CAIRO: A rising star of Egyptian music is using her songs to highlight and attract tourists to the country’s myriad archaeological wonders, antiquities and landscapes.
Christina Karam’s “Egypt Deserves” initiative helps promote the country through songs in Arabic, Spanish, English and even ancient Egyptian.
“I use singing as a way to express the greatness of Egyptian monuments and antiquities,” she told Arab News. “I sing in these languages, and I wish I could sing in more to reach more people.
“Egypt deserves the best, including the promotion of its archaeological and tourist attractions. It really deserves more. Its antiquities are worth seeing.”
The initiative has gained backing from tourism officials. “They sometimes provide me with assistance in order to properly produce songs,” said Karam, who also works as a specialist for the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
“My goal is to sing and describe every area in Umm Al-Dunya,” she said, referencing an Arabic phrase meaning “mother of the world, which is used to describe Egypt’s achievements over its thousands of years of history.
Karam’s “Song of Isis” became famous after a ceremony held in April 2021 when the mummies of 18 ancient Egyptian kings and four queens were transported from the Egypt Museum in Tahrir Square along the Nile to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, south of the capital.
Karam used her academic background in tourism to learn a lot about history and antiquities. She told Arab News: “I excelled in my studies, and I worked in academia for a short period.
“I was then appointed to an institution concerned with tourism, and this is what qualified me to be part of the promotion system for tourism in my country.”
Karam released the song “Sweet and Authentic” a few days ago which focuses on Aswan’s landmarks, including the Philae Temple, the Nile Museum and Abu Simbel.
The lyrics of the song say: “Sweet and beautiful … O people of Aswan. My beautiful country is everywhere. Southern sugar and Nubian art.”
Nasr Awad wrote the lyrics, Michael Ayad composed the music and Ahmed Salama directed the clip. The distributor was Kero.
“Before my song about Aswan, I sang a special song for Hurghada,” said Karam.
She said she hoped to sing about all of Egypt’s cities.
“I live in Hurghada Governorate, but I roam all over Egypt, as it is my love,” she said.
The singer is working as a tourism specialist in the office of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in the Red Sea region.
“I perform many concerts to promote tourism, the latest of which was held in the Roman Theater in Alexandria.”