Hamdi Abdel Aty, chairman of the Fine Arts Syndicate, said in an interview with Al-Masry Al-Youm that the memorial of the New Suez Canal had been sculpted unprofessionally.
Q: How should streets and squares be beautified?
A: Officials should assign the Fine Arts Syndicate for this task because it needs professionals who know how to add an aesthetic and historic value to a place. Unfortunately, the officials just give the job to anyone. A horrible example of this tendency is the Nefertiti bust in Samalut.
Q: Why do they do that?
A: The main reasons are the lack of coordination between government agencies and artists, lack of awareness on the part of decision-makers, corruption and favoritism.
Q: Why don’t you take the initiative and submit ideas to the officials?
A: I have been sending letters to officials for four years, telling them to involve us in such matters, but nobody cared. The only thing that happened was a protocol signed with the former governor of Daqahliya, which the new governor did not implement.
Q: What about Tahrir Square?
A: We have not been consulted.
Q: What about the memorial of the new Suez Canal?
A: I believe it has been sculpted unprofessionally.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
