How Egypt is Becoming the Creative Hub of the Arab World

From isolated professionals to a budding eco-system firmly breaking through in Egypt’s economy: the Creative Industry summit kicks off this Friday, crystallising an industry that is rapidly gaining recognition as an important foundation for economic development.

Since the 25 January revolution shook Egypt’s ground, the country has witnessed a refreshing emergence of independent artists, filmmakers, and marketeers rooting out of the monopoly mainstream industry to create their own ventures. Young fashion designers, graphic artists, photographers, filmmakers, and creative entrepreneurs who are dismissing preconceived boundaries and redefining the country’s media landscape.

The fact that the event was planned, promoted and executed by three young men in their 20s paints an eloquent outline of the industry’s panorama. “This year it is way bigger in terms of conferences and attendees,” says Hamza Sarawy, one of the organizers, who also runs Idea Bakers along with his partners Amr Ashraf and Mohanad El-Menoufy. Scheduled to begin at 11.00, the summit will host 590 attendees to showcasing inspiring panel discussions, talks and workshops and a promising Creative Pavillion, an exhibition lounge where creative entrepreneurs will exhibit their work and companies will host hiring booths.

“I’m glad that this is all coming together and I hope it becomes an ongoing event; we need to develop a network,” says Aisha Al Shabrawy, who will be leading a talk on fashion photography at the event. “I have a lot of faith in the potential of the creative industry, because it has always been there but it was never organised. Egyptian art directors and creative professionals have been winning prizes at an international level, but here it has been chaotic,” she says.

Reem Gamil, editor-in-chief at What Women Want magazine, agrees: “We need to work hard on becoming a regional hub, because even though we have plenty of professionals, we still lack facilities in media, photography and journalism to become leaders in the Middle East. As Egypt has traditionally led filmmaking and UAE leads in media and PR, we need to work on developing the ecosystem.”