Third part of the “Streets In Cairo” event.
We spent day 3 with the Danish and Egyptian DJs and photographers around Sayeda Zeinab area, in a small neighborhood beside Ibn Tulun Mosque, in Al Khalifa area.
The Egyptian artist Aalam Wassef introduced us to his workshop
He was telling us how was the people in the neighborhood were open-minded and didn’t impose the, what we called, Shakespearean right or wrong. How they just understood what is the real meaning for freedom towards his arts, towards cultural events as long as he didn’t “provoke” the normal people. For example, the example he mentioned, not kissing his girlfriend in public.
The path to Aalam’s workshop
We put our bags in his workshop then we went around the Egyptian traditional (ahwa) cafes around the corner, the people were very welcoming. Everyone is shouting “Welcome” to the Danish. In contrast, had a nice talk with Katrine Ring, one of the Danish DJs, she said that people think they are rude because they are not that warm or welcoming but it is just their nature. She said that in some countries she can spend several days without having a conversation with anybody, but in Cairo, she is talking everyday to 3 or 4 people she never met before.
The crowd then were scattered everyone in a direction, taking photographs and talking with people who know Aalam, then they went back to the hotel, getting ready for the next day’s major event.
