Latest news with #Radwan
CairoScene
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- CairoScene
FYR's New Collection Weaves Sinai's Symbols into Sleek Jewelry
The Dear Sinai collection draws on local spiritual traditions rather than stylistic motifs Cairo-based jewelry house FYR has unveiled its latest capsule collection, Dear Sinai, through a Mother's Day campaign that eschews cliché in favor of depth. Titled To Your Mother, the campaign is a meditation on inheritance, not just of family or tradition, but of land, ritual, and memory. The collection's leading piece, the Ommi ring, sits at the center of this inquiry. In Arabic, ommi means 'my mother,' yet within the language of the campaign, the word opens into something broader, the motherland, the earth, the origin. The ring is a compact form of that idea, cast in 927 silver, sculptural in silhouette, and designed to carry more than ornament. For FYR founder Farah Radwan, the collection is not about adornment but transmission. 'It's not sentimental,' she says. 'It's structural and honouring what holds us.' Shot in slow, deliberate frames, the To Your Mother campaign includes a short film that opens not with youth, but with reflection. The central figure is Cherifa El Bakly, an older woman seated in a sunlit room, contemplating her reflection, an act, Radwan says, of returning to one's image, not to mourn it, but to recognize it. El Bakly's presence offers an anchor, a face that has lived, softened by time, dignified in stillness. She is shown not as a symbol, but as a subject, examining her memory of herself as beautiful, and holding space for it. Radwan says her decision to feature an older woman at the heart of the campaign was instinctive. 'There's power in allowing someone to see themselves without nostalgia,' she explains. 'It's not about looking back. It's about looking through.' The campaign, she adds, is not a tribute, but a tether, between generations, between the visible and the invisible. The Dear Sinai collection, named for the peninsula that inspires its palette and its philosophy, draws on local spiritual traditions rather than stylistic motifs. Among the pieces is the Ain ring, shaped like an eye, set with a citrine stone, and informed by shamalyagh, a protective practice historically passed from mother to daughter in parts of North Sinai. Its design is linear, sparse. Its weight is conceptual. 'You don't need to say everything for it to be understood,' Radwan says. FYR's releases are never abrupt. Pieces appear slowly, without countdowns or mass rollout. Each is accompanied by a printed card that details the history and symbolism behind the design. Radwan does not consider the collection a product line, nor does she describe it as art. 'This isn't status jewelry,' she says. 'It's memory jewelry. It carries.' Since founding FYR in 2018, Radwan has resisted trend cycles and scale. Her pieces are crafted in small batches. They are sold directly. There is no wholesale expansion planned. The collection, she says, is not about volume but about holding shape, culturally, spiritually, and personally.
Saudi Gazette
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Saudi Gazette
Saudi Arabia underscores need to end occupation and establish viable Palestine state
Saudi Gazette report NEW YORK — Saudi Arabia emphasized the need to end the Israeli occupation and establish an independent and viable Palestinian state as the only way to achieve security and stability in the region. This was stated by Dr. Manal Hassan Radwan, advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while co-chairing on Friday the preparatory meeting for the high-level international conference for a peaceful settlement of the Palestinian issue and the implementation of the two-state solution. The international conference is scheduled to be held from June 17 to 20. The French side was headed by Anne-Claire Legendre, advisor to the French president, at the meeting, which saw broad participation from UN member states. In her speech during the opening session, Radwan, who leads the Saudi delegation to the meeting, stressed that the Kingdom, in partnership with France, seeks to make this conference a historic turning point toward a just and lasting peace. 'Ending the war, releasing hostages and detainees, and ensuring comprehensive security can only be achieved through a credible political plan that addresses the roots of the conflict,' she said while commending the reforms launched by the Palestinian leadership. Radwan stressed the importance of the international community's support for the Palestinian government. She also affirmed the Kingdom's steadfast commitment to the Arab Peace Initiative and its pivotal role in launching the "Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution," in partnership with the European Union and Norway. The meeting witnessed a review by the 19 countries and organizations co-chairing the eight working groups emanating from the conference, during which briefings were provided on the progress made in preparing the expected outcomes for each group. The meeting, which was attended by UN Undersecretary General for Political and Peace-building Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo, also witnessed affirmations from member states of their full support for the Kingdom and France, commending the efforts of the working groups, and affirming their commitment to participating with practical proposals and ideas that would contribute to the success of the forthcoming international conference.
CairoScene
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CairoScene
Cairo, Reimagined: A Digital Tribute to a City's Forgotten Glory
Cairo, Reimagined: A Digital Tribute to a City's Forgotten Glory We scroll past them daily — old balconies, faded cornices, tiled thresholds barely holding on. Cairo's layered streets carry the weight of centuries, but much of the city's architectural heritage has faded into the background of everyday life. Cairo Re-rendered, a digital art series by architect Mohamed Radwan, brings these stories back to the foreground. Shared widely across Instagram, Radwan's AI-powered project transforms archival images of four of Cairo's most iconic districts. The images aren't restorations — they're reimaginings. Part artistic prompt, part preservation manifesto, the series explores what it would mean to see the city not through the lens of decay, but potential. The journey begins where Cairo itself did: Fatimid Cairo. Here, AI styling draws from classical painting techniques to spotlight the historic district's timeless geometry. The arched doorways, intricate mashrabiya, and shadowed alleys are rendered with reverence, suggesting not just beauty but continuity — a living thread through history. In Khedival Cairo, the approach shifts. The lens sharpens into realism, echoing the district's once grand boulevards and Belle Époque façades. Through this clarity, Radwan doesn't idealise — he reminds. That these spaces existed, and in many cases still do, behind the noise of billboards and unkempt signage. Heliopolis, the early 20th-century utopia designed as a 'city of the sun,' gets bathed in photorealistic dawn. The result feels suspended in time — warm light on stucco walls, as if the neighbourhood is holding its breath between what it was and what it could be again. Finally, Maadi appears in a retro triadic palette. With its leafy streets and quiet mid-century charm, the district is reinterpreted with a nod to vintage travel posters — nostalgic, yes, but also forward-facing in its optimism. The colour treatment makes you feel like you could walk into the frame. What ties the series together isn't just the AI technique, but Radwan's underlying intention: to make memory visible again. Each image began as a vintage photograph, carefully researched and selected for its spatial authenticity. Through a mix of prompt engineering and stylistic layering, the transformation process was less about enhancement and more about storytelling. The resulting images feel intuitive, not manufactured — each mood, time of day, and texture chosen to evoke the emotional DNA of the neighbourhood. But Cairo Re-rendered isn't just a nostalgic exercise. Its impact is more than aesthetic. The project taps into something broader: a cultural craving to see Cairo clearly. Not as a backdrop, but as an identity. As an inheritance. As something we still have the power to shape. The series found an eager audience online — from architecture students to longtime residents, each bringing their own stories to the frame. In the comments, viewers didn't just react to how the images looked. They shared memories. And that might be the biggest success of all: turning passive viewing into active remembering. Radwan's experiment sits at the intersection of preservation, imagination, and public engagement. It's a quiet reminder that tools like AI aren't just about futures — they can be about pasts too. About holding on, and letting go, and seeing the city with fresh eyes before what's left becomes too faded to notice. Because sometimes, it takes a new render to remember what was always there.
Express Tribune
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Saudi Arabia calls recognition of Palestine a 'strategic necessity'
Manal Radwan of Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry said a just solution to the Palestinian issue is essential for a new regional order founded on mutual recognition and coexistence. PHOTO: ARAB NEWS Saudi Arabia has called the recognition of a Palestinian state a 'strategic necessity,' arguing it is the essential first step toward achieving lasting peace in the Middle East. The remarks were delivered at a United Nations General Assembly meeting on Friday, ahead of a high-level peace conference next month. Manal Radwan, counsellor at the Saudi Foreign Ministry and co-chair of the upcoming conference, addressed delegates at the UN, stating that a just solution to the Palestinian issue is not only a moral and legal obligation but also 'the cornerstone of a new regional order based on mutual recognition and coexistence.' 'Regional peace begins with recognising the state of Palestine—not as a symbolic gesture, but as a strategic necessity,' Radwan said. 'It is the only way to eliminate the space exploited by non-state actors and replace despair with a political horizon grounded in rights and sovereignty, ensuring security and dignity for all.' The comments come as Saudi Arabia and France prepare to co-host an international conference aimed at accelerating the implementation of a two-state solution to resolve the decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Support for the initiative has gained momentum in recent days as international concern mounts over the humanitarian toll of Israel's renewed military campaign in Gaza. Radwan described the situation as one of 'historic urgency,' with civilians enduring 'unimaginable suffering' in a war that 'must end immediately.' Saudi Arabia reaffirmed its commitment to working with international partners to deliver 'real, irreversible, and transformative change' and ensure a peaceful and just resolution to the Palestinian question. The upcoming conference, backed by a coalition of nations, is seen as one of the most significant diplomatic pushes in recent years to revive the long-stalled peace process.
Business Recorder
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Recorder
Lebanon says 3 dead in Israeli strikes on south
BEIRUT: Lebanon said Israeli strikes killed three people in the south on Wednesday as Israel said it targeted two Hezbollah operatives, the latest attacks despite a ceasefire with the group. An 'Israeli enemy drone' struck a car in the town of Ain Baal in the Tyre region, killing one person, Lebanon's health ministry said. It later said additional Israeli drone strikes killed one person in Yater and another in Aitaroun, both near the border. Israel has kept up raids on its northern neighbour despite the November truce that sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah including two months of full-blown war. The Israeli army said its forces struck a Hezbollah operative in the Tyre region, saying he was 'responsible for establishing the necessary infrastructure for the production of precise surface-to-surface missiles in the area'. One killed in Israeli strikes on south Lebanon: ministry It also said it 'eliminated a commander' in Hezbollah's elite Radwan force in the Yater area. An official from Yater said the strike killed a man who was using a bulldozer to remove debris from his home which was damaged during the conflict, the state-run National News Agency reported, adding that the Aitaroun raid targeted a motorcycle. It was the third consecutive day of Israeli attacks on Lebanon. Under the ceasefire, Hezbollah was to pull back its fighters north of Lebanon's Litani River and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure to its south. Israel was to withdraw all its forces from Lebanon, but it has kept troops in five areas that it deems 'strategic'. The Lebanese army has been deploying in the south as Israeli forces have withdrawn and has been dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure there. The truce was based on a United Nations Security Council resolution that says Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers should be the only people to bear arms in south Lebanon, and calls for the disarmament of all non-state groups. Lebanon has called on the international community to pressure Israel to end its attacks and withdraw its remaining troops. On Tuesday, US deputy Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus said Lebanon still had 'more' to do in disarming Hezbollah following the war.
