Two important aspects were considered for opening an Indian Cultural Centre in Egypt: 1) Cairo’s great importance as an intellectual and cultural center of the Arab World and Africa.
2) Long and rich history of cultural exchange between the two civilizations.
MACIC, one of the International Cultural Centres under ICCR, was inaugurated on 14th January 1992, by Mr. Madhav Singh Solanki, the then Foreign Minister of India, in the presence of Mr. Farouk Hosny, the Minister of Culture of Egypt, and Mr. Amr Moussa, the then Foreign Minister of Egypt. It was named after Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (1888-1958), a distinguished scholar, educationist and statesman, who was the first Education Minister of India and the founding President of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. Maulana Azad fought for India’s freedom alongside Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
Maulana Azad, who was a symbol of the pluralistic and secular ethos of India, laid the basis for independent India’s educational and cultural policies and contributed significantly to the scientific and cultural methods of inquiry. He made significant contributions to Islamic studies and wrote a brilliant commentary of the Quran “Tarjuman Al-Quran”. Maulana Azad had a special interest in cultural exchanges with other civilisations and nations. He founded the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and encouraged cultural cooperation between Asia and Africa. He visited Egypt and had a special affinity for Egypt’s great civilization.
Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) was established as the Cultural arm of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, and formally inaugurated in April 1950 with the primary objective of establishing, reviving and strengthening cultural relations and mutual understanding between India and other countries
MACIC conducts regular academic programmes and sessions in Hindi, Urdu, and Indian dance forms, and organizes academic seminars, film shows, exhibitions, and cultural festivals from time to time. India by the Nile 2018, the annual Indian cultural festival, was last held in March 2018 for over two weeks in three cities of Egypt.
The festival is billed as the ‘biggest foreign cultural festival’ in Egypt. The MACIC Round-tables and seminar series involve youth, academia, culture lovers and the civil society in stimulating discussions on issues of mutual interest and sharing of experiences. In cooperation with the Ministry of Culture, MACIC screens Indian films in Hanager Theater, Cairo Opera House on a monthly basis.
‘Sawtul-Hind’, Embassy’s flagship Arabic magazine, reached a milestone in July 2017 with the publishing of its 500th edition. Sawtul-Hind, whose first edition was published in 1952, continues to be an interface between India and Egypt and the Arab world at large.
Three streets in Cairo are named after Indian leaders namely, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Dr. Zakir Hussein. The strong ties between India and Egypt are evident from the affection towards India amongst the Egyptian population.
There are two busts of Mahatma Gandhi – one in Cairo at the Supreme Council of Culture and the other one in Alexandria at the Bibliotheca, Alexandria. On the other hand, Gamal Abdul Nasser Marg in Delhi is named after the late President of Egypt.
The Glimpses of India painting competition is being conducted for the Egyptian children for the last 24 years. An overwhelming response was received in its 2018 edition with the participation of 14,000 schoolchildren from 19 Governorates in Egypt. In its outreach activities, the Cultural Centre also organizes India Day(s) in Egyptian governorates and Universities. As part of the 155th Birth Anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, a week-long celebration was held in Cairo in May 2018. The Mission is commemorating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi with diverse programmes spread over two years.
Under the auspices of MACIC, cultural groups from India perform in various cities of Egypt make the presence of India felt in all the major festivals of Egypt…
As far as the academic arena is concerned, a number of Egyptian students have benefited from ICCR and other scholarship schemes to study in India. The MoU for first ICCR Chair was signed with The Ain Shams University in March 2016 and accordingly, the Indian Chair on Bioinformatics commenced in September 2016 and continued till 2018.
You will be surprised to know that Yoga has gained popularity in Egypt with more than 50 schools of Yoga in Cairo, besides centers in other cities. For the fourth consecutive year, the International Day of Yoga was celebrated in June 2018 in three cities of Egypt - Cairo, Ismailia, and Alexandria. There are seven regular Yoga batches at MACIC at present. There is also a growing interest in Indian traditional medicine. Two interactive sessions were conducted in 2018 on Ayurveda and alternative medicine in India.
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