Spend the Day in Khalifa | Athar Lina 3

Al-Athar lina Initiative believes that the built heritage of Cairo belongs to its people and that in order to preserve heritage people have to feel that it is indispensable – as a source of spirituality – as a connection to their past – as a place of memory – as a source of livelihood – as a place of entertainment, service, or culture.

Al-Athar Lina Initiative is based in al-Khalifa Street in Historic Cairo and since its inception in 2012, has worked with the residents, government officials and civil society who live in al-Khalifa, work on it or study it or its monuments. The question was how to preserve the street’s monuments through making them useful to the community.

Most recommendations were for ideas to conserve monuments and reuse them and their surroundings for services needed by the community (health, education and child care for example). Other recommendations complained about the lack of tourism in the neighbourhood in spite of the wealth of monuments such as Ibn Tulun Mosque, al-Sayyida Ruqayya Mausoleum and al-Ashraf Khalil Dome, buildings ranging from the 9^th to the 14^th century noted for their historical and religious importance.

ATHAR LINA 3 addresses these recommendations. Starting November 2013 we will:

1. Conserve the mausoleum of Shajar al-Durr – Egypt’s only female Islamic ruler. (funding from  the  American Research Centre in Egypt and the Barakat Trust, UK and in partnership with the Ministry of State for Antiquities)
2. Convert an adjacent building into a clinic and community centre. (private donations – coordinated by BEC – Megawra)
3. Initiate al-Khalifa Inside Out – an outreach program that involves the community in this process and brings tourists to the street. The first stage was to collect stories of the street and present them both in the format of a street map and signage system and in a storytelling performance by Chirine el-Ansary. (funded by the British Council – coordinated by BEC-Megawra)

November 30^th is the celebration of the start of this project.

The purpose is to put al-Khalifa Street on the map of local tourism and celebrate it not just for its heritage, but also for its people.

Activities start from 2:00 pm and  include:

• Guided tours through al-Khalifa’s monuments and traditional workshops.
• A children’s treasure hunt game in which they map the interesting features of the street.
• Inauguration of maps to be put at the entrances to the street to show visitors the highlights of al-Khalifa and convince them to visit it.
• Home made food prepared by the women of al-Khalifa.
• An exhibition on al-Athar Lina Initiative and al-Khalifa Street.

And at 7:00 pm: Khalifa Inside Out

A storytelling performance by Chirine el-Ansary in which she weaves together the street’s history and the stories of its people into a performance written especially for al-Khalifa.

The day is co-organised by a al-Khalifa citizen’s committee and proceeds will go into a fund for the improvement to the street to be administered by the neighbourhood committee.