Culture and Creativity Award finalists

Aliaa is a passionate Egyptologist who strives to employ creative ways to understand and preserve Egyptian heritage to strengthen her ancestry bond. Ismail runs the Theban Necropolis Preservation Initiative (TNPI), where she trained an Egyptian team from the local community in Luxor on collecting high-precision, three-dimensional surface data from ancient Egyptian tombs. She started with her team in the tomb of Seti I, the largest in the Valley of the Kings. Her work has been internationally recognized; she received the National Geographic Society’s (NSG) Wayfinder Award in 2023, she made it to the PMI’s Future 50 list honouring rising leaders who are transforming the world in 2022, and she was on Apollo Magazine’s 40 Under 40 Arts and Tech list in 2021.

Karim Elshenawy is an award-winning Egyptian director. Over the past few years, Karim has received a number of prestigious awards as best director and best TV series for “Take Care of Zizi”, “Qabeel” and “The Seventh Year’s Itch”. His TV series “Take Care of Zizi” was pivotal in raising awareness of ADHD in Egypt and the Middle East.  Karim believes that his study at the University of London helped him approach filmmaking as a very collaborative process where the role of the director is to empower every cast and crew member and give them ownership of the project. Karim’s work has been critically acclaimed nationally and regionally by audiences and critics.

Norhan is the Founder and Creative Director of the slow fashion brand Saqhoute. Coming from a family of architects, creatives and academics in Arabic and Islamic Architecture and Literature, made celebrating Egyptian culture and heritage part of her identity. Norhan’s master’s degree from the University of London was instrumental in helping her build Saqhoute. During her time in London, she worked with the renowned brand Ashley Isham in London Fashion Week, a unique opportunity to access the London fashion scene. Norhan is applying what she learned to her work alongside several initiatives to grow the sustainable fashion sector through education, collaboration and developing Egyptian handicrafts.