Arabs & Arabian Records Aggregator. Chronicler. Milestones of the 25 Countries of the Arabic Speaking World (official / co-official). AGCC. MENA. Global. Ist's to Top 10's. Records. Read & Enjoy./ www.arabianrecords.org
“Tears in my eyes as I listen to the last broadcast by BBC Arabic, closing down after 85 years. It meant so much to so many people here over the decades,” tweeted British journalist Jim Muir, Middle East correspondent for the BBC News, “Now the airwaves are dead. End of an era.”
BBC’s Arabic radio service officially ended its decades-long broadcast on Friday, leaving behind a legacy that many believe to be everlasting.
The station launched in early 1938 as the BBC Empire Service’s first foreign language radio broadcast.
“BBC Arabic will always be a beautiful picture from the good old days; its professionalism a great education and its stars exceptional mentors and examples to follow,” journalist Eyad Abu Chakra told Arab News.
He added that the radio station was his father’s favorite. “Despite his reservations on some of its political coverage and views, he always admired its professionalism, informative program, and high caliber presenters,” he added.
“I grew up admiring several names, whom I was later honored to meet and befriend after settling in London in the fall of 1978,” Abu Chakra continued, “the Bush House canteen was one of my favorite meeting places in the late 1970s. It took me short walks from my Asharq Al-Awsat office in Gough Square and, later, High Holborn, to Bush House, where I enjoyed the hospitality of the BBC giants of the day.”
“To name just a few of my BBC dearest friends, departed and alive, there were the greats Musa Beshuti, Akram Saleh, Hassan Al Karmi, Nadim Nasser & Madiha AlMadfa’i, Majed Serhan, Huda Al-Rasheed and many others.”
Many journalists and public figures took to Twitter to express grief and share fond memories of BBC’s Arabic radio station. Some believed the event marked a decline in the United Kingdom’s soft power while others recalled their days at the studios.
“It’s far beyond sad and painful to see BBC Arabic radio shutting down today,” wrote Egypt-based BBC Arabic correspondent Sally Nabil on Twitter.
“It’s incredibly difficult to describe how we feel!” She added.
Amal Mudallali, former permanent representative of Lebanon to the UN, said: “As someone who worked for the BBC Arabic, I do not understand the decision.
“It is the only thing people know and remember about Britania, as we call it, in the region for generations.”
The final words and signature statement of BBC Arabic radio presenter Mahmoud Almossallami, “Huna London” (This is London), seems to have brought tears to many eyes.
Almousallami’s daughter, Osha, wrote: “I grew up listening to my dad presenting on BBC Arabic, and now here he is, presenting the final hour of BBC Arabic before it’s closed and taken off the air.
“It really is the end of an era.”
The head of David Nott Foundation, Elly Nott, wrote: “Huna London no more,” hailing BBC Arabic radio for helping her to learn its language.
BBC News Lead Technical Operator Jack Mooney shared a footage showing the last moments as the Arabic news network went off the air, while sound producer Tome Roles wrote: “I’ll always treasure the magic of sitting in a tiny studio at 3 am in London, picturing the sun rising thousands of miles away, and wondering about the lives of those tuning in.”
“It’s a painful moment,” wrote photographer Ali Al-Baroodi.
“BBC Arabic was one of few windows to the world in the time of the economic blockade (in the) 1990s (and) ISIS occupation,” he added, “Iraq was under (a) huge blackout. My father used to stock batteries for his radio in prep for the tough times.”
BBC correspondent Emir Nader shared the last two minutes of the Arabic radio’s final broadcast and wrote: “Today is a tragic day for Arab media… One of many huge losses following cuts in BBC World Service’s budget.”
source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)
___________
The online Arabic service will remain. (BBC/Sourced)
Artists from the Middle East are showcasing their work at an exhibition titled “Perceptible Rhythms/Alternative Temporalitie” in Washington, running until April 28.
Sarah Abu Abdallah
The Saudi artist’s “Fortitude” explores issues of obscurity and value, probing the social and cultural conditions of contemporary Saudi Arabia.
Artists from the Middle East are showcasing their work at an exhibition titled “Perceptible Rhythms/Alternative Temporalitie” in Washington, running until April 28.
The leading Iranian-born artist’s “Study for a Monument” presents bronze-cast reproductions of flora native to modern Iraq whose environment has been decimated by decades of political and ecological turmoil.
Jeddah’s inaugural Islamic Arts Biennale celebrates the legacy of Islamic art in a place close to Makkah, the fountainhead and cradle of Islam.
Saudi Arabia witnessed a historic moment with the opening of the inaugural Islamic Arts Biennale, which presented historic and contemporary works of Islamic art from around the world.
On the evening of Jan. 22, the Western Hajj Terminal at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah was filled with crowds of people waiting in eager anticipation. This was not the usual throng of pilgrims that use the terminal each year to travel to Makkah for the annual Hajj pilgrimage, but one awaiting the beginning of another voyage — a metaphorical one into the realm of Islamic art through the first-ever Islamic Arts Biennale hosted by the Kingdom.
The crowd gathered under the impressive canopies of the Hajj Terminal, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, which won the 1983 Aga Khan Award for Architecture.
The biennial event, which includes many newly-commissioned and never-before-seen works of art, marked a historic moment not just for Saudi Arabia and the Diriyah Biennale Foundation that staged the event, but for the legacy of Islamic art, which has witnessed hardly any large-scale international exhibitions since the 1976 World of Islam Festival in London.
Jeddah’s inaugural Islamic Arts Biennale celebrates the legacy of Islamic art in a place close to Makkah, the fountainhead and cradle of Islam, while forging a dialogue between the past, present and future through contemporary artworks by 60 established and emerging artists from Saudi Arabia and around the world, and with over 60 new commissions and 280 historical artifacts.
The effect is illuminating, mystical and enlightening in that this biennial, like its theme “Awwal Bait” which means “First House” in Arabic, celebrates the beauty and heritage of Islamic art in the birthplace of Islam.
“The Islamic Biennale, staged in this location at the Western Hajj Terminal, has meaning and anticipation for the future,” Saad Alrashid, a leading Saudi scholar, archaeologist and one of the curators of the event, told Arab News.
“Jeddah is the gate of the Haramain and has a deep history. There is an accumulation of strata of civilization in Saudi Arabia and throughout the ages this area was the crossroads of civilization between East and West and up to the North. Staging the Islamic Biennale here presents to the world the idea of connection between all Muslims and everybody that comes and goes from Saudi Arabia geographically, historically and politically.”
In the same vein, the theme “Awwal Bait” explores how the Holy Kaaba in Makkah and the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah aim to inspire Muslims both culturally and metaphysically to explore their sense of belonging and ponder the definition of home.
“At its core, the Biennale is about giving contemporary objects a home by giving them a lineage and giving historic objects a home by giving them a future,” Sumayya Vally, artistic director of the Biennale, told Arab News.
“Seeing the Biennale come to life through the voices and perspectives of our artists has been profound,” she added. “Each of them has boldly and sensitively taken on the opportunity of this platform to contribute to an emerging discourse on Islamic arts that we hope will continue.”
Staging the Islamic Arts Biennale was the result of a global effort. More than 18 local and international institutions, including the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques, alongside artifacts loaned by other prestigious international institutions with an interest in Islamic Arts, such as Benaki Museum in Athens, the History of Science Museum at the University of Oxford, the Louvre in Paris and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
The Biennale was curated by a multi-disciplinary group of specialists, including Omniya Abdel Barr, an Egyptian architect and Barakat Trust Fellow at the V&A, and Julian Raby, director emeritus of the National Museum of Asian Art at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.
“It was challenging to find objects that have survived that were made in Makkah and Madinah,” said Abdel Barr to Arab News. “We searched within collections to see how we could create a conversation between historic objects while also keeping in mind the contemporary context and this was the most interesting part.”
Regionally, the Diriyah Biennale Foundation has secured loans for the exhibition from institutions such as the King Abdulaziz Library, the National Museum, King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies and King Saud University — all in Riyadh — and Makkah’s Museum of Antiquities and Heritage, the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques and Umm Al-Qura University. From the wider region, works have been loaned from the Al-Sabah Collection and Dar Al-Athar Al-Islamiyyah in Kuwait, the Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo, and the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, among others.
The viewing experience is mystical, like a pilgrimage in itself. It begins in darkness with American Lebanese artist Joseph Namy’s commission “Cosmic Breath” presenting recorded calls to prayer from countries around the world played together, working as if in unison with the installation across the room by Saudi artist Nora Alissa, titled “Epiphamania: The First Light,” which depicts various black and white shots of pilgrims around the Kaaba shot impressively from beneath her abaya. Nearby is an Islamic astrolabe that is positioned towards Makkah. The trio of works mark the first example in the carefully curated show, demonstrating the dialogue generated from historic and contemporary Islamic works of art.
The structure of the Biennale is divided into four galleries and two pavilions that house artworks regarding daily Islamic rituals and Hajj. These sections intend to evoke both personal and collective emotions about the spiritual life of Muslims around the world.
Large-scale, newly-commissioned works are found outside around the terminal’s expansive and evocative canopies, amid rays of sunlight and views of Jeddah that periodically include airplanes taking off high into the sky. The works outside communicate with nature and the Aga Khan award-winning architecture of the terminal itself.
Outside are also the pavilions of Makkah and Madinah, which present material from the Two Holy Mosques, Masjid Al-Haram and from the Hujra Al-Sharifa in Madinah. The focus here is on the initial journey that the Prophet Mohammad and his followers took from Makkah to Madinah to escape persecution. The objects on display, once again a mixture of historic and contemporary, shed light on the sense of universal belonging that ensues from the Muslim pilgrimage and journey home afterward.
Surrounding the pavilions are works by artists including Dima Srouji, Shahpour Pouyan, Moath Alofi, Reem Al-Faisal, Alia Farid, and Leen Ajlan.
Of note is Bricklab’s architectural installation “Air Pilgrims Accommodation 1958” inspired by Jeddah’s historic Hajj housing, which Vally describes as a site that “gathered people from all over the world to stay in one place — a place for cultural production and trade.”
“The idea emanating from the works outside is for them to generate invitations for gathering, for discussion and exchange,” Vally told Arab News.
This is reflected in Tanzanian artist Lubna Chowdhary’s “The Endless Iftar” which is a 40-meter-long table inspired by rituals of eating and gathering from around the world during Ramadan.
Also positioned outside is “My Place is the Placeless” by Iranian London-based artist Shahpour Pouyan, presenting three large-scale differently colored architectural domes that represent the three major traces in the artist’s DNA after he took a test that revealed his origins go beyond his native Iran to include Scandinavia, Central and South Asia, and the Middle East.
“It’s about human interconnectedness in an effort to break down ethnic labels and identities,” Pouyan explained to Arab News.
Like the other works on show, Pouyan’s work reflects not just on Islamic culture but on its universality, its ability to connect beyond the Middle East and offer a unifying force that goes beyond religion, nationality and culture.
As Alrashid states: “Islam is a communication of knowledge and culture.”
He added: “Since the 2030 Vision we sense that we are more welcoming just like the Makkans in the past welcomed visitors during Hajj.
“We are showing the whole world how they can enjoy Islamic art,” he said. “The Biennale is not just an exhibition or something from the past — it continues through culture, through integration with the multiculturalism of Muslims.”
Perhaps the most powerful theme of the exhibition is the idea of Islam and its art across the ages as a physical and metaphorical unifying element that continues to connect diverse cultures and people throughout the world. It is also a way, as Vally stressed to Arab News, “to define what it means to be Muslim from our own perspective, through our own art and culture to the rest of the world and to show how Islam has the power to unite us all, even non-Muslims, through its history, traditions and spiritual practices.”
source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)
___________
Ka’bah Door made by Shaikh Mahmoud Yousuf Badr for King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud in 1947. (AN Photo by Ali Khamaj)
The opening of this year’s Cairo International Book Fair, set for 25 January, comes against a backdrop of a surge in the demand for historical and other non-fiction offerings, as well as uncertainty over an expected rise in prices.
Publishers have already announced an expected considerable hike in the price of books, no less than 50 percent for some titles and much more for others, which they attribute to the tripling in paper prices in less than six months due to the currency devaluation.
“We want to maximise our reach to as many readers with limited budgets as possible,” said Yehiya Fekri of Al-Maraya. Bigger publishers, including Al-Shorouk, Al-Massraiya Al-Lebananiya and Al-Karma, have promised very big discounts on as many titles as possible and special packages for titles that were put out for the book fairs of the past two years.
However, the pricing issue is no less controversial than that of genre. The domination of fiction during over 20 years, which allowed for many new novelists to make an imprint on the contemporary Egyptian and Arab literature scene, is being challenged.
This year, publishers say there is a growing interest in non-fiction, old and new titles alike.
Abdallah Sakr, director of publishing at Al-Mahroussa argued that the limited number of new titles of some branches of non-fiction, “particularly theory,” and the parallel interest of readers prompted his publishing house to gather, revise and reprint the three volumes of prominent 20th century intellectual Louis Awad, Tarikh alfekr almasry (“History of Egyptian Intellect”).
“Those are three big volumes that we worked on for three consecutive years as they were originally published by different publishers with some considerable intervals,” Sakr said.
Sherif Bakr, of Al-Arabi, said that there is a “definite interest in philosophy.” This is why, he added, Al-Arabi decided to publish Arabic translations of titles like Philosophy and Football and Socrates on Sneakers, which he expects to do very well in this year’s book fair.
“Non-fiction, in general, is making a strong come-back; I think we saw a glimpse of this last year with the first post COVID-19 book fair; but clearly this year our list of publications was designed to allow for a considerable number of non-fiction titles,” said Nora Rashad, director of publishing at Al-Massriya Al-Lebenaniya Publishing House.
They had embraced the domination of fiction over the past two decades. However, she added, this year more than last year, non-fiction is gaining ground. “I am not sure where this is coming from because there has always been some really interesting titles coming up in the non-fiction space but it might be a post pandemic thing with people looking for titles that offers some answers to questions they thought about during the pandemic,” she said.
For this year’s book fair, Al-Massriyah Al-Lebnaniyah is offering several non-fiction titles including Ezzat Al-Kamhawi’s Al-Tahi Yaktol Walkateb Yantaher (“The Cook Kills and the Author Commits Suicide”) which is a literary reflection on life and the works of prominent authors and the legacy of some important cooks.
History is also getting a lot of attention this year. With an introduction from Khaled Azzab, a prominent researcher, Al-Massriyah Al-Lebenaniyah is putting out a new edition of Mohamed Farid’s late 19th century Tarikh Al-Dawla Alaliyah Alothmaniyah (“History of the Sublime Ottoman State”) and an Arabic translation of Stanley Lane Paul’s Saladin and the Fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
However, this passion for history is not just a new development that goes hand-in-hand with this year’s renewed interest in non-fiction. According to several publishing houses, this desire for alternative narratives of history has been going on for well over a decade.
Al-Karma has been on with several reprints of history books. For this year, it is putting out a new edition of Souliman Fayyad’s Al-Wagh Al-Akhar Llkhelafa Al-Islamiyah (“The Other Face of Islamic Khalifat”) that challenges the dominant incomplete narratives of almost strictly prosperous Islamic rule to shed light on the images of coercion and discrimination that some faced under the rule of Muslim Khalifas. Another walk in the history lane comes from Al-Karma with Helmy Al-Namnam’s title Yaom Honein – Qiraa Tarikhiya (A History Take on the Battle of Honein). This books promises to be controversial as it addresses an often marginalised battle that Muslims, under Prophet Muhammad, had to go through in a preemptive tactic.
Al-Shorouk, which had previously dedicated an entire series to modern and contemporary history, is also coming in with the most recent title of Mohamed Aboul-Ghar’s Al-Filaq Al-Masry (“The Egyptian Legion”). Typical of the history volumes written by Aboul-Ghar, this book offers a lengthy research work that documents the forced conscription of Egyptian men from villages all across the country to work with the British army during World War I. It details the incredible socio-economic and political consequences that contributed to the start of the 1919 Revolution that called for the independence of Egypt from the British occupation. In a sense, this book could well be part of the rich set of volumes that Al-Shorouk has been putting out for four consecutive years in a bid to re-visit the 1919 Revolution.
Al-Maraya, too, is going to this year’s book fair with several history titles including Nossous Wakirat Hawl Tarikh Al-Capt from the 10th to the 19th centuries (“Texts and Narratives from the History of Copts: 10th to 19th Centuries”) by Magdi Girgus, who was just awarded a prize from the Swairas Culture Foundation for his book Al-Moalem Ibrahim Al-Gohary (“Master Ibrahim Al-Gohary”) on the life and history of one of the most controversial Coptic figures, which was put out last year by Al-Maraya.
Al-Arabi, for its part, is putting out a series of history books under the title of “Papers from History.” “This project is the labour of years of hard work and it includes some translated titles and some titles written in Arabic,” said Bakr. Of these papers there is Mozakerat Aila Massiyhiya bayn Al-Qahira waRas Ghareb (“Memoires of a Christian Family Between Cairo and Ras Ghareb”) by Iliyah Mahfouz Bashir. The book tracks the history of the family of a man who was born to a Christian family in the 1930s in Ras Gharb, next to the Red Sea, where the father was working for an oil company before he retired and dragged the entire family to Cairo.
Also in history, there is also a wide range of memoires, biographies and letter collections. Al-Karma is putting out part two of its massively successful book Akhi Al-Aziz – Morassalat Hussein and Galal 1961-1989 (“Dear Brother – Correspondence of Hussein and Galal Amin – 1961-1989”). Like the first volume that shared parts of letters exchanged by the Amin brothers, a prominent diplomat and intellectual and a prominent economist and writer, the second volume shares reflections on life, politics and culture that were included in letters that they sent to one another as they lived in Egypt and abroad.
Al-Karma is also putting two books that offers alternative narratives on the lives of two key figures of Egypt’s contemporary non-classic poetry: Salah Jahine, the celebrated figure of this year’s book fair, and Ahmed Fouad Nigm. Mona Kattan – Soura Shakhessiya Lezawgat Shaar (“Mona Katta – A portrait of the Spouse of a Poet”) introduces the second wife of Jahine in a narrative that sheds a lot of light on the prominent poet/cartoonist. Meanwhile, Wenta Al-Sabab ya Baba” (“It is All Because of You, Dad”) is the narrative of Nigm’s daughter Nawara, who shares reflections on the father-daughter relationship and the impact thereof on the life of the daughter.
Meawhile, Al-Shorouk is putting out what promises to be one of the most interesting titles of the book fair, Albert Arie -Mozkerat Yahoudi Masry (“Albert Arie – the Memoires of an Egyptian Jew”). The memoires of Arie, who passed away in the spring of last year at the age of 92, offers an incredible insight on the history of Egyptian Jewry in Egypt before and after the 1948 War, including the national affinity that some, including Arie himself, held to the country. It also offers an image of life in Egypt, specifically in Cairo, where Aries was born and lived all his life.
On Cairo, Al-Shorouk is also putting out its Wassat Albald – Maware Elhekayat (“Downtown – Beyond the Stories”), an essential collection of photos that documents the architectural splendor of Cairo. Meanwhile, Al-Ain is putting out Al-Qahera Waomranha (“The urban History of Cairo”) by Nezar Al-Sayyad, a prominent Egyptian-American architectural historian.
Novels with historical inspirations have also been quite fashionable for the past few years. Following a very successful first novel, Yaacoub (“Jacob”) with Al-Shorouk last year, Afifi is putting out his second take with the same publisher at a historical novel Salam Ala Ibrahim (“Peace Be on Abraham”). Like Jacob – which tells a history mixed with fiction in the life of a prominent but highly controversial Egyptian Coptic figure during the French Expedition – Peace Be on Abraham applies the same technique in recalling the history of Mohamed Ali’s son Ibrahim. For its part, Al-Maraya is offering Magued Wahib’s Alam Yahouzah (“The Pains of Judas”) that mixes fiction with history in the account of Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus.
Other fiction titles that are expected to get considerable attention at this year’s book fair include Ahmed Samir’s second novel Rassail Al-Ganna (“Letters of Heavens”), Mahmoud Abdel-Shakour’s Alwan Aghostos (“The Colours of August”) from Dawwen and Adel Essmat’s Ayyam Adiya (“Ordinary days”) from AlKotobKhan.
Classics still have a big space in the book fair. Al-Massriyah Al-Lebenaniyah is putting out more reprints of the titles by Ihssan Abdel-Koddous, who, according to Rashad, “did really very well in last year’s book fair.” Al-Diwan is also coming up with more of its Naguib Mahfouz editions, Al-Karma is on with its reprints of Khairy Shalaby and Al-Shorouk is on with its reprints of Tawfik Al-Hakim.
However, according to Bakr, the demand now is for very different types of fiction. So, he said, while novels recalling big political events or documenting certain historical eras or reflecting on personal experiences remain in demand, there is also “a firmly growing demand for criminal novels – including detective novels.” The fact that there is a bigger taste for translated books, “and for that matter better quality translations, allowed for many titles of this genre to be published to please the appetite of a considerable audience of readers in Egypt and elsewhere in the Arab world.”
Meanwhile, according to Sakr, comic books are also “picking up really well.”
“In the past five years Al-Mahroussa has put out over 40 titles that have been essentially very well received by young people – aging from 15 to 30, but also younger and older.” For the book fair this year, Sakr said, Al-Mahroussa is putting out three new comics, including Magdi Al-Shafai’s Al-Gassous Al-Engelizi (“The English Spy”) that depicts early elements of the revolt of Egyptians against British Occupation.
There are over 1,000 publishers who are taking part in this year’s book fair, including 44 publishers from Jordan, this year’s guest of honour.
The renowned Egyptian literary critic Salah Fadl, who was 84 years old, passed away yesterday after a battle with illness. He was described by the Arabic Language Academy as a “major figure in Arabic and literature” and “had a march full of dedication and accomplishment as he was a literary critic well-versed in arts of Arabic literature and comparative literature.” To commemorate his long life of accomplishments, we will shed light on some of his greatest achievements throughout his career.
Early Life
Fadl was born in an Egyptian Delta village called Shabas Al Shuhadaa in March 1938 and majored in Arabic language and literature at Cairo University where he graduated in 1962. From 1962 to 1965, he was hired as a researcher at Cairo University. Fadl then sought new horizons away from Egypt as he traveled to Spain on a scholarship to earn a doctorate in literature from the Central University of Madrid.
Life Abroad
During his study period abroad, he taught Arabic literature and translation at the Faculty of Philosophy and Arts at Madrid University from 1968 to 1972. At the same time, he worked with the Supreme Council for Scientific Research in Spain on a project aiming to revive and promote the philosophical legacy of Ibn Rushd (a jurist who wrote on many subjects, including philosophy).
Fadl then returned to Egypt to become a Professor of Literature and Criticism at the Faculty of Arabic Language and Girls College at Al Azhar University. His stay in Egypt didn’t last too long as he then went to Mexico to serve as a visiting Professor at Mexico College for higher studies from 1974 to 1977. There, Fadl established an Arabic language and art department. Additionally, he taught in numerous universities in Egypt and abroad, including Bahrain, Yemen, and Mexico.
Books
The scholar was an exceptional writer who wrote numerous publications in the fields of criticism, comparative literature, theatre, novels, and poetry. Amongst his most famous works was “Medieval Spanish Poetry: A Study and Examples” (1974), “The Realistic Approach in Literary Innovation” (1978), and “Structuralist Theory in Literary Criticism” (1978). Through these publications, Fadl helped enrich Arab literature by producing books that are used as a source of knowledge today.
Just before his death, he applauded the Abu Dhabi Centre for choosing Taha Hussein as the face of the Book Fair while serving as president of the Cairo Academy of the Arabic Language. He explained that this initiative strengthens ties between Egypt and the UAE and their desire to value the two nations’ icons in various spheres of creativity and culture.
Fadl had success in a variety of disciplines before taking on the role of Egypt’s cultural attaché, where he worked to strengthen ties with the countries he visited. His legacy will remain as he contributed to the Arab world through his interesting perspectives and rich knowledge in several fields.
Palestinian Chilean singer Elyanna is set to perform for the first time at Coachella, the popular music festival that is held annually at Indio, California.
The 10-day event will run from April 14 to 23.
Elyanna, who is famous for her songs “Ghareeb Alay,” “Ala Bali” and “Ana Lahale” with Canadian Lebanese singer Massari, will be the first Arab artist to perform on the Coachella stage.
“I am honored and grateful for all the love and support I have received in the past couple days,” she wrote to her 575,000 followers on Instagram. “Last year I attended Coachella, and this year I will be the first Arabic singing artist to perform there. Your wildest dreams will come true, so keep on dreaming! See you in the desert.
“I’m so proud and excited to bring my culture and music to Coachella,” she said in another post.
Elyanna’s celebrity fans, including Massari, Dutch Palestinian supermodel Bella Hadid, US Iraqi beauty mogul Huda Kattan, Egyptian rapper Felukah, Palestinian singer Noel Kharman and Syrian swimmer Yusra Mardini, all took to Instagram to congratulate the star.
Why doesn’t the crocodile fly? : Meet the winners of Sawiris’ 18th Cultural Award, celebrated on 08th January 2023.
The annual event was held at Ewart Memorial Hall of the Tahrir Cultural Center, downtown Cairo.
The event was attended by many cultural and literature figures and artists and included a performance by the popular musical troupe Masar Igbari.
A New Prize
The event kicked off at 7 pm with a short speech by movie star Mahmoud Hemeda, followed by a mini-documentary celebrating 20 years of Sawiris Foundation’s contribution to social development through influencing the lives of about 700,000 people throughout Egypt.
Renowned Doctor and scholar Mohamed Abul-Ghar, member of the award’s board of trustees, introduced a special prize that went to the posthumously released book of late journalist Mohamed Abul-Gheit, titled ” I am Coming, Light”. Prominent writer Mohamed Shoeir, deputy of Akhbar El-Adab magazine, was the one who suggested that the prize go to Abul-Gheit’s book even though it hadn’t been on the list of entries for the competition. Abul-Gheit had been a celebrated journalist who passed away this December after a battle with cancer. The prize, which is worth EPG 150,000, will be given to his wife and child.
Children Books
The prize for Best Children’s book under 12 years old was a tie between writer Ahmed Korany’s book Lemaza La yateer Al Timsah (Why Doesn’t the Crocodile Fly?), illustrated by Nemma Zidan, and writer Ashraf Abul-Yazid’s book Qetati Toalef Ketaba ( My Cat Writes a Book).
Critic and Narrative books
The prize for Best Critic and Narrative writings was also a tie between renowned poet Bahaa Jaheen, for his book Al Molk Wal Malek (The Creation and Creator), and writer Magdy Gergis for his book Al-Moalem Ibrahim Al-Gohary.
Play Script
The first prize for best play script went to playwright Ahmed Nabih for his play Nozhet El-Sindbad fi Dawayer Baghdad (Sinbad’s Voyage in the Circles of Baghdad). The second prize for best play script went to playwright Emad Motawaa for his play Mosiqa Hadiaa (Soft Music).
Screen Play
The prize for Best Screenplay, youth section, went to screenwriter Mohamed Al-Samman for his script Ardioon (Earth People).
The prize for Best Screenplay, older generation, went to screenwriters Ahmed Hawari and Ibrahim Al-Battout for their script Hekayet Risha w Samaka (The Story of a Feather and a Fish)
Best Novel and Short stories
The first prize for best Novel and Short stories, youth section, went to writer Mohamed Sorour for his short stories Thalath Fekhakh le Zeab Awar (Three Traps for a One Eyed Wolf). The second prize for best Novel and Short stories, youth section, went to writer Mohamed El-Barmy for his short stories Lel Mohebein Wal Awghad wa Qotaa Al Toroq ( For the Lovers, the Bastards and the Villains)
The first Prize for best Novel, youth section, went to novelist Sharl Aql for his novel Ahmar Lareng (Larenge Red ).
The second Prize for best Novel, youth section, went to novelist Ahmed Ibrahim Ismail for his novel Abu Gamea.
The first prize for Novel and Short stories, older generation, went to novelist Shady Louis for his novel Tarikh Mogaz lel Khalifa wa Sharq Al Qahera (A Brief History of Al Khalifa District and East Cairo). The novelist, however, announced later last night that although grateful for winning such an award, he will give it back.
The second prize for Novel and Short stories, older generation, went to writer Ahmed Abdel-Latif for his short stories The Kingdom of Mark Zuckerberg and his Fictional Birds.
Mawadah Muhtasib, an emerging Saudi artist who reversed the typeface of the Arabic language, is well on her way to becoming a prominent name in the global art scene.
From learning her mother’s technique of writing backward at age 13 to exhibiting in London and New York City, Muhtasib has generated international intrigue in the art of Arabic by creating the first reversed Arabic calligraphy, or calligraffiti, typeface.
Her messages are not only meant to be read, but are also designed to be deciphered. Engaging her audience with the challenge of decoding letters is a large part of experiencing the artwork itself.
“It’s about expanding your human capabilities into creating the impossible. And this is exactly what I have been trying to do,” she told Arab News in an exclusive interview.
FASTFACT
The Arabic language is one of the richest art forms, the artist says, but in modernity, it is difficult to appreciate the depths of something that has become so ordinary.
Born out of a quest to layer the heritage of Arabic letters with innovative graffiti art methods, her work dares to be the first of its kind, granting her Dubai’s Art Bus competition award and a chance to show her work at exclusive showcases.
As graffiti art surged in popularity in 2013, Muhtasib experimented with mural painting alongside a novel group, hoping to develop a boundaryless form of art.
With a vision to modernize the traditional, she created a decorative typeface that mixed Arabic and Latin, written from left to right.
It’s about expanding your human capabilities into creating the impossible.
Mawadah Muhtasib
Muhtasib said: “We are so used to Arabic calligraphy when it comes to Thuluth calligraphy, Al-Kufi, Al-Naskh, and so on, and we just read that way and pass it on.
“When I’m doing my Arabic calligraphy, people sit and stare at my work for hours trying to figure out what these letters are, and the moment they realize it’s Arabic, they start to analyze and see all these letters in a different form that we as Arabic speakers are not used to.”
The Arabic language is one of the richest art forms, the artist says, but in modernity, it is difficult to appreciate the depths of something that has become so ordinary.
The goal is not only to get the viewer to read but to actively reflect on the beauty and form of each stroke and letter within the alphabet.
Muhtasib now passes on her craft through community workshops exclusively for women, most recently at Saudi’s largest light-based festival, Noor Riyadh.
“In my workshops, I do not teach people to write in reverse … I’m basically giving you the key of how to use the tools of starting to practice in the form of Latin calligraphy,” she said.
As soon as students understand the anatomy of the font family, Muhtasib introduces slanted brushes, layering techniques and stroke pressure. From the first session, students are sent home with a new creative form of expression. “The soul of a person is laid out on a page,” she said.
Writing in reverse is not new; the artist’s mother passed down the habit after having to write backward to maintain privacy at work. Alongside that, she passed down her passion for creative innovation.
While most calligraphers in the Kingdom were mimicking Western methods, Muhtasib, at 16 years old, was inspired and encouraged by Tunisian artist eL Seed and Saudi Moroccan artist Shaker Kashgari.
“I took that trick that my mom taught me years ago on how to write and then I changed it into a decorative typeface,” she said.
The concept was designed to preserve the rich heritage of the Arabic language. For foreigners, it offers a chance to engage in the language and learn its history.
“This is Arabic calligraphy in reverse that I took, improved, adjusted and made into a different form. But viewers will also wonder how it actually looked like (originally) and this will make a lot of people go in-depth and learn more about Arabic calligraphy,” Muhtasib said.
The philosophy behind the Typeform has gained interest from international luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Carolina Herrera, Montblanc, Sephora and more, resulting in several collaborations.
Muhtasib urges creators to push the boundaries of art and culture.
With calligraphy, “your sky’s the limit,” she said.
source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)
____________
Mawadah Muhtasib now passes on her craft through community workshops exclusively for women. (Supplied)
William Mullally picks the best movies by Arab filmmakers over the past year.
‘Perfect Strangers’
Director: Wissam Smayra
Starring: Mona Zaki, Nadine Labaki, Georges Khabbaz
The original Italian version of “Perfect Strangers” had already been remade across the world before its Arabic-language iteration was released on Netflix. But nowhere else has it caused the stir that it did in the Middle East. The conceit is simple: Seven friends at a dinner party decide to play a game, placing their phones in the center of the table to make their calls and messages known to all. As the night goes on, their secrets are revealed, upending everything they thought they knew about each other. Not only was this the best version of the film so far, with pitch-perfect casting and memorable performances, it was also the bravest: each of its stars pushed themselves in ways they had never been able to in regional film previously, shattering taboos, capturing the world’s attention and changing Arab cinema forever.
The highest grossing film in the history of Egyptian cinema, “Kira & El Gin” is Marwan Hamed at his best. This is a crowd-pleasing historical epic that not only captures the spirit of Egypt past and present, but sets a course for a new future for the country’s film industry. Following two men fighting the British occupation in Egypt during the 1919 revolution, Hamed’s film rarely sags despite its nearly three-hour run time and sprawling cast, structured more as a suspense thriller than a social studies lecture. As Hamed jumps from genre to genre across his films, proving equally adept at each, one wonders how he will top this, should he try. But it would be foolish to bet against him as he continues to notch up career high after career high.
‘Boy From Heaven’
Director: Tarik Saleh
Starring: Fares Fares, Tawfeek Barhom, Mohammad Bakri
Egyptian-Swedish filmmaker Tarik Saleh has a bone to pick. Growing up in Europe, he was always labeled as ‘other’ — an idea reinforced in the books in his school library describing Arabs as “stupid” and “uncivilized.” Now firmly entrenched as a filmmaker, Saleh refuses to make films tailored to the Western gaze, turning his camera deep into the inner workings of Egyptian society and forcing international viewers to accept that they are seeing things through eyes that are not their own. In “Boy from Heaven,” Saleh goes deep into a corruption scandal at the influential Al-Azhar Mosque, following a hero whose strong Muslim faith is unrattled as he uncovers the evils hiding from plain sight, with scenes and images you won’t soon forget.
‘The Alleys’
Director: Bassel Ghandour
Starring: Maisa Abd Elhadi, Nadia Omran, Munther Rayahna
In 2014’s “Theeb,” Jordanian writer Bassel Ghandour crafted perhaps the greatest example of the Bedouin Western in cinema history. With “The Alleys,” Ghandour steps into the director’s chair for the first time and turns the streets of Amman into the setting for a modern noir, in which the darkness hiding in the city’s back streets slowly boils to the surface. The film’s sprawling nature is both benefit and detriment, but it’s a stirring snapshot nonetheless, elevated by star-making performances from Maisa Abd Elhadi and Nadia Omran.
‘You Resemble Me’
Director: Dina Amer
Starring: Dina Amer, Mouna Soualem, Lorenza Grimaudo
Filmmaker Dina Amer is most familiar to global audiences for her fearless journalism in 2013’s “The Square” and various Vice News stories she produced as their foreign correspondent from the front lines of regional conflicts. “You Resemble Me” cements her as a filmmaker to watch, as her harrowing experimental recounting of the life of Hasna Ait Boulahcen, the woman miscredited as Europe’s first suicide bomber, is a deeply affecting dissection of the roots of terrorism and the racism that Arab women face in Europe. One of the most original films released this year.
The story of Yusra and Sara Mardini, two sisters from Syria who risked their lives to escape conflict for a better future only for one of them to become an Olympian, is so powerful that a film capturing their story could not help but be inspirational. El-Hosaini, the Welsh-Egyptian filmmaker behind 2012’s excellent “My Brother the Devil,” made it into something more — a thought-provoking reframing of the refugee experience at a time when Syrians and many others still suffer from that stigma, as well as a chronicle of women’s empowerment as the structures that held them back crumble, all told with a light touch that never alienates the huge global viewership the Netflix film has enjoyed.
‘Mediterranean Fever’
Director: Maha Haj
Starring: Amer Hlehel, Ashraf Farha, Anat Hadid
Palestinian cinema is often, understandably, a no-holds-barred dissection of the plight of its people. But that is by no means its only manifestation, as Maha Haj, a previous collaborator with renowned satirist Elia Suleiman, proves with her latest feature, “Mediterranean Fever,” the follow up to her acclaimed 2016 feature “Personal Affairs.” Haj focuses here on smaller human problems, following an aspiring writer who suffers from depression and befriends a small-time crook living next door. At times comedic, the film drifts into dark territory while always keeping its audience guessing. After winning best screenplay at Cannes in 2022, Haj has confirmed herself as one of the region’s most singular voices.
There is no more versatile actor working in Arab cinema today than Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri, who, with Touzani’s “The Blue Caftan,” has capped off a tremendous run of eight films in the last two years, including Farah Nabulsi’s Oscar-nominated “The Present” and Mohammed Diab’s “Amira.” This is perhaps his best performance yet. He plays Halim, a struggling master tailor in Morocco whose life is turned upside down when he and his wife take in a young apprentice. Stealing the strikingly-filmed show, however, is his co-star Lubna Azabal as his wife Mina, who is quietly enduring her own private battle with breast cancer as she and her husband struggle to communicate. With this and 2019’s “Adam,” Touzani is already one of Morocco’s great chroniclers.
‘Raven Song’
Director: Mohamed Al-Salman
Starring: Asem Alawad, Ibrahim Alkhairallah, Abdullah Aljafal
The singular contemporary Gulf filmmaker Mohamed Al-Salman is not making films so that the world may understand Saudi Arabia — he’s making them so that Saudi Arabia may understand itself. “Raven Song,” his debut feature after years of acclaimed shorts, is a stylish jump back to 2002 in the Kingdom, a formative time for both the filmmaker and his country, in which the fight between traditionalism and modernity was so heated that it manifested prominently even in the world of poetry. At times dream-like, “Raven Song” is a film that defies definition, with interpretations likely to roll in for years to come.
She is the Arab world’s greatest living musical icon, but Fayrouz remains an enigma. She retains a sometimes-infuriating aura of mystery, rarely giving interviews and ardently protecting the privacy of her family. On stage she appears devoid of emotion — motionless and expressionless. Those characteristics have themselves become iconic, with Fayrouz’s striking but emotionless features adorning everything from handbags and posters to Beirut’s city walls.
Born Nouhad Haddad in 1934, during the course of her career Fayrouz has recorded hundreds of songs, starred in dozens of musicals and movies, and toured the world. From 1957 onwards, when she first performed at the Baalbeck International Festival, she has become one of the Arab world’s most beloved singers. And in doing so she would unite her often-fractious homeland.
All Lebanese remember the first time they heard Fayrouz. For Tania Saleh, it was during a drive to Syria to escape the beginning of the Lebanese Civil War. She remembers one song in particular — “Roudani Ila Biladi” (Take Me Back To My Homeland).
“That song really marked me,” says Saleh, a singer-songwriter and visual artist. “My mother was crying while she was driving and the song created this really intense emotional moment. And I remember thinking, ‘How can a song affect someone so much? It’s just a song.’ But it affected me, too, in a manner that I didn’t understand back then.”
Fayrouz remained in Lebanon for the entirety of the war and refused to take sides. Although she continued to sing in venues across the world, she did not perform in Lebanon until the conflict was over. This neutrality, and the patriotic nature of many of her songs, meant she was a rare symbol of national unity, with all sides listening to her music throughout the 15 years of civil war. She was, as Saleh says, an “emotional anchor for all Lebanese during the war,” regardless of religion or political beliefs. When she released “Li Beirut“ (arranged and adapted by her son Ziad Rahbani) in 1984, Fayrouz and Beirut became inseparable. More than ever she embodied the very essence of what it meant to be Lebanese.
None of which would have been possible without the music of the Rahbani Brothers. Fayrouz, who was a chorus singer at Radio Lebanon in the early 1950s, met Mansour and Assi Rahbani through the composer Halim El-Roumi in 1951. She went on to marry Assi a few years later and together the trio would revolutionize popular Lebanese music. The Rahbani Brothers fused musical genres, including Levantine folkloric traditions and the music of Latin America, and incorporated both Western and Russian elements into their compositions. It was Fayrouz, however, who gave voice to their musical vision.
Fayrouz sang of an almost mythical Lebanon. She sang of love and desire, but also of an idealized Lebanese mountain village, of olive trees and jasmine, of vineyards and streams. “Lyrically, they created the Lebanon we now love,” says Saleh of the brothers, who followed in the footsteps of writers such as Khalil Gibran and Mikhail Naimy, who helped to forge a romanticized image of Lebanon that many of its citizens still cling to today.
As the Palestinian poet and film director Hind Shoufani notes, Fayrouz represents “the village girl, the stories of love, the fetching of fresh water, the mountain, the resistance, the power of the people; that kind of simple, beautiful daily existence that is in harmony with nature.” As such, her songs have an additional, heartbreaking poignancy, because the Lebanon she sings of bears no resemblance to the Lebanon of today. She sings of a fading dream — one that is shared by much of the Arab world.
That vision was rooted in Lebanon’s golden age, with Fayrouz intimately linked to the formation of a national cultural identity in the years following independence from France. As the acclaimed indie-music producer Zeid Hamdan says, Fayrouz would carry that identity “with elegance and depth like no other singer.”
Fayrouz and the Rahbani Brothers changed popular Arabic music forever. Umm Kulthoum, another icon of the Arab world, sang songs of love that could last for up to an hour and were deeply embedded in the tarab tradition. The songs of Fayrouz and the Rahbani Brothers, however, were far shorter, utilized the Lebanese dialect, and embraced new melodic forms.
“As a musician, I am very inspired by the dialect that Fayrouz sings,” says Hamdan, “arguably best known as one half of the trip-hop duo Soapkills. “It’s not only classical Arabic, it’s often modern Lebanese, and the Rahbanis — from Assi to Ziad — used the Lebanese dialect in a very clever way throughout their repertoire.”
Hamdan was introduced to Fayrouz in the late 1990s by Yasmine Hamdan (no relation), his Soapkills partner. Encouraged by her, he bought a double K7 cassette of Fayrouz’s “Andaloussiyat” and immediately fell in love with three tracks, one of which was “Ya Man Hawa.”
“The lyrics are simply incredible,” he says. “It’s a form of poetry that is several hundred years old called muwashshah and I wish I could do justice to the beauty of the words.” Another was “Yara El Jadayel,” on which, at a certain point, Fayrouz “sings at a very high pitch and very softly, the melody almost whispered on a piano arpeggio”.
It is the wonder and versatility of Fayrouz’s voice that continues to entrance audiences across the world. El-Roumi thought her voice so beautiful that he gave her the nickname Fayrouz (Arabic for turquoise) and went on to become the first person to compose for her.
“Fayrouz has one of the most distinctive voices in the Arab world,” says Egyptian-Belgian singer Natacha Atlas, who has worked with the likes of Peter Gabriel and Nitin Sawhney. “One can always tell that it’s (her) voice. It is as delicate as it is beautiful and strong, and her voice’s ability to (carry) such strong emotions is always extraordinary. She is one of my greatest influences. When I hear her, I often melt in tears at the sheer beauty of her voice and how it also evokes a deep nostalgia in me for the Middle East as it once was, and how everything has changed almost beyond recognition.”
Fayrouz’s fame outside of the Levant can also be traced back to her support of the Palestinian cause. As early as 1957, Fayrouz and the Rahbani Brothers released “Rajioun” (We Will Return), a collection of pro-Palestinian anthems. This was followed in 1967 by the release of “Al-Quds Fil Bal” (Jerusalem In My Heart), and as recently as 2018 she was still dedicating songs to Palestinians killed on Gaza’s border with Israel.
When her husband’s health began to fail in the 1970s, Fayrouz began to collaborate more closely with her son Ziad — the eldest of her four children. One of the albums composed and arranged by him was “Wahdon,” which was released on the Zida record label in 1979 and includes the song “Al Bosta.”
“I cherish and love her experience with Ziad,” says Saleh. “The albums that she did with him took her to jazz and bossa nova and sometimes to funk. This gave Fayrouz another dimension — that of the risk taker. She went out of her comfort zone, and that is very rare.”
This helped to cement her reputation with a younger generation and she continues to evoke a deep sense of nostalgia, not only among the Lebanese, but across the Levant and North Africa. Many Lebanese still start their day listening to Fayrouz’s songs and, despite family disputes over royalties, her controversial performance in Damascus in 2008, and accusations of plagiarism directed at the Rahbani family, her status as a cultural icon endures. When the French President Emmanuel Macron visited Lebanon in 2020, he chose the home of Fayrouz as one of his first ports of call, not those of the country’s political leaders.
“They described this beautiful Lebanon and they made us dream that this is our country, which was actually just a picture they had created,” says Saleh of Fayrouz and the Rahbani Brothers. “We were looking for it: ‘Where is this Lebanon you are talking about guys?’ We were always trying to find it but we never did. But thankfully they did create this image, because the bond that we have with our country is mainly because of them.”
