The El Sawy Culturewheel is a grand cultural center laying on a 5,000 m2 area right under the 15th of May bridge on Zamalek island. It values human beings without any kind of classification. All visitors are treated equally regardless of their social, official and economic status. Likewise artists of the same field are dealt with by equal measures ...

The El Sawy Culturewheel is a grand cultural center laying on a 5,000 m2 area right under the 15th of May bridge on Zamalek island. It values human beings without any kind of classification. All visitors are treated equally regardless of their social, official and economic status. Likewise artists of the same field are dealt with by equal measures and conditions.



Facts: The El Sawy Culturewheel operates all year round seven days a week from 8 am till the last show ends, offering two to four events a day. It provides culture and art at affordable prices. On an average day about 1500 people visit us, on special days the number may exceed 2000. This results in nearly 500000 visitors a year. In 2009 El Sawy Culturewheel was organizing 25 festivals and contests.


The Beginning: In 2003 the El Sawy Culturewheel was founded by Engineer Mohamed Sawy, son of Abdel Monem El Sawy, and in its seven years of existence it became a hub and hangout for young Egyptians, foreign residents and visitors, who include our center in their sight-seeing tours. The center’s name was chosen in honor to Abdel Monem El-Sawy

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The name ‘El Sakia’ or ‘The Waterwheel’ derives from his five-part novel series with the same name. Since our center is concerned with culture, the word ‘water’ was replaced by ‘culture’.



The main venue in Zamalek has five stages situated in the River Hall, the Wisdom Hall, the Word Hall, the Sakia Garden and the Bostan El Nil. The halls are equipped with cinema screens and all kinds of audiovisual aids. Three more halls are available to accommodate workshops and seminars.



Art Exhibitions: El Sawy Culturewheel is proud to host exhibitions of well-known artists, as well as being a platform for yet unknown students and beginners.



Seminars: initiate dialogue in different subjects on current and long-lasting topics. We value thinking and the freedom of thought and try to encourage them in our seminars.



Awareness Campaign: Every year El Sawy Culturewheel focuses on one main theme. 2010 was chosen to be the ‘year of Light, in which efforts were directed towards the following points: 1. Enlightenment 2.Knowledge 3. Visual Arts 4. Energy 5. Plants.

Please check our History of Awareness Campaigns for more information on previous years.



Workshops: Next to concerts, art exhibitions, theater plays and seminars El Sawy Culturewheel also offers a number of workshops teaching the principles of art in all its disciplines on all levels from beginner to advanced.



Library: The Zamalek main center also provides a library. Although many people enter the El Sawy Culturewheel without noticing it, since it is located behind the gate, our poor library is rich in possessing a wide range of books for children and adults in Arabic, English and French. Everyone may enter, pick and read a book. El Sawy Culturewheel members can even borrow the books and read them at home.



Magazine: After only four years of existence, in 2007 El Sawy Culturewheel launched its bi-monthly magazine El Sakia el Warakeya - an integrated Culture magazine, written in Standard Arabic, directed towards the youth. El Sakia el Warakeya magazine provides information about all fields of culture and covers news of the El Sawy Culturewheel as well as other cultural centers.



Radio: Last year, in 2009, the El Sawy Culturewheel started its own online radio station Sound of Sakia. It's mission is to enrich the cultural scene in Egypt by expanding the reach of El Sawy Culturewheel’s stage for local artists, workshops and speakers through high quality cultural online programming to be accessible to a broader audience in Egypt and worldwide.



Children: Children are on top of our priorities. Therefore we initiated the program Let me Think – LMT. LMT is a workshop designed to teach children to think, imagine and develop solutions and ideas for specific virtual situations and problems. The aim of the program is to show children how thinking could be a fun activity, by inciting them to do it informally through mind exercise and games.



Partners: El Sawy Culturewheel involves its friends and volunteers in various projects and missions starting from simple tasks such as controlling gates to advanced missions of holding workshops and seminars.



More: Further branches are New Generation School, Qena, Smartvillage and Helwan.



Wireless Internet is available to allow our visitors the use of online resources for their studies or private matters.



El Sawy Culturewheel is the creator of The White Circle as a sign for a smoke free environment, which is now used by the WHO (World Health Organization) in 22 countries. According to this principle smoking is not allowed in any section of El Sawy Culturewheel, including the garden.

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