conference, day two

A nice, brisk day today with just three panels, all of them good. An especially moving moment was a biographical film on artist and electronic musician AHMED BASSIOUNY, presented by his friend.

I never met Ahmed, but many people at the American University in Cairo knew him personally; he lectured at Helwan University, one of the state universities in the Cairo suburbs.

He was apparently shot by a sniper and then run over by a law enforcement vehicle, presumably in Friday, January 28, though his body was not located until about 4 days later.

[ADDENDUM: If anyone is planning to go to the Venice Biennale, the Egyptian section will have a special exhibit on Bassiouny’s work. Today I was also delighted to learn that that portion will be curated by my former student Aida El-Torie.]