EGYPTIAN HAUTE COUTURE DESIGNER,MARIE BISHARA!

 Pic courtesy of Elle.com

                                                              Pic courtesy of Elle.com

 Pic courtesy of Elle.com

 Pic courtesy of Elle.com

 Pic courtesy of Elle.com

  As a little girl in Cairo , Marie found joy playing with fabric pieces, probably dreaming of following in the footsteps of her father a Textile King in Egypt. She pursued degrees in graphic ,fashion & textile design between Cairo and France.Marie had the chance to study under the Cacharel,Thierry Mugler and Balmain fashion houses before throwing herself in the game of haute couture. She's the first Egyptian designer to showcase her work internationally in some of the biggest fashion cities of the world.

 What makes this Egyptian fabulafricana stand out is her appreciation and knowledge about textile, texture & volume.In the image of her mother who's always been sharp, Marie wants to convey a message of elegance, feminity and confidence through her designs. She speaks to the woman who's going to work, the woman who wants to get ready for a special evening, the woman who wants to wear a beautiful semi-modern caftan..bref you get it, she wants to dress all kinds of women:)

Here's her website:

www.mariebishara.com

You can also check her out at the Joburg Fashion Week 09, HERE

Djaa my Egyptian sistas sont dedans:)

Eyeee Wayee:)

EGYPTIAN PAINTER , GHADA AMER!

"And the Beast" courtesy of the Brooklyn Museum

check closely this painting, it's quite interesting!
"Barbie loves Ken, Ken loves Barbie" courtesy of the Brooklyn Museum
Work by Ghada Amer & Ladan Naderi courtesy of the Brooklyn Museum

On this art work both artists tried to shed light on the social consequences of terrorism attacks on the Muslim communities

Red Diagonales courtesy of the Brooklyn Museum site

Aight back to exposing us to some great African artist painters.
Ghada Amer an Egyptian born painter raised between France and the USA, is know as a multi dimensional visual media artist who's not afraid to provoke through her art work.
Some of her most recurent themes are women sexuality, desire, her personal perception of beauty, the eternal question of women submission and male domination, violence, peace..She expresses herself through painting, installations, sculptures, illustration work
What I found interesting while doing research about her work is her use of texts embroided into her paintings, how do one even starts to do that? I don't know , God's given talents I guess .
Of course her work has been exhibited at the creme of the crop of all art shows, galleries, museums ect...
Here's a video presentation of some of her work:(really interesting profile/interview)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmuRXbeo6gM&feature=related

Here's her profile on the Brooklyn Museum site:

http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/ghada_amer/

Djaa our Egyptian sistas sont dedans aussi:)

Eyee Wayee:)

MALAIKA DESIGN FOR THE LOVE OF EGYPTIAN LUXURIOUS BED LINEN!

100% Egyptian cotton

Love the soft tones

Hand embroideded sheets

Lovely

Malaika design was created in 2000 by Margarita Andrade and Goya Gallager , two young woman living in Egypt who shared a mutual love for embroidery and for social empowerement.
Through their company they've given the chance to local Egyptian women a chance to learn a job and train others.
Malaika Design is always looking for a way to expand their programs for women and have recently applied for UNIFEM status which will provide further financial assistance to the women they are helping.
Now going back to their luxurious products, they are made of linen, silk, they insist on using soft percale fabric of 400 strand premium giza cotton...a little on the $$ but gorgeous stuff:)

http://www.luxe-brands.com/

Djaa our Egyptian people sont dedans:)

Eyee Wayee:)

DR NEMAT SHAFIK, THE FIRST EGYPTIAN WOMAN APPOINTED BRITISH DFID PERMANENT SECRETARY!

Pic courtesy of NY Business Week

Dr Nemat Shafik was born to highly educated Egyptian parents in Alexandria
.She spent her early years in Egypt where she was forever marked by the signs of poverty she saw around her. As a teen her life took her to America , her first professional ambition was to become a journalist. She did that for a few years and enrolled at Oxford University in the UK where she studied economics both for her Master's Degree and Doctorate. She went on to teach at Goergetown University and the Wharton Business School..
She found herself working at the World Bank as the Vice President of the Private Sector and Infrastructure related to International Economics.
In 2008 she was appointed the Permanent Secretary of the Department for International Development. Her job entails figuring out ways to fight poverty by allocating funds to the deserving countries in need. It's a very demanding position for a mother of 2 biological children and 3 step children..
What I like abt this woman story is how she held so many different positions within different organizations, she was a journalist, a teacher, a vice president , a permanent secretary..amazing def' an inspiration...

Here's the DFID webbie:
http://www.dfid.gov.uk
Here's a video/interview of the sista:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGacecCU3S8

Djaa my Fabulafricana Sisters from Egypt sont dedans aussi:)
Eyeee Wayeee:)

DOCUMENTARY CES FILLES LA BY EGYPTIAN DIRECTOR, TAHANI RACHED

Scene in the movie

The Film Director-Tahani Rached

Scene in the documentary

Ces filles la or El Banate Dol recounts the story of Donia ,Tata,Mariam and Abir 4 young women trying to survive in a mens world in Egypt..
Its the real live story of women for whom being agressive being attacked by men is normal ..they are rejected by the society who tag them of being useless people and are harassed by the police
Thanks to people like Hind a fervent Muslim who doesnt reject them rather tries to understand them their voices are heard and little by little hopefully theyll get the self confidence and the help needed to live their lives fully as women..
Tahani Rached is a respected social activist through her movies she shows the different struggles of women in her native land..
Here is 2 movie webbie
www.studiomasr.com

Djaa my ladies from Egypt sont dedans aussi
Eyee Wayee

EGYPTIAN VISUAL ARTIST,MAHA MAAMOUN-PRO CAIRO!!

"Cairoscapes"

I loveee this picture..2 men fighting in the middle of grass..priceless!!

Maha's work is famous pour son brin d'ironisme...modernism/traditions

This piece is called "In a furnished flat in Cairo" ..she tries to illustrate the need for people to have material things to feel secure...

Pretty paysages en Egypte

Promoting local tourism


Maha was born in Cairo in 1972, she's a well seasoned celebrated photographer who has participated in various photography exhibits throughout the world among them, La Biennale de Dakar,she was also the co-curator of PhotoCairo3...

She's most famous for her word centered around flower dresses that Egyptian women tend to wear-she called that serie "Cairoscapes" ..To Maha, this symbolises a moment of peace despite the violence in her city of Cairo...

She's had the honor in 2003 to have her work displayed on local Cairo buses..

Djaa there are some great photographers in Egypt:)

Eyeee Wayeee:)

EGYPTIAN INTERIOR DESING COMPANY, LA STANZA!

Love the red vif accent

Cozy!

La Stanza is owned by Alaa Nour El Deen and has been in business since 1986..

They provide furniture such as tables, doors ect for the living room, kitchen area

They use timber, oak, walnut ect..

It's always a personal pleasure to feature African owned businesses of quality

Here's the webbie:

http://www.lastanza.com/

Djaa my people from Egypt sont dedans aussi:)

Eyeee Wayeee:)

VERY INTERESTING YOUNG EGYPTO-AMERICAN FILMAKER,JEHAINE NOUJAIM!

That's my type of African Shero, go girl keep bringing the truth!

Jehaine talking it out at a panel!

Jehaine at a brunch with fellow female directors!

I took a little bit of time trying to understand the work of this passionate woman ...

I gotta say her work and the subject of one her documentaries was so interesting that I wanted to keep digging and digging

Jehaine,pretty name by the way was born in Egypt before settling in the States wither family.

While attending Harvard Uni at first with the honorable goal of being a doctor while taking a filmaking class she fell in love with the art of creating visual stories..that's to me the beauty of Western freedom she followed her gust and today she's a very respected docs director....

not only that her vision allowed people in the entire world to all be connected for one day that she called the Pangea Day in fact last may 10th 08,how did she do it simply and not so simply by winning the TED Award in 2006 which granted her 100 000 dollars.

It's amazing to me how one person can believe in a project and get thousands of others to do the same.

Jehaine is also known for her documentary called Control Room, the intent of that doc is to open the global mind but in particular the American people to understanding the struggles of others; there's not one absolute truth...

She convinced the staff of the television chanel Al Jazeera based in Qatar what's interesting to know is that at the beg it was a government founded tv station but as time went on they wanted and became independent in order to stay true to their professions of journalists..

As you can imagine in the Arabic world that came with a price, for exple these dedicated journalists are baned from entering the Holy city of Mecca , in most Arabic countries their chanel is prohibited ...I really have respect for these people.

Jehane also directed before Control Room another doc called Startup.com in which she documentated the start up of an e.company started by her roomie at the time....

This woman is def' heavy and she'll stay in my radar that's for sure....

Here's a great interview concerning the making of Control Room:

http://www.indiewire.com/people/people_040524control.html

Here's the TED official webbie:

http://www.ted.com

Here's the Pangea Day webbie:

http://www.pangeaday.org/aboutPangeaDay.php

Here's her video explanation on why the need of PANDEA DAY:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCFSrb6B5nw

Here's the Control Room trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-C-pf6ZPmw

More importantly give it up to the Al Jazeera team:

www.aljazeera.net

Djaa my Egyptian sistas sont dedans aussi:)

Eyeee Wayeee:)

EGYPTIAN SINGER NATACHA ATLAS!

I was sold when I listened to her version of Nina Simone's song
"I put a spell on you" (great adaptation of that song) Her music is a fusion btw electronics and Arabic music, maybe the fact that her mother is British and her dad Egyptian can explain the modernity of her sound..

She grew up in the Maroccan side of Bruxelles, after her parent's divorce she moved to Sussex England.Through her various trips to Turquey, Greece, & the Middle East she perfected her sound and little by little made a name of herself w/her local appearances in clubs.

After working w/various producers, she finally got a break w/her hit
"Mon Amie La Rose"
She's quite popular in Egypt, they get to listen to her voice on various local soap operas
Through her various albums, her music evolves, she goes from classical, to pop Hindi, reggae, quite interesting artist , I'm wondering I never took the time to listen to her before.

At 44 years old married to Syrian musican Abdullah Chhadeh, Natacha is a woman who knows herself, she's proud of her dual heritage . When she was younger, she was trying to repress her belonging to the Arabic world , but as she grew she realized that it made her who she was..
She's been appointer UN Ambassador against racism..

Here's her webbie:
http://www.mish-maoul.com/
Here's Natcha cover of "I Put a spell on you" (love it):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIPaZ0V5f-8&feature=related
Here's her song "You only live twice":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0dkXSGNzZE
Here she is belly dancing (watch out Shakira):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ltNqT5N-xs&feature=related

Djaa my sistas from Egypt are doin it:)
Eyeee Wayeee:)

COURAGEOUS EGYPTIAN ACTOR, AMR WAKED!!

The feeling I got after reading about Amr is that he's a man who just follows his own path despite other people's opinions..when I say people opinion , I'm talking about Egyptian critics, some people in the film industry who want to ban this brotha for just doing his work along an Israeli actor... In Egypt, there's still a strong Anti-Israeli sentiment, and by accepting to play in the BBC series about Sadam Hussein, and realizing that by working w/the actor Igal Naor he would probably get in trouble..but I love the fact that Amr didn't let that stop him... But that's not the only controversy about this brotha, he speaks out about the treatment given to people who suffer from AID'S..apparently in Egypt, HIV victims & homosexuals are jailed and treated like nothing in their own country... But this intellectual brotha who studied economics has 1 mind of his own and is not afraid of the consequences..Amr started his career in theater, and in short egyptian movies, his big break was the movie "Lilie" in 2001..

I don't remenber him in the movie "Syriana" but he had 1 role in this Hollywood production ... Wishing him a beautiful trip in the movie industry, may I add that I find him actually fine:)
I found Lilie on youtube, you can actually watch the whole movie here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRidOhtrQ9I
A short video clip of the miniseries "Between two rivers"abt the life of Sadam Hussein:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LypSehd5gIg

Djaa my Egyptian brothas sont dedans aussi:)
Eyeee Wayeee:)

NAGUIB SAWIRIS - THE EGYPTIAN CHAIRMAN OF ORASCOM TELECOM!

I've seen Naguib's profile in so many African mags, that I've been meaning to post about him....
Naguib Sawiris comes from a very wealthy family, his father is the founder of Orascom...
On his profile on the Orascom webbie, it's stated that he's been working w/the company since 1979 , 31 years in business waouh...
2day Naguib is worth 10 Billions of Dollars...making him one of the world richest man ...as per Forbes
I read a great interview conducted by CNN on the 53 years old businessman..he strikes me as a confident, w/"don't give up atitude ", strong, focused and centered businessman...
In the same interview, he says that he likes to take risks in business and likes to deal w/difficult situations, he finds it exciting, & challenging..
He explains that the main strategy of their company is to sell services to countries w/high level of populations & low mobile penetration...it works !!! The company counts 90 Millions of customers in the world..Orascom Telecom is present in 7 countries , some in African, in the Middle East,& the Indian subcontinent...
The company is fighting to get other markets like China..but as u imagine China is protected w/laws and regulations...however Naguib is not giving up and hopes to count Chinese people as Orascom suscribers soon.


The Orascom Telecom webbie is:
http://www.orascomtelecom.com/
Here's a great interview on CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/BUSINESS/12/20/sawiris2.interview/index.html

Djaa my Egyptian brothas sont dedans:)
Eyeee Wayeee:)