Cairo Opera House has become a new battleground

The Cairo Opera House has become a new battleground between supporters and opponents of Egypt's Islamist president, this time fighting over the direction of the Middle East's oldest music institution. The new culture minister fired the head of the opera house, part of a shake-up he said is aimed at injecting "new blood" across art and culture programmes he says were stagnant and corrupt. But staffers are refusing any other boss to replace Enas Abdel-Dayem. On Tuesday night, they protested outside her office, accusing the minister of bending to pressure from Islamists, and some held a sit in overnight to prevent any replacement from entering. Staffers have also closed the curtain on all performances. For the first time in the opera house's history, the opera Aida - composed by Giuseppe Verdi and debuted to the world in 1871 in Cairo - was cancelled in protest. "We are protesting today to support Egyptian culture, not only for Dr Enas Abdel-Dayem (chairman of Cairo Opera House) or anybody else. We are here today for our heritage and our culture is part of our heritage," said employee Soliman Eissa on Tuesday. Conductor Nayer Nagi vowed the halt would go on until the culture minister, Alaa Abdel-Aziz, is removed. The row has opened a new front in the politically divided country, with performing artists joining a chorus of others who say they are fighting attempts by the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist allies of President Mohammed Morsi to impose their control. Other battles have raged in the judiciary, the education ministry, the agriculture ministry, and the media. Protests have erupted over fears that the Brotherhood has also tried to control the police and the Sunni world's pre-eminent seat of learning, Al-Azhar in Cairo. The Brotherhood, from which Morsi hails, denies trying to monopolise power for itself or other Islamists. But the confrontation illustrates an entrenched problem in reform since autocrat Hosni Mubarak was ousted in 2011 and Islamists rose to power: Many want to see change and reform in government institutions, but some also don't trust the Morsi and the Brotherhood to do it, fearing they will impose a conservative religious agenda that disregards other viewpoints. In the case of the Opera House, those fears were fuelled by comments by an ultraconservative lawmaker in parliament this week. Nour Party member Gamal Hamid called for the abolition of ballet performances in Egypt - which are usually held at the opera house - describing it as "immoral" and "nude art". So far, the culture minister, a professor in film editing who was appointed in a cabinet reshuffle three weeks ago, has not made any attempts to impose any overtly Islamist restrictions on the arts. But his opponents in the ministry fear his shake-up of staff aims to eventually do so. The minister did not respond to calls by The Associated Press seeking comment on Abdel-Dayem's removal. But Abdel-Aziz has said he is trying to clean up the ministry, which is in charge of arts and culture programs, museums and performing arts, after years of stagnation and corruption under Mubarak. Already, he has removed the head of the state book agency and the head of the fine arts department. Speaking to the privately-owned Mehwar TV station after his appointment, Abdel-Aziz said the ministry needs to be overhauled. Abdel-Dayem, who was appointed about 15 months ago, several months before Morsi's election, said she was given no reason for her removal. Though told to vacate her office in 24 hours, Abdel-Dayem returned on Wednesday. She spoke to the AP in her office late on Tuesday as dozens of her supporters held their sit-in outside. "This is a random decision without any reason. I can't explain what is the reason behind it, but as I see it, it is a move to take over Egyptian culture and demolish its identity," she said. Egypt, the Arab world's most populous country, has historically been a cultural powerhouse in the region. Its black and white films from the 1950s and 1960s are still popular across the Middle East and Egyptian singers such as Umm Kalthoum and Abdel-Halim Hafez are household names and remain radio favourites. The first opera house in the region was built under Khedive Ismail in Cairo in 1869 to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal. A century later, the building was destroyed in a fire. Its new incarnation, the Cairo Opera House, was inaugurated in 1988 under Mubarak. The Opera House staff has so far stood in solidarity with Abdel-Dayem. "She has been doing a great job this year and they just want to change her to make the Muslim Brotherhood in control of every position in Egypt, especially the Ministry of Culture, staring from the Ministry of Culture," said musician Maha Sief.