All posts tagged Heritage

WDNESDAY NOSTALGIA: LANTERN SLIDES – WEEK V

By | October 31, 2012 | Egypt, Heritage + Conservation, History | Comments Off on WDNESDAY NOSTALGIA: LANTERN SLIDES – WEEK V

 

By Islam El Shazly

Looking at the state of affairs in modern day Egypt makes me wonder: have we totally lost our innocence and simplicity?

Over the last 7,000 years Egypt has seen her fair share of pretty much everything, from natural disasters to human wrought disasters and multitude of invasions and occupations. However, we’ve always to learn from them, adapt, then advance further. All while still maintaining the simplicity that was characteristic of the Egyptian. So the question should rather be: what went wrong in the last 60 to 200 years? When did that dramatic shift in the Egyptian persona happen?

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WDNESDAY NOSTALGIA: LANTERN SLIDES – WEEK IV

By | October 24, 2012 | Egypt, Heritage + Conservation, History, Wednesday Nostalgia | 4 Comments

By Islam El Shazly

Peering back into history to find the beauty of a time gone by is a very delicate affair, an affair that if not done with a sensitive eye and an attentive heart, could end up being a very short lived fling.

As Agatha Christie put it:

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WDNESDAY NOSTALGIA: LANTERN SLIDES – WEEK III

By | October 17, 2012 | Egypt, Heritage + Conservation, History, Wednesday Nostalgia | Comments Off on WDNESDAY NOSTALGIA: LANTERN SLIDES – WEEK III

By Islam El Shazly

Driving through one of the many older neighbourhoods in Egypt one can feel very small, if only you can turn off your eyes whenever you see modern ugly concrete monstrosities. A lot of our architectural heritage almost went the way of the Dodo, a lot of the early twentieth century villas and mansions that used to dot the banks of the Nile from Aswan to the Delta almost vanished because of greed and lack of visionary planning, same as marvels that were built tens and hundreds of years earlier. Alhamdulillah, some people paid attention, and did all they could to save what they could for future generations. Read more…

WEDNESDAY NOSTALGIA: LANTERN SLIDES – WEEK II

By | October 10, 2012 | Egypt, Heritage + Conservation, History, Wednesday Nostalgia | Comments Off on WEDNESDAY NOSTALGIA: LANTERN SLIDES – WEEK II

By Islam El Shazly

Last week I took creative liberties with the quote about nostalgia, the proper quote is more like this “nostalgia is a seductive liar“, and that is probably down to the fact that as time slips by and we get older, our memory becomes a bit skewed. we are predisposed to readily remember the good and selectively forget the bad. So driving past one’s old stomping grounds one remembers every tree they climbed, every nook they hid in while playing hide-and-seek, and where they played on for hours on their bicycle, while keeping at bay the memories of bad moments, or painful experiences, Read more…

WEDNESDAY NOSTALGIA – LANTERN SLIDES

By | October 3, 2012 | Egypt, Heritage + Conservation, History, Wednesday Nostalgia | Comments Off on WEDNESDAY NOSTALGIA – LANTERN SLIDES

By Islam El Shazly

I have always been told that nostalgia is a seductive mistress, which is very much true, too much dwelling on what has been, and what might have become had it stayed the same, can lead to a lot of misery, frustration, and a bit of stagnation in creativity.

However, it is one of the very few things that we share as humans, and we don’t share much really. Reminiscing about the glory of the past, the architecture and the arts, the culture and the might. There’s a certain romance to it, and that’s not too bad, because if used properly, it can fuel future grand designs in all aspects of life. Read more…

TO BE OR NOT TO BE: CONSERVATION IN EGYPT

By | August 15, 2012 | Egypt, Heritage + Conservation, Politics | 1 Comment

By Islam El Shazly

Conservation in Egypt is a sketchy thing; back when Mohamed Ali Pasha was in charge, it was reported that he wanted to use stones from the Pyramids to build his Nile barrages! He was trying to be thrifty: why go through the trouble of quarrying when you have some perfectly pre-cut stones right there! Thank God he was dissuaded by his accountant on the account that it would actually be more expensive to do so.

For all we know this might be an urban legend, but this very kind of indifferent attitude towards our nature and heritage is very rampant in Egypt, but only really became apparent over the last 60 years; and a phenomenon over the last 30. Read more…