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Beni sweif : Collective Pain of the Artists
On the 6th of September 2005 there was a small notice in some swedish newspapers about a fire during a theatre performance in Beni Sweif in Upper Egypt. I learned that a lot of people were killed, but I could not at this point imagine the horrible details that would follow with this tragic accident. The first thing that came to my mind, is that I hoped my friends would be OK - my swedish friends kept calling me that day to hear if my egyptian friends were OK. But then I started to get the reports from Egypt, about the people who were killed - and it was really devastating news. So many important people from the cultural field who made an important impact on egyptian culture lost in such a meaningless way. After the short notice in swedish newspapers it was just silence. The western media didn't report about the upset feelings that was starting to rise in Egypt as a result of the accident and the authority negligence that followed. From my friends I heard the stories about the ambulances and fire engines that did not do a proper job, they were too late, not fully equipped and actually caused some people to die. I felt naive to think from my perspective, that a big accident like this would naturally be a big priority. Instead it seemed like the responsible people wanted to silence the whole thing. It is a natural reaction to be angry if you are a relative and can't claim your loved ones body. We can all agree that it is a terrible, inhuman thing. Don't they know that when they try to silence someone like this and not let them express their feelings and their pain, they will only start to scream louder? It makes me wonder how the government can blame the people for this accident, when it is so clear that this is about a system that doesn't work properly. The cultural institutions are so poorly equipped that the cultural workers are risking their lives while making art. This cannot be acceptable. When I got the manifestation sheet from the 5th September Group I was still shocked that these facts didn't reach outside the borders of Egypt. The things that the group demands are not too much to ask due to the harsh circumstances: Of course the victims and their families should be given compensation, of course the responsible parties should be tried. And most important of all, if you want to have a good cultural environment in the future, you have to give the cultural workers the respect of good working standards and safe venues to work in. The artists are very important people for any country, they are the ones who will catch the soul of the people and so they will make us understand ourselves. Without the prescence of the artist, no one can develop or see a future. So that is why I want to ask all of you to never underestimate the importance of the artist. Asa Lindholm Playwright from Sweden |
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