- Silence

- The exhibition of Alexandria or the Alexandria pavilion is different from the rest

- of the galleries as it starts in the past and goes towards the present. Why the past? As because, since the foundation of Alexandria

- by Alexander the Great, it was conceived to be an open city that accepts the others.

- It is a cosmopolitan city and the greatest place of the Mediterranean that shelter the others,

- what drove to the creation of institutions that helped accepting the others such as the library and university.

- We now have a gallery starting in the past. It starts at the time

- when Alexandria underwent crises, for example at the time when Caesar came and burnt the library,

- or part of the library. We then crossed a closer past,

- at the time of the bombings of Alexandria in 1882, the destruction of the town and its rebuilding,

- as a town is always built again. So we go and dig in the past for the principles of the coexistence and common life,

- as when we see how the city of Alexandria flowed with institutions that contributed to

- the coexistence of the communities…

- And then we find all of this in the exhibition, such as the mix law court and trade places…

- At the same time, we reach at everything that can be found outside Alexandria

- and that imposes their influence outside, in Europe and in Asia,

- such as famines, poverty and political persecutions.

- We will discover the Alexandria that sheltered people and taught them how to coexist in a same place.

- We for instance notice the position of Chatibi,

- we can find that in every community, every religious institution and in cemeteries.

- We discover all those things through the exhibition, and also see through the Second World War,

- even if it took place outside, in Europe. But it had an impact on us and the city of Alexandria. We can for example see how the Germans coexisted with the Italians here

- and with the Egyptians. And we can see how the Greeks made it, the people who emigrated from Alexandria,

- what happened with the Italians

- who were transported to a camp of the region of Fayet

- and if things were back to normal or not. And after all this,

- the emergence of the patriotic movement after the growth of the concept of nationalism,

- followed by the revolution. We will also discover the post revolutionary period.

- Alexandria played a major role

- in the nationalization of the Suez Canal. When he was alive,

- Nasser began nationalizing it from Alexandria,

- precisely from the region of Manchiya,

- what created a major emigration movement of foreigners towards Alexandria.

- It marked the beginning of the crumbling of pluralism. We then come back onto the present history of the city to see the face it has today.

- There certainly are crises, but also crises that are very different from that of the emigration of foreigners in Alexandria and out of Alexandria,

- crises of overpopulating for instance, of absence of heritage conservation, but there is great hope into the rebuilding of Alexandria.

- That is the reason why we must search into the past and get inspired to build the present and the future

- and plan possible forms of coexistence and the role of institutions like the Alexandria library for instance,

- its role in the rebuilding of the city and our part, as Egyptians, in the Mediterranean Basin.

- I quote for instance the role played by the Anna Lindh society that is now located in the library.

- The library will tackle all those things and will express our optimism in spite of all the crises we are now facing.

- We have faith in the people and in the institutions that will give a new life to the Alexandria spirit.