Messy student union art festival raises eyebrows

A recent festival in Egypt, planned to promote art skills among students at the school of commerce at Cairo University and to commemorate the popular revolution, degenerated into a paint-throwing mess that triggered an outcry and investigations.

The school’s student union said the Festival of Colours had aimed to encourage undergraduates to artistically express their views on the popular uprising that swept long-time former President Hosni Mubarak from power a year ago.

Other activities were also planned as part of the event, the proceeds of which were to be donated to charities, according to the union.

However, a video clip posted on YouTube showed students throwing watercolours at each other in front of the school building in what critics described as an unprecedented incident at Cairo University, Egypt’s most prestigious public higher education institution.

The footage also showed young men and women dancing in public, a spectacle socially frowned on in this conservative country.

“We did not elect the student union to organise such shameful festivals,” said Nuha Ahmed, a student in the school of commerce. “How can the administration allow this to happen? Is this the freedom we want inside our universities?”

To Ahmed Saber, another student at the school, the incident was immoral. “In the name of art, the courtyard of the school was reduced to a discotheque. Those responsible for this misbehaviour unbecoming of a respectable academic institution should be brought to account,” he added.

The school's administrators announced that members of the student union would be questioned about the incident.

“The event was organised after permission from the administration, to encourage students to paint on the ground. But it happened that it rained and some students used the colours to hurl at each other,” said Ali al-Deeb, deputy dean of student affairs. He denied in press remarks that all the students who “misbehaved” belonged to the school of commerce.

“Any student proven to be involved in this mess will be disciplined,” he said.

The student union has tried hard to vindicate itself.

“Since our election, we have been interested in organising useful activities for our colleagues, including seminars and commemorations for students killed during the 25 January revolution,” it said, referring to protesters killed by police in the uprising against Mubarak.

“We have offered other services such as making textbooks available to students for free. As for the Festival of Art, some students acted inappropriately and the student union intervened and stopped the event,” the union explained in a statement.

Supporters of the union claimed that the incident was blown out of proportion for political purposes.

“Some radical students exaggerated what happened, to tarnish the image of the student union after it sharply criticised a popular Islamist cleric,” said a student at the school, preferring not to give his name.

“This militant clergyman told a seminar recently held at Cairo University that academic institutions are undermining the Sharia [Islamic law]. His remarks brought him under heavy criticism, which irked his followers at the school.”

Islamists were allowed to create political parties and stand for parliament following Mubarak’s toppling after long years of oppression. They secured more than two-thirds of parliamentary seats in the recent national election.