- EGYPT
- June 5, 2013
- 6 minutes read
Egypt Minister of Culture Press Statement: Important Messages on Future of Art, Innovation
In a press statement, Dr. Alaa Abdel-Aziz, Egypt’s new Minister of Culture, said:
I will not retract support for culture, art and creativity however fierce the onslaught against me.
I ask those leading the ferocious campaign against me: ‘What have they ever contributed to Egypt’s culture? What have they ever given to the enlightened Egyptian people?’
Postrevolution Egypt should not be captive to a group that has not been able to effectively touch Egyptians with creativity over long decades.
Culture, art and creativity are the true spirit of Egypt that we will not allow anyone to kill or undermine. It is wrong for some to believe that their contrived battles will take things back to how they were in the days of the ousted regime, which the people rose against in the January 25 Revolution. Indeed, they should review their position and leave the future to young people.
Now, the Ministry of Culture is endeavoring to open up to the world’s cultures. We will offer our vision and creativity, which will tell everyone that Egypt has a unique and enlightened culture.
We are certainly not at war with the arts or culture. On the contrary, we are fully for progress and enlightenment in arts and culture.
All recent fabricated fables and dreadful rumors are nothing but an ongoing smear campaign that will not stop us from supporting culture, creativity and art. However, we will fight wastage of public money in the name of culture and art.
The Ministry of Culture belongs to Egypt and all Egyptians, and in particular, to artists and intellectuals. No group of individuals will force us to live and labor just to serve their private interests. It will not happen. We defend the identity and discourse of Egyptian culture. No-one will stop us from restoring to Egyptian culture its well-deserved position or from supporting the rights of its workers.
Terms like ‘medieval ideas’ and ‘political Islam’ are being used as scarecrows moved around by narrow interests, away from the higher interests of Egyptian culture.
Also, terms like ‘displacement’ and ‘destruction’ are simply empty of any real meaning; and only mask attempts to protect the interests of some intellectuals affiliated with the former regime.
We want to breathe a new spirit into the body of culture, which some smothered deliberately over long years.
My office is open for all. Supporting Egypt’s culture and art are the bases of any dialogue.
We are ready and willing to receive views and visions of all Egyptians, with regard to supporting the future of culture in Egypt.