On Behalf of the Ramses Wissa Wassef Art Centre, Egypt
- Ramses Wissa Wassef Exhibition Trust
- Closed on
- Target:
- The Governor of Giza and other authorities in Egypt
- Region:
- Egypt
- Website:
- www.wissa-wassef-arts.com
RAMSES WISSA WASSEF ART CENTRE PETITION – A THANK YOU.
The petition launched in January 2008 on behalf of the Ramses Wissa Wassef Art Centre calling on the Egyptian authorities to take action against the rising ground water table that has greatly damaged the adobe buildings of the Art Centre has had an encouragingly positive outcome.
The petition was organised by The Ramses Wissa Wassef Exhibition Trust, London and signed by some 1700 people from many different countries. It was presented to the Governor of Giza in mid-March. Plans made by the authorities to cover the drainage canal that was causing the devastation were given top priority. Construction work has begun and it is expected that most of the problems will be eliminated by the end of April. Renovation work to restore the buildings of the Art Centre will begin in the summer.
The Wissa Wassef family wish to thank the Governor of Giza and the irrigation and drainage departments for the swift action and most particularly to thank all who signed the petition for your most valuable support.
Ikram Nosshi
Ramses Wissa Wassef Art Centre
1/4/2008
In October 2005 part of the Habib Gorgy Museum at the Art Centre suffered a catastrophic collapse.
This occurred because of a huge rise in the water table – caused by poor maintenance of a nearby drainage canal, a massive increase in house-building in Harrania village, and construction of a new fly-over bridge half a mile away.
Plans to build a new gallery at the Art Centre have had to be put on hold so that resources can be concentrated on reconstructing the Museum.
Worse, the entire Art Centre – workshops, galleries, houses and gardens – is in extreme danger from rising water.
The survival of the Art Centre in Harrania, for whose adobe workshops and galleries Ramses Wissa Wassef won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1983, is seriously threatened by rising water.
Please sign this petition to help persuade the authorities in Egypt to ensure the survival of the complex of buildings and gardens that accommodate and nurture the unique “experiment in creativity”.
The Trustees of the Ramses Wissa Wassef Exhibition Trust, a charity registered in the United Kingdom which in 1985 and 2006 organised two highly successful London exhibitions of tapestries from the Art Centre, plan to present a petition to the Governor of Giza and other authorities in Egypt.
Please lend your support to the call for urgent action to ensure the survival of the Art Centre and of the tapestry weaving experiment that continues to delight and inspire thousands of people throughout the world.
The On Behalf of the Ramses Wissa Wassef Art Centre, Egypt petition to The Governor of Giza and other authorities in Egypt was written by Ramses Wissa Wassef Exhibition Trust and is in the category Environment at GoPetition.