CONTRiBUTORS

Dr. Zahi Hawass is a worldrenowned archaeologist, whose extensive knowledge have sparked global interest in ancient Egypt. He received his bachelors from Alexandria University in Greek and Roman archaeology and a diploma in Egyptology from Cairo University. His master’s and doctoral degrees were granted by the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied as a Fulbright fellow. He began as inspector of antiquities, quickly becoming Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, as well as the first Minister of State for Antiquities. Dr. Hawass has been recognized internationally with the Egyptian First-Class Award for Arts and Sciences in 1998, as well as Time Magazine ’s top 100 most influential people in 2006, and most recently, in April 2017, he was appointed Ambassador for Peace and Cultural Heritage by the International Federation of Peace and Sustainable Development, an affiliate to the United Nations. Currently, Dr. Hawass is working with the Ministry of Tourism to promote tourism to Egypt.

Dr. Gemma Tully is an archaeologist and museum professional who has spent 15 years working as an academic researcher and consultant on collaborative heritage projects in Egypt, Sudan and Europe. Much of her research has focused on the use of contemporary Egyptian art as a medium for provoking new interpretations of ancient Egypt. She has curated numerous museum exhibitions on art and archaeology and has taught on undergraduate and master’s courses in archaeology and museum studies. Dr. Tully has published her research in academic journals and edited volumes. She has also developed heritage resources in partnership with communities in Egypt and Sudan that are used in schools and at archaeological sites. Dr. Tully is currently a Research Associate at the University of Cambridge and Durham University where she is working on heritage projects which integrate local stakeholders in the management of cultural landscapes in Egypt and Europe.

Walid El Batouty is a passionate and reputable tour guide in Egypt. For ten years, he has served as the Vice President of the Syndicate of Tour Guides in Egypt. He was elected as an executive board member of the World Federation Tourist Guide Association (WFTGA). As part of A&K, El Batouty was named Guide of the Year 2007. Today, El Batouty is called the ‘Guide of the Stars’. Over his years as a tour guide,

El Batouty has guided through the beauty of Egypt some of the biggest stars and dignitaries of the world such as Roger Moore, Morgan Freeman, Yanni, Samuel Jackson, Shakira and Will Smith.

Valérie Didier-Hess has spent the last nine years working in the art world in the cultural hub of the Middle East, Dubai, and has recently moved back to her home country in Paris. During her time in Dubai, she developed an academic passion for Modern Egyptian Art. Following the success of the Mahmoud Saïd Catalogue Raisonné (Skira, 2016), co-edited with Dr. Hussam Rashwan, the first book of its kind for a Middle Eastern artist, Didier-Hess and Dr. Rashwan are dedicated to continue preserving Modern Egyptian Art’s rich cultural heritage and are currently working on the Abdel Hadi El Gazzar catalogue raisonné with the artist’s family, as well as on the English translation of Aimé Azar’s seminal book entitled La Peinture Moderne en Égypt e (1961).

Didier-Hess graduated from Cambridge University with a BA in Art History (2004), and from the Courtauld Institute of Art, London, with a master’s degree in art history (2005).

Mehri Khalil is an artist and arts manager. Beside her own artistic practice, she is pursuing a Ph.D. in art theory and visual studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, where she is focusing on modern Egyptian art, which complements her own work and research interests. Khalil holds a master’s degree in arts administration and policy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (’12). She has experience from working at the Louvre Museum in Paris, as well as with a well-established Chicago art consultant and at galleries abroad. In Egypt, she has worked as an exhibition specialist in a museum, as well as in arts education. Khalil earned a bachelor’s degree from the American University in Cairo in 2009 and has completed a degree at the Accademia d’Arte in Florence in 2007.

Mennat-Allah El Dorry is an archaeologist specialized in culinary archaeology and heritage. She is an Egyptologist with a focus on archaeobotanical analysis, which the study of ancient plant remains that have survived on archaeological sites. This has led her into a world of food archaeology, where she works on trying to understand how people in the past cooked, ate, and how food played a role in their social and religious lives.

She has worked extensively on the field as an archaeologist, surveyor, illustrator and archivist. She is affiliated with the Ministry of Antiquities, and now serves as a postdoctoral research fellow at the French and Polish Archaeological Institutes in Cairo. She has a bachelor’s degree from the American University in Cairo, an MA from University College London and a Ph.D. from the University of Münster in Germany.

Noha Kabbani has grown up in a multi-cultured family in Cairo — one of the world’s most densely populated melting pots — so it has been easy for her to tackle a diverse number of roles and responsibilities over the globe. From working at a Luxury Milliner’s in London, coordinating projects in Kuala Lumpur, Doha, and the Kurdistan region of Iraq, to locally managing Egypt’s largest energy event Kabbani has built on her bachelor’s degree in communications and media arts to include a multitude of skills and life experiences, which now, with a keenness on honing in on her love of Art, Kabbani would like to use in servicing Egypt’s rich art scene.