A Russian-Egyptian Cultural Dialogue

The Faculty of Arts and Design at Pharos University Alexandria organized a cultural event at the Russian House in Alexandria, chaired by Russian Consul Arseny Matyushenko and moderated by Dr. Hoda El-Saati, Director of Al-Shorouk Newspaper’s Alexandria office and Deputy Head of the Alexandria Journalists’ Syndicate.
The session opened with a keynote by Deputy Consul Nikolai, who outlined scholarship and employment opportunities in Russia, including application criteria and procedures. This was followed by a panel discussion led by Dr. Ahmed Abdullah, Head of the Alexandria Opera House, who shared insights from his career in scenography and artistic performance design.
Dr. Aya Fathy, a lecturer at PUA’s Faculty of Arts and Design, delivered a presentation titled “The Evolution of Russian Design Thinking,” analyzing the symbolic and innovative aspects of the Russian Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai as a bridge for cross-cultural dialogue.
The event concluded with senior students showcasing their sustainability-driven design concepts for a proposed Expo pavilion in Alamein City. Supervised by Dr. Fathy, the projects blended modern technologies with inspiration from Egypt’s ancient heritage, reflecting the university’s commitment to merging tradition with innovation.