Activists decry Zahi Hawass' use of artifacts to promote menswear line
Featured
Meteorologists project the beginning of a heat wave on Thursday, with temperatures expected to rise by eight to nine...
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy has called on political powers and Egyptians to engage in dialogue and on militants...
The H7N9 virus appears to have been brought under control in China largely due to restrictions at bird markets,...
Sinai kidnapping crisis continues to generate headlines in both Wednesday’s state-owned and independent dailies...
The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip reopened on Wednesday morning after five days of closure,...
Power went out more than once at the Cairo International Airport on Wednesday, causing some X-ray machines to go out of...
Activists decry Zahi Hawass' use of artifacts to promote menswear line
On
Mon, 18/04/2011 - 13:31
Egyptian activists and media professionals launched a signature-gathering campaign to sue former Antiquities Minister Zahi Hawass for “endangering Egyptian artifacts.”
Haitham Yahia, an activist and blogger, posted a form on his Facebook and Twitter accounts for people wishing to join the campaign to sign. Yahia then plans to file a report with the attorney general against Hawass, who is currently jailed for an unrelated crime.
Yahia said Hawass allowed the illegal use of Egyptian artifacts for the promotion of a menswear fashion line that carries his name and is produced by a company named Art Zulu.
Photographer James Weber, who carried out the photoshoot, posted the pictures and an interview about them on his blog on 23 November last year. He said the crew was allowed into the King Tut exhibit in New York City on 7 October.
In an interview posted on his blog, Weber says that Hawass did not attend the photoshoot and that security from the museum was present to protect the artifacts. He said most items in the pictures were replicas, and original artifacts were used as backdrops and never touched.
The photographer also said that he understands why people would question the use of antiquities for Hawass’ personal gain, and felt glad that people can now discuss such issues openly.
“The artifacts were never in any danger of damage from heat or being touched,” Weber said, pointing out that the exhibition was temperature controlled.
Dozens of people signed Yahia’s petition in the first few hours of its posting on the internet.
The official website for Art Zulu published photos for the new line. They show a model posing with pharaonic relics in the background, which is a violation of Egyptian law. The photos show, among other things, pharaonic murals and a model seated on King Tutankhamun's chair.
Egyptian law bans touching relics, taking photos of them or using them for commercial promotions.
Hawass was this week sentenced to one year’s hard labor and a LE1000 fine for failing to fulfill a court ruling over a land dispute.
opinion
On 6 April, security forces clashed with hundreds of protesters, most of them from the April 6 Youth Movement, during a...
Protesters block traffic in Tahrir Square, after Security forces re-opened it, and removed barbed wires, and iron...
*Entertainment*
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe,
You're the infidel of them all. Now get out!
Add Comments
Although Mr Hawass is very knowledgable about Eqypts antiquities unfortunately he hold none of the humility. He has a bigger than life personna and he himself believes he IS Egypt. That includes the laws of the land. Egypts ancestors & there belongings should be respected NOT exploited.He thinks himself higher than her laws,(hence the blatant disregard of court rulings). Follow this toought,He is/was the Supreme Minister of Antiquities, Mr "Big so to speak.His country is in revolutionary chaos. His buddy Muburark, outstead. His control & stability began to crumble. His power,his influx of money,heck,even his job! GONE He had unlimited authority,juristiction, access to EVERY precious relic. He knows every hiding place, every valut combination. He reported only a 'few' relics were stolen, however when he was removed, that was not the case it was over 1000. Maybe it was HE who had OTHER ideas for those relics? When he returned to his post the relics started to return. His insurance.
it is unthinkable that any one would "disrespect our dead and fallen ancient anscestors in "any fashion!!!"
let alone too make "mamon"