ALGIERS-President of the Republic Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Thursday officially inaugurated the Opera of Algiers, located in the municipality of Ouled Fayet.
This cultural infrastructure will be named after late Boualem Bessaih, former diplomat and Minister of State, special adviser and personal representative of the Republic, who passed away on 28 July.
China donated this Opera (worth €30 million) to Algeria on the occasion of Bouteflika’s visit to the country in 2006. The foundation stone of this Opera was laid in 2012.
Stretching over an area of 35,000 m², the Opera of Algiers includes an auditorium with a capacity of 1,400 seats, rehearsal rooms, stage and audiovisual equipment, technical workshops and various reception areas.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by President of the Council of the Nation (Upper House of Parliament) Abdelkader Bensalah, President of the People’s National Assembly (Lower House), Premier Abdelmalek Sellal, members of the Government, artists and Bessaih’s family.
Former Indonesia’s President Megawati Sukarnoputri, who is on a friendship visit to Algeria, also took part in the inauguration ceremony.
President Bouteflika first unveiled the inauguration plate at the main entrance of the Opera and visited various rooms of this cultural infrastructure.
The Head of State visited several rooms of this Opera, including an auditorium with a capacity of 1,400 seats, rehearsal rooms, stage and audiovisual equipment, technical workshops and various reception areas.
Born in 1930 in the province of El Bayadh (700-km southwest of Algiers), Boualem Bessaih, a statesman and a man of letter, was a national liberation war (1954-1962) veteran, who held several political and diplomatic positions.
The late Bessaih was the author of many literary and historical books, including one about the founder of the Algerian modern State, Emir Abdelkader.
Source: President Bouteflika inaugurates Opera of Algiers
