Cultural dialogue through Festivals: The Samaa Musical Ensemble and "Festival of the Sun"
According to article 12 of the convention, the international cooperation occupies a large part of the Egyptian strategy for promoting and protecting Culture Diversity. A Special Sector for International cooperation “Qetaa el 3elaqat el Saqafia el Kharigia” works on this purpose and facilitates the cultural dialogue between Egypt and countries all over the world. This sector plays an important role as well in reinforcing partnerships with civil society and the private sector in fostering and promoting cultural exchanges.
Best practices are encouraged although the general political and economic did not allow decent remunerations.
The Ministry of Culture supports the mobility of artists from the private sector and co-product with non-governmental organizations performances/festivals/movies/cultural publications/etc…
Samaa Musical Ensemble
One of the most significant example is “Samaa Musical Ensemble” which represents the biggest and most important musical festival in Egypt. This show is reflecting cultural diversity in Egypt (Soufi, Coptic, catholic, Sunni,) moreover, it hosts musicians belonging to the private sector and coming from more than 30 countries all over the world. This festival is held twice a year and drains a record of audience from all society levels as well as the expatriates. (Annexe V: Documentation on sama3 festival).
The "Festival of the Sun"
It was launched by a grant from UNESCO and European Commission. The major objective of this Mediterranean festival is to create a common framework for the preservation of cultural identities of the Mediterranean people while moving closer together.
In order to celebrate and to promote the Sun Festival presence in Egypt, festivities were held in one of the alleys of the World Heritage site of Historic Cairo.
The Ministry of Culture encourages traditional festivals to become privileged occasions for sharing hospitality and be open to others, while protecting the various traditions and arts and crafts surviving through them. Another goal is to make a first inventory and mapping of Egyptian traditional festivals to be recorded in a national data base in order to protect and promote the Network.
The Ministry of Culture participates in a large number of Symposiums, conferences, festivals biennales, international events for all type of arts and Culture.