After recent developments for a Louvre branch in the United Arab Emirates, it seems that Egyptians may get a chance to view European collections on their own land. Referring to an article in Die Süddeutsche Zeitung the online edition of Artforum reports, Germany intends to open a Museum of European Art in Alexandria.

The director of Berlin’s Egyptian Museum, Dietrich Wildung, made the announcement during a radio interview. The planned museum should function as a symbol of gratitude to Egypt from European countries in recognition of the many works of art that have come from the country to European museums over the last two hundred years. No word, of course, on the conditions under which these works made the trip. According to Wildung, the project is a European one; talks have already been held with the Italian government.

This ‘expression of gratitude’ for a century of generous “loans” couldn’t come at a better moment. For a long time Egypt has been seeking to obtain the Nefertiti bust, a three-thousand-year-old portrait of the ancient Egyptian queen, from Berlin. Zahi Hawwas, head of the Egyptian antiquities administration, is spearheading the move to bring the world-famous face home. But in the same radio interview in which he announced the planned opening of the museum in Alexandria, the director of the Egyptian Museum in Berlin rejected this request for safety reasons.

Apparently it is safe enough for for western art to travel to Egypt, but for Egyptian cultural heritage to come home different rules are still applied.

Go to website Egyptian Museum Berlin
Go to website Egyptian Museum Cairo
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At the invitation of the Museum With No Frontiers, 14 countries from around the Mediterranean and the European Union have agreed to collaborate on producing a virtual museum on the Internet that explores Islamic art and material culture in the Mediterranean region. Although the Islamic world and its artistic traditions stretch from Kashghar in China to Dakar in Senegal, this project is focusing on the countries surrounding the Mediterranean basin to tell the story of Islamic art.

Read article (Alarab, April 21, 2007)
Go to website Discover Islamic Art