Today marks the 51st anniversary of the death of Egypt’s legendary singer, Umm Kulthum.
Over the past year, Egypt hosted several events to commemorate the jubilee of the Planet of the East’s passing, beginning on 3 February 2025.
Last February, Egyptian Chronicles paid a visit to her small yet remarkably rich museum, which chronicles her life and legacy.
This year, I’m sharing another quick visit—this time to a special exhibition held in her honor by Egypt’s Ministry of Culture at Aisha Fahmy Palace, the Centre of Arts in Cairo’s Zamalek.
Titled “The Voice of Egypt,” the exhibition lived up to its name: Thuma truly was the voice of Egypt.
Held at Aisha Fahmy Palace from August through November 2025, the exhibition proved to be a major success.
I visited it in October.
The exhibition included many things. "Spoiler: Keep reading and scroll down the post—the best is yet to come, and the true gems of the exhibition are just below. Make sure to read to the end."
It featured a selection of Umm Kulthum’s personal belongings, on loan from her museum on Al-Manial Island, including her notebook, pen, gloves, and sunglasses.
The display also featured a pair of her shoes with a matching bag.
There were also dresses lent from the museum, which were not on display when I visited it earlier.
Like that amazing black dress with beautiful embroidery.
And that white ensemble
As well as that black dress or coat.
Thuma used to wear black coats over her haute couture concert dresses to keep warm.
I know I saw her wearing them, but I can’t recall where.
Unfortunately, the exhibit did not provide any details—like the museum—about which concerts she wore those dresses at.
Aside from Thuma’s fashion, the exhibit also displayed her Suprahon portable record player, made in Czechoslovakia, mostly between 1962 and 1966.
The exhibit also featured her Zenith Trans-Oceanic radio, one of the most iconic shortwave radios ever made.
US-made models from the 1950s–60s, like this one, were prized for their ability to receive broadcasts from around the world.
This exact model, the Zenith Trans-Oceanic B600, was produced in 1962 and came with an earphone
For the record, some of the exhibits from newspapers and invitations, I have not seen them at the Museum.
Like for instance; the official programme of the Egyptian royal ball held on 29 July 1945 at Ras El-Tine Palace, including Umm Kulthum, where she sang "Yalli Gafak el-manam".
Umm Kulthum sang one of her early songs, “Yalli Gafak el-Manam” (Arabic: يا اللي غفك المنام), which translates to "O You, Whom Sleep Has Forsaken".
The song, released in 1931, features lyrics by the renowned poet Ahmed Rami, who was Umm Kulthum’s longtime collaborator and devoted admirer—she was often considered his muse.
The music was composed by the underrated yet brilliant composer and her veteran oud player, Mohamed El Qasabgi.
There was a section in the “Thank You Letters” highlighting honours from Egypt’s Presidents Gamal Abdel Nasser and Anwar Sadat, recognizing Umm Kulthum’s career as well as her support for the military.
Here is a thank-you letter from then-Prime Minister Gamal Abdel Nasser to Umm Kulthum in October 1955, acknowledging her donation of LE 1,000 to support the arming of the Egyptian army.
To put this in perspective, LE 1,000 in 1955 likely represents the same purchasing power as somewhere between LE 650,000 and over LE 1,000,000 in 2026, depending on the inflation series and assumptions used.
I double-checked both ChatGPT and Gemini to make sure — the numbers are truly wild!
Additionally, here is a presidential decree from Nasser in December 1965 awarding Umm Kulthum the Order of the Republic, Egypt’s second-highest honour after the Order of the Nile, which she had also received earlier in August of the same year during the celebration of Egypt’s Science Day.
There is also the famous thank-you letter from President Anwar Sadat in November 1973, recognizing Umm Kulthum’s donations and contributions to Egypt during and before the October War of 1973.
To recall Thuma’s significant efforts in supporting Egypt after the 1967 defeat, here is a full-page report from Al-Ahram newspaper dated 26 July 1969, covering that year’s Baalbek International Festival in Lebanon, where Umm Kulthum gave two concerts at the Temple of Jupiter on 12 and 14 July.
Baalbek was the fifth stop on Thuma’s epic world tour in support of Egypt and its military efforts.
The landmark event was covered by the renowned Egyptian journalist and writer Ahmed Bahgat.
Here is a rare concert recording of Thuma performing Amal Hayaty from the Baalbek Festival concert on 14 July 1968.
Amal Hayaty was the third major hit from her landmark collaboration with Ahmed Shafik Kamel and Mohamed Abdel Wahab—following Enta Omri and Seret El Hob—and was first released in 1965.
In January 1970, AKhar Saa magazine published a serialized feature based on Umm Kulthum’s memories, written by journalist Ali Amin from his interviews with her and illustrated by the renowned Egyptian painter and illustrator Hussein Bikar.
Shown here are a couple of panels from the series depicting Umm Kulthum as a young girl.
Umm Kulthum was a close friend of the Amin brothers, particularly Mostafa Amin. She also donated a substantial sum—18,000 Egyptian pounds at the time—to help establish Akhbar Al-Youm, founded by the Amin brothers.
There is also a brief report from Al-Akhbar newspaper dated 10 February 1970, which gives you a hint about Umm Kulthum’s military efforts fundraising inside Egypt too.
According to the report, Umm Kulthum donated LE12,000 to the Minister of Social Affairs, Hafiz Badawy, to support families displaced from Suez Canal cities following the Israeli attacks during the 1967 Six-Day War.
This sum represented the third instalment of funds she personally spearheaded for victims of Israeli occupation, featuring significant contributions from prominent figures and institutions.
The total included LE 5,000 from Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan of the Aga Khan family, the renowned, long-serving United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), who played a pivotal and unforgettable role in saving the Nubian monuments during the construction of the Aswan High Dam. Thuma also contributed to that campaign.
The donations further included LE 2,000 from Dr Zaki Hashem, and LE 1,000 each from Prince Duaij Salman Al-Sabah of Kuwait, the Heliopolis Sporting Club, the Central Bank of Egypt, and the Cinema Institution.
According to the report, Umm Kulthum—after being praised and thanked by Minister Hafiz Badawy for her efforts—humbly stated that she deserved no recognition for performing her part in a collective national duty, emphasizing that supporting those who bore the brunt of the occupation was the least one could do to share in their sacrifice and alleviate their burden.
In total, Umm Kulthum collected approximately LE 3 million (roughly $2.53 million USD at the time) for the state.
To put this in perspective, some modern estimates place the equivalent value at over LE 2 billion today, according to both ChatGPT and Gemini.
We also have records of other honours, including city keys and an honorary plaque that Thuma received.
Egyptian press coverage of Umm Kulthum’s death after a prolonged illness, largely kept hidden from the public, in February 1975, as reported by major newspapers such as Al-Ahram, was displayed in the special exhibit, too.
On the front page of its 5 February 1975 issue, Al-Ahram estimated that one million citizens took part in Umm Kulthum’s official public funeral.
Also included in the exhibit is coverage from Al-Gumhouria.
To this date, no other woman had an official public funeral with that number of mourners.
A year later, in 1976, the first edition of Umm Kulthum’s biography by the renowned Egyptian writer and thinker Nemat Ahmed Fouad was published.
A bestseller, the book was reissued in six editions.
Now to the best part of the special exhibition: Thuma as seen through the eyes of Egypt’s contemporary artists from different generations.
According to Egypt’s Ministry of Culture, 29 Egyptian artists—spanning several generations, including pioneers—participated in the exhibition.
I’ll begin with the Umm Kulthum statue displayed in the palace’s main hall.
This is one of two statues created for the 2025 exhibition by Egyptian sculptor Tarek El-Komy, the current head of Egypt’s Syndicate of Fine Artists.
The second statue was placed in the palace garden, though unfortunately, I did not photograph it.
A devoted admirer of Thuma, El-Komy is already well known for his Umm Kulthum statue in Umm Kulthum Square in Al-Mansoura, the capital of Dakahlia—Umm Kulthum’s home governorate.
And from El-Komy in 2025 to El-Sagini in the 1960s.
Yes, this is an Um Kulthum statue by legendary Egyptian sculptor and painter Gamal El-Sagini.
It is one of the exhibition’s most striking works is in which El-Sagini succeeds in capturing a moment of the “Planet of the East” fully immersed in her tender, deeply affecting singing.
The statue’s structural design—dominated by geometric forms, particularly the pyramid—conveys the singer’s grandeur, presenting her as another pyramid of Egypt.
El-Saggini’s statue was positioned between two paintings created in 2025 specifically for the exhibition.
The first, depicting Umm Kulthum, is by Egyptian painter Ibrahim Khatab.
While the second—featuring a young Umm Kulthum in the 1920s—is by Egyptian painter Mahmoud Hamdy.
From El-Sagini, Khatab, and Hamdy to Bahgoury, the exhibition traces multiple artistic generations.
It includes three works by Egyptian painter George Bahgoury—two paintings and a statue.
Bahgoury alone produced more than 200 works featuring Thuma, in both sculpture and painting, making her a recurring and central theme in his work.
There is also a beautiful and rare painting depicting Umm Kulthum in concert with her band by the renowned yet underrated artist Seif Wanly.
I have not been able to determine exactly when Wanly painted it, though it most likely dates to the 1960s.
It feels like a legend portraying a legend.
Yes, some might say it looks like “Umm Kulthum by Tim Burton,” but that’s simply Seif Wanly being Seif Wanly.
Turning to contemporary artists, this beautiful painting merges ancient Egyptian art and belief with the figure of Umm Kulthum.
The artwork by an Egyptian visual artist Khaled Hafez depicts Umm Kulthum protected by the ancient Egyptian sky goddess Nut, shown in her iconic Milky Way posture as she shelters Thuma in the realm of the dead.
In ancient Egyptian mythology, Nut was believed to protect the deceased in the afterlife.
Ancient Egyptian mythology is also drawn upon in a painting featuring Thuma by visual artist Ali Said.
In the work, Umm Kulthum is depicted wearing the dress she wore at her concert at Kasr Al-Nil Theatre in Cairo on 7 July 1956, singing into a microphone shaped like the Egyptian blue lotus—more precisely, the Nile lily.
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| Thuma, in her 1956 concert in 1956 by Howard Sochurek for Life Magazine |
The background blends imagery of the Nile with an ancient Egyptian lotus boat, while also portraying Thuma’s devoted audience in a trance-like state during that historic concert.
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| Thuma's hardcore fans attending her concerts live in their trance |
The statue beside the painting is by visual artist Mohamed Banawy, featuring Umm Kulthum in the famous dress she wore in her concert on 5 December 1968 where she sang for the first time (Hazehi Laylaty) in Khartoum.
(Hazehi Laylaty) was written by Lebanese Poet George Jordac and composed by Mohamed Abdel Wahab.
The exhibition also featured a bust of Thuma by Egyptian artist Ahmed Abdel Aziz.
The true jewel—and surprise—of the exhibition, at least for me, was the original painting of Umm Kulthum by painter Salah Taher, a legend in his own field.
Once again, a legend paints a legend.
Thuma commissioned Taher in 1959 to create two works: one formal portrait and another painting.
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| Salah Taher painted Thuma in 1959. I restored the photo via Gemini |
I find the latter far more compelling—more alive than the portrait, capturing something of her spirit.
I had assumed the painting had been sold by her family, but I was mistaken; it was generously lent to the exhibition.
Of course, I can’t speak about the tributes to Umm Kulthum in 2025 without mentioning her biopic El-Sett (The Lady), starring Mona Zaki—and the controversy surrounding it.
Released in December, the film is an Egyptian–Saudi co-production with a reported budget exceeding USD 8 million, a star-studded cast, and an extensive press tour.
It is directed by the highly acclaimed Marwan Hamed and written by bestselling thriller novelist Ahmed Mourad.
Aside from the facts, the truth is that we did not need a Umm Kulthum biopic.
Mona Zaki, despite her undeniable talent, was miscast. From the moment it was announced that Ahmed Mourad would write the script, it was clear to me that the film would lean more toward fiction than history.
Mourad has stated that he did not want to present the “angelic” image traditionally used by Egyptian drama when portraying national icons, opting instead for a more “human” depiction—one seemingly rooted more in gossip than in documented history.
The film proved deeply polarizing. Some friends praised it as a masterpiece, while others dismissed it as one of the worst productions they had seen.
Many Egyptian critics were openly harsh in their assessments, and a segment of the public viewed the film as an attempt—whether by Turki Al-Sheikh or Saudi producers more broadly—to undermine Egyptian cultural icons and history.
I have not watched the film myself. Knowing that Mourad wrote the script was enough for me to expect a biopic shaped by his trademark “alternative history” lens rather than a faithful portrayal.
Commercially, however, the film has performed respectably. After more than eight weeks in cinemas, it reportedly generated LE 29 million and 456 thousand (approximately USD 626,678), according to Egyptian media. In any case, the producers are likely to offset any losses through Saudi box office returns.
On the other hand—and largely away from the spotlight—a musical dedicated to Umm Kulthum has quietly achieved remarkable success, despite having not even a quarter of El-Set’s marketing budget.
The production, titled “Umm Kulthum… Lost in the Voice of El-Set,” is produced by El-Adl Group and stars a cast of talented young performers who are still largely unknown. Reviews have been overwhelmingly positive, and friends who attended the show described it as a sincere and respectful celebration of Thuma.
There is no doubt that future filmmakers and actors will attempt yet another biopic of Umm Kulthum.
But honestly, if we are speaking of groundbreaking women, many figures in modern Egyptian history also deserve the spotlight.
Ultimately, El-Set has not altered what Umm Kulthum represents to Egypt, to Egyptians, or to the Arab world to this day.
Photos and videos taken by the DJI Pocket 2 and the iPhone 7 Plus.
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