Press Conf. to announce Cairo as Capital of Islamic Culture on Feb. 3

CAIRO - 2 February 2020: The Minister of Culture Inas Abdel Dayem will hold a press conference to announce the details of the program for the inauguration of Cairo as the capital of Islamic culture, which will continue throughout the year 2020.

The press conference will be held on Feb. 3 in the main hall at the 51st Cairo International Book Fair at Egypt International Exhibitions Center at 5 pm.

The conference will be attended by the cultural advisor to the Director General of the Islamic World Organization for Education, Science and Culture (ISESCO), Director of Culture at (ISESCO) Naguib el-Ghayati and the program specialist at the Organization's Directorate of Culture Osama el-Nahhas.

The Islamic World Organization for Education, Science and Culture (ISESCO) had chosen Cairo as the capital of Islamic culture 2020 to assume the title as the successor to the Tunisian capital, which held the title during 2019.

On January 29 the Minister of Culture Inas Abdel Dayem held an expanded meeting with the heads of authorities and sectors in the ministry to discuss the final arrangements for the inauguration program of the activities of Cairo as the capital of Islamic culture, during the year 2020.

It is noteworthy that the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) adopted the Capital of Islamic Culture program after being launched by the Arab Organization for Education, Culture and Science (ALECSO).

Three ancient Islamic cities are chosen to represent the Islamic Culture in the Arab world, Africa and Asia, and the Capital of the Islamic Culture hosts the Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers, which convenes biannually.

This is based on an agreement that was signed in 2001 in the third Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers, and it was adopted at the Fourth Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers held in Algeria in 2004.

Makkah al-Mukarramah held the first title in 2005; then the Islamic cities traded the title. It moved to Aleppo (Syria), Fez (Morocco), Alexandria (Egypt), Kairouan (Tunisia), Tarim (Yemen), Tlemcen (Algeria), Najaf (Iraq) Medina (Saudi Arabia), Sharjah (UAE), Nizwa (Sultanate of Oman), Kuwait (Kuwait), Oman (Jordan), Manama (Bahrain), and Tunis (Tunisia), respectively, until it reached Cairo in 2020; ISESCO also chose the Uzbek capital, Bukhari, to be the Capital of Islamic Culture in Asia and Bamako, the Republic of Mali to be the Capital of Islamic Culture in Africa.