed with a performance of Semsemia concert by the Sohba Semsemia band from Port Said will conclude the day.
On November 20, the festival will move to Minya with events taking the stage of the Jesuit Culture Center. The day’s program will include a panel discussion on “Theatre: Decentralization and the Pursuit of Excellence,” a theatre performance by Teatro Alsaeed, yet another initiative funded by Outside Cairo. Led by Beshoy Saber, Teatro Alsaeed provides performance spaces, training, and equipment for artists in Minya.
The day will conclude with a concert by Sawt Al-Aseel, a project presented by Amin Shahin and featuring the traditional Arghul instrument. This unique creative initiative seeks to preserve ancient Egyptian folk music by teaching young people to play the Arghul, as a form of revitalization of the region’s musical traditions.
The last day of the festival, 22 November, will take place at Port Said’s Misr Public Library. The day will highlight a panel on cultural heritage, followed by a dance performance, Memory of the Shore by Nermin Habib who has been working with women from Damietta. The show incorporates body expression, photography, and urban heritage, inviting women to celebrate their region’s unique cultural identity through contemporary dance.
With Outside Cairo, the Goethe-Institut Kairo is reaffirming its commitment to supporting cultural diversity and promoting creative exchange across Egypt. By empowering cultural professionals and supporting local projects, the initiative is helping to decentralize Egypt’s cultural landscape and foster a rich, vibrant artistic community beyond the capital city.
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