ArteEast presents through its new signature discussion series ArteHub, "The Price of Creation in Today's Egypt." Creative expression in Middle East and North Africa has flourished in recent years. With traditional lines of communication and authority being crossed and even rendered obsolete, writers, artists, journalists, and other generators of culture and expression are defying both geographic and social boundaries.
An administrative court has annulled a ministerial decision to grant powers of arrest to the musicians and actors syndicates, according to the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR). Last September, then-Minister of Justice Ahmed al-Zend issued a decree granting six council members of the Actors Syndicate – including the syndicate’s president and secretary general – judicial police powers, to be used in instances where the laws regulating the syndicate, its memberships or artistic production have been violated.
"On 25 January 2014, thousands of people gathered in Tahrir Square to celebrate the third anniversary of the Egyptian revolution. On that day, only the supporters of the army and the actions of its commander in chief were admitted into the square. The Muslim Brotherhood and opposition protests taking place in the vicinity were immediately crushed with tear gas and live ammunition. The proximity of the celebrations and the killings led many journalists to call it a day of 'death and dance'. The festive crowd was likened to a 'hysterical choir of fear'."
