This is our culture corner. Your weekly Egyptian cultural compass.
Hey there,
Did you know that simply listening to birds sing has been shown to restore our cognitive energy and sharpen our focus, making it the antidote to stress and mental fatigue?
It may never have occurred to you that, on top of all the mental strain you carry, a simple, gentle bird can dissolve and melt that stress away in mere seconds. And yet, this is precisely why nature is so incredible, because it can heal us in ways that even the most skilled yoga teachers or doctors can scarcely reach.
Without you ever having to do a thing, without performing any ritual or task, nature alone can work wonders for your health and well-being. In this edition, we explore why it is so powerful, and so vital, to learn to fall in love with nature.
Best,
Mirna Abdulaal
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Spotlight
Meet Yousef Hanbal
Younger Egyptian artists often live at the intersection of two very different and very vast worlds: the world of the present and the world of the past, a world where art struggles to find its footing in the age of AI, and a world where art once developed and flourished with remarkable speed. Hanbal, however, moves between these two worlds with ease, drawing on the history of his identity as an Egyptian and carrying it into the present, as if these worlds were never truly separate.
How did you come to develop your own artistic style, and what moments or influences shaped it most clearly over time?
I developed my artistic style through extensive experimentation over time and by working with a variety of materials such as oil paints, ceramics, and mixed media. The moments that shaped my style the most were the many experiences and works that explored themes of loneliness and isolation.What drew you to the aesthetic of Arab design and calligraphy, and how did you approach learning and interpreting them in your own work?
What drew me to Arabic calligraphy was the fluidity of the script and the flexibility in shaping and arranging its elements. You can continuously play with and reform its letters in different ways. I approached it through experimentation and by drawing inspiration from Arabic calligraphy found on the walls and streets of our country.What rituals, habits, or daily practices help sustain your creative discipline as an artist?
I sustain my creative discipline by studying and analyzing artworks and breaking down their process. I often try to reconstruct pieces in my own way, thinking about how the artist created the work and arranged its elements, alongside constant experimentation in the studio.Who is your favorite Egyptian artist, and in what ways do you hope your work contributes to promoting or reimagining Egyptian and Arab visual culture?
My favorite Egyptian artist is Seif Wanly, who inspired me through his fusion of design and visual art. I hope to see Egyptian artists gain more international recognition and immersive artistic experiences created around their work, similar to what has been done for Vincent van Gogh.
Feature
A Genuine Love for Nature
“I’ve got nature and art and poetry, and if that isn’t enough, what is?” Vincent Van Gogh, the Dutch painter, once said.
The story of this exhibition is less about the chronology of Van Gogh’s life and more about his journey of falling in love with nature, and through it, discovering the simple pleasures of existence.
No matter the trials he faced or the storms of his personal life, all of these struggles seem to dissolve in the presence of nature’s grandeur and beauty. One of his favourite places to paint was in the nearby olive groves, right outside the Saint-Paul asylum in southern France. The olive trees, through his eyes, become an expression of an existence that is larger than himself and larger than the present moment he is in, where he sits to paint them.
Even as he sits to paint their beauty, the olive trees feel as though they exist beyond his own measure of time, as they have lived for hundreds, even thousands, of years, holding memories or a presence that existed long before him and his painting.
“The murmur of an olive grove has something very intimate, immensely old about it. It’s too beautiful for me to dare paint it,” Van Gogh once wrote to his brother.
What to Read
The River People
This Nubian short story centers on water bodies, like rivers and floodplains, as key places where events happen, showing their importance in both daily life and myth. It blends memory, history, and mythology through women’s perspectives, who serve as the main storytellers and keepers of communal memory. Trauma, such as loss and disappearance, deeply affects how communities remember the past, both for indigenous Africans and those in the diaspora.
Women tell these stories because they often carry family and community knowledge. Water appears everywhere in these myths because it represents life, memory, and connection; it can hold history, erase it, or link generations together.
What to Listen to
Soukura
Listening to "Soukura" is less like hitting play on a track and more like stepping into a dreamscape where the desert heat finally gives way to a cool, indigo night. As the velvety vocals glide over the driving heartbeat of the oud and percussion, the song captures that specific, mystical stillness of the Nile under a full moon. It taps into the "East-African Retro-Pop" aesthetic, bridging the gap between ancient Nubian heritage and a modern, nomadic spirit.
What to Watch
Healing at Mount Sinai
This documentary provides a window into the high mountains of South Sinai, where nature and spirituality have converged for thousands of years. It explores the unique biodiversity of the St. Catherine's Protectorate, a geological bridge between Africa and Eurasia that houses over 500 plant species, many with ancient medicinal properties used by the local Jebaliya Bedouin.
Watching this film is a chance to learn from Sheikh Ahmed Mansur, a traditional medicine man who shares the "healing recipes" of the mountains, and to see how the landscape, from red granite peaks to hidden water basins, serves as a sanctuary for both rare wildlife and the human spirit.
What to Eat
Carpaccio Di Mare
If you're after a recipe that has a personal, artisanal touch, maybe you can try Carpaccio Di Mare at Zia Amelia, which includes selected fresh fish, delicately sliced and elevated by the chef's own homemade dressing. Light, elegant, and bursting with freshness...this is the kind of dish that sets the tone for an unforgettable meal.
What to Visit
The Dreamers
If you've ever wanted to experience music as more than just a concert, this is your chance. BE-INDIE's cloud stage at Sandbox Festival 2026 is something genuinely different, a dreamlike world where performance, fashion, and digital art blur into one. Over three nights in El Gouna (May 7–9, 8PM–2AM), a lineup that spans indie pop, rap, and Cairo's underground electronic scene, including Bosa, Felukah, Nour, Sarilou, Hassan Yasser, Amira Adeeb, and more, moves through a space designed to feel as much as it sounds. Beyond the stage, there's a DJ-led pool activation, a styling and recording suite, and a strikin
Saudi Spotlight
Mecca's Airport and Metro
For as long as international pilgrims have been travelling to Mecca (Makkah) by air, they have arrived in the wrong city. King Abdulaziz International Airport sits in Jeddah, roughly 80 to 90 kilometres from Islam’s holiest city. For decades, every pilgrim arriving by plane has faced the same final stretch: a road journey through traffic that, during peak Hajj and Umrah seasons, can stretch from a manageable drive into an hours-long ordeal. Millions of people, many elderly, many travelling for the first and only time in their lives, completing one of Islam’s five pillars while exhausted from a long-haul flight and sitting in a bus queue.
Saudi Arabia now has plans to end that. Mecca will get its own international airport. It will also get a metro system. The announcements, confirmed by Saleh Al-Rasheed, CEO of the Royal Commission for Makkah City and the Holy Sites, represent the most significant change to the physical experience of arriving in Mecca since commercial aviation began.
