Egyptian child with parasitic twin arrives in Saudi Arabia for possible separation surgery
Parents thank the Saudi Conjoined Twins Program and the Kingdom’s leaders for their help and the care and attention their son has received
The boy was taken to King Abdullah Specialist Children’s Hospital in Riyadh for assessment by a medical team led by Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah
Updated 19 March 2025
Arab News
RIYADH: Mohammed Abdulrahman Juma, a child from Egypt with a parasitic twin, flew with his family to Riyadh on Wednesday for examination by a Saudi medical team to assess whether separation surgery is possible.
It followed directives from King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that the Kingdom help care for the child.
Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, the head of the medical team at King Abdullah Specialist Children’s Hospital, and also an advisor to the Royal Court and Saudi aid agency KSrelief, thanked the Kingdom’s leaders for their support of this humanitarian case. He also acknowledged their backing of the Saudi Conjoined Twins Program, which provides assistance to critical cases worldwide.
Mohammed’s parents said they deeply appreciated the help provided by the program and the Saudi leaders, and the care and attention they have received, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
A parasitic twin, also known as vestigial twin, is an identical twin that stopped developing during gestation but is physically attached to the fully developed twin. Because it is not fully developed, it cannot survive on its own and often dies in the womb or during birth.
Hafez Galley’s exhibition pays tribute to two Egyptian artists who shaped a visual era
Artworks by Attyat Sayed and El Dessouki Fahmi will be on display until Feb. 28
Updated 6 sec ago
Afshan Aziz
JEDDAH: Hafez Gallery in Jeddah has opened an exhibition showcasing the works of influential Egyptian artists Attyat Sayed and El Dessouki Fahmi. The exhibition runs until Feb. 28.
Kenza Zouari, international art fairs manager at the gallery, said the exhibition offers important context for Saudi audiences who are becoming increasingly engaged with Arab art histories.
Artworks by Attyat Sayed and El Dessouki Fahmi will be on display at Hafez Gallery until Feb. 28. (Supplied)
“Attyat Sayed and El Dessouki Fahmi’s decades-long practice in Cairo established foundational models for how artists across the region approach archives, press, and ultimately collective memory,” Zouari told Arab News.
Both artists emerged in an era when newspapers and magazines played a central role in shaping Egypt’s visual culture. Their early work in press illustration “demanded speed, clarity, the ability to distill complex realities into a single, charged image,” the gallery’s website states.
Seeing the works of both artists side-by-side is breathtaking. It’s fascinating to witness how press illustration shaped such profound and lasting artistic voices.
Lina Al-Mutairi, Local art enthusias
Heba El-Moaz, director of artist liaison at Hafez Gallery, said that this is the second time that the exhibition — a posthumous tribute to the artists —has been shown, following its debut in Cairo.
“By placing their works side by side, it highlights how press illustration, often considered ephemeral, became a formative ground for artistic depth, narrative power, and lasting influence, while revealing two distinct yet deeply interconnected artistic paths within modern Egyptian visual culture,” she told Arab News.
Artworks by Attyat Sayed and El Dessouki Fahmi will be on display at Hafez Gallery until Feb. 28. (Supplied)
Sayed’s work evolved from black-and-white illustration into “layered, dynamic compositions that translate lived emotion into physical gesture, echoing an ongoing negotiation between the inner world and its outward form,” the website states. Viewed together, the works of Sayed and Fahmi “reveal two distinct yet deeply interconnected artistic paths that contributed significantly to modern Egyptian visual culture.”
The exhibition “invites visitors into a compelling dialogue between instinct and intellect, emotion and structure, spontaneity and reflection; highlighting how artistic rigor, cultural memory, and sustained creative exploration were transformed into enduring visual languages that continue to resonate beyond their time,” the gallery states.
Lina Al-Mutairi, a Jeddah-based art enthusiast, said: “Seeing the works of both artists side-by-side is breathtaking. It’s fascinating to witness how press illustration shaped such profound and lasting artistic voices. The exhibition really brings their vision and influence to life.”
