Inauguration of the Mediterranean City: Dialogue among Cultures event
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Alexandria, 21 February 2005—The inauguration of the international event, Mediterranean City: Dialogue among Cultures, organized by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA) from 21 February – 3 March 2005, will be held today, 21 February 2005. The opening ceremony includes speeches by Dr. Ismail Serageldin, Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina; H.E. Abdel Salam El Mahgoub, Governor of Alexandria; H.E. Mr. Gianni Martini, Consul General of Italy in Alexandria; Mr. Emmanuel Mbi, Director of the World Bank’s Country Office in Egypt; and Dr. Traugott Schöfthaler, Director of the Anna Lindh EuroMediterranean Foundation for Dialogue between Cultures. Highlights of the ceremony include an operatic performance by the famous Italian tenor Vincenzo La Scola.
The event aims to foster dialogue among Mediterranean cities through recapturing some of the unique flavor of the long histories of these cities, with special emphasis on past achievements and present challenges for these cities that have offered so much. The following 12 cities will be focused on: Alexandria, Athens, Barcelona, Beirut, Hydra, Istanbul, Genoa, Marseille, Naples, Rome, Tunis and Venice.
The event is comprised of three components, the main of which is the Public Policy Forum, 21-22 February, which will bring together mayors, representatives of civil and business societies, as well as urban developers from the 12 major Mediterranean cities. Over the course of two days, they will discuss important issues related to the development of new policies for the Mediterranean region, in four respective panels.
The second activity within the event is the International Exhibition, 21 February – 3 March 2005, which will provide a retrospective view, a critical glance at the present, and a futuristic vision for the Mediterranean city. Themes of the exhibition are political influences, trade links, religious, cultural, and scientific exchanges, and population movements. The design of the exhibition was made in cooperation with Studio Bertocchini & Ruggiero in Rome.
The event will be marked by the launch of the Beautiful Book which traces the past, present and future of eight Mediterranean cities: Alexandria, Beirut, Barcelona, Genoa, Marseille, Naples, Tunis and Venice. It will show the different aspects of their shared socio-cultural heritage, their present lives, as well as future development and urban projects.
The project was financed by an Italian trust fund managed by the World Bank. The opera performance by Italian Tenor Vincezo La Scola was sponsored by Consorzio Venezia Nuova, Societa Interbancaria per l"Automazione and Banco di Napoli.
Visit the event website for more details: http://www.bibalex.org/medcity