The Arab World Institute in Paris holds an exhibition on the Bibliotheca Alexandrina
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The Arab World Institute in Paris will organize an exhibition, which aims at presenting the story of the revival of the Ancient Library of Alexandria.
This exhibition acquaintances the world that the Library""s building was designed by the Norwegian architects of Snøhetta in collaboration with Hamza Egyptian Contractors upon the competition that was organized in 1990 by the International Union of Architects, UNESCO and the Egyptian Government. The exhibition will be organized by the Norwegian Museum of Architecture in Oslo, and was funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Norway. The exhibition tackles the ancient history of Alexandria, the new Bibliotheca Alexandrina as a cultural complex, in addition to a rich vision of the future.
The exhibition has four goals. It aims at helping the world to discover the importance of the new Library, given that Egypt is the cradle of the western civilization as center for culture and science. It also provides a paradigm for the international cooperation and the intellectual exchange of knowledge which leads both national and international development efforts. Finally, the exhibition makes it clear to its visitors that the Bibliotheca Alexandrina is the center for discussion and understanding between the east and west, north and south , and the meeting point of cultures.
The catalog of the exhibition is written in the three prevailing languages of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina; Arabic, French and English. A number of well-known characters have contributed in its preparation along with some others who have written some topics and issues. Those characters included Dr. Ismail Serageldin, Director General of Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Ms. Safinaz Amal Naguib and Mr. John Beng, tutors at Oslo University, and Mr. Richard Anger Slow, publisher and famous architectural historian.
Although the Bibliotheca Alexandrina is a revival of an old idea, its existing building is characterized by its extreme modernity as it has the shape of a tilted round plate of 85000 m2, of which 20000 m2 are dedicated to the reading area which thus makes it the largest reading hall in the world.
The story of the new Bibliotheca Alexandrina is really unique. It started as a result of President Mohamed Hosny Mubarak""s call, launched to the whole world in Aswan in 1990. The Library was built by Egyptian efforts with the support of the international community. The new Bibliotheca Alexandrina will always be a forum for peace and a center for science and knowledge.
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