The Tagore festival was inaugurated by India's Ambassador to Egypt Sanjay Bhattacharyya yesterday here with a painting exhibition showcasing works of artists from Egypt, India and other countries.
The Embassy of India in Cairo and Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture is hosting the Tagore Festival from May 8-12.
"It is amazing that 90 years after Tagore visited Egypt, 100 plus years after he received his Nobel Prize and more than 70 years after he passed away, we are still celebrating Tagore and see how he continues to inspire us," Bhattacharyya said.
The festival will feature Tagore dance drama 'Shapmochan' (Breaking the Spell) on May 9 by well-known Classical dancer Dona Ganguly, who hails from Kolkata, the hometown of the great poet.
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The movie 'Ghare Baire' -- based on one of Tagore's novel by legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray will be screened on May 10. Popular Rabindra Sangeet singer Shreya Guhathakurta will present songs written and composed by Tagore on May 11.
The festival will conclude on May 12 with a Seminar on Contemporary Literature 'Tagore, Shawky & Mahfouz', which will feature Indian and Egyptians scholars and writers and will be conducted by the Supreme Council of Culture.
His friendship with Egyptian poet Ahmed Shawqy is well known and he wrote a moving eulogy on his friend's death in 1932. Tagore wrote about the beautiful relationship between the Nile river and the flourishing civilisation of Egyptians.