Category: Arts, Culture & Entertainment

MENA: Best Albums Of 2023 (Middle East & North Africa)

The SceneNoise team presents their picks of the 50 best albums released across the MENA region in 2023.

As 2023 comes to a close, the SceneNoise team takes a look at the most prominent albums and EPs released in the MENA region during the year. From pounding post-Shaabi rhythms to free-form Jazz compositions and speaker-rattling Trap and Drill, the year was full of artists taking risks with their sonic identities, as the regional music scene as a whole has begun to embrace change and development when it comes to the styles that shape our sound.

Here are our picks for the top 50 albums and EPs of 2023:

Marwan Moussa – Import / Export

A prominent figure in Egypt’s rap scene and winner of the Best African Rapper award, Marwan Mousa’s 2023 album ‘IMPORT//EXPORT’ delved into two distinct styles. The first half, aptly titled ‘IMPORT’, showcases a fusion of western-influenced trap and drill, while the second half, ‘EXPORT’, embraces the rich sonics of Shaabi music in collaboration with multi-platinum Grammy-nominated producer Khaled Rohaim.

pi01

3Phaz – Ends Meet

3Phaz’s distinctive approach to Egyptian and electronic music in his latest album, “Ends Meet,” has garnered widespread acclaim for its innovative take on deconstructing Shaabi rhythms and Arabic melodies with a blend of traditional sounds from Shaabi and Mahraganat, as well as intersections with Grime, Techno, and Bass-heavy subcultures.

‘Ends Meet’ captures a world that may not be utopian but exudes a sense of liberation and joy through seven percussion-driven compositions, featuring hard-hitting kicks, dynamic rhythmic excursions, and traditional flute-like synth melodies.

pix02

Grande Toto – 27

ElGrandeToto leaves his mark once again on the global music scene with his latest release, ‘27’. The album showcases Toto’s journey from the streets of Casablanca to a sold-out concert at the legendary Olympia in Paris, solidifying his position as the most streamed Arabophone artist on Spotify.

pix03

The Wanton Bishops – Under the Sun

The Wanton Bishops’ album ‘Under the Sun‘ defies genre categorization, encompassing Oriental, Electronic, Blues, Rock and Roll, Psychedelic, Surf, Synth-pop and Dance influences. The album serves as an ode to Beirut, uniting the city’s divided polarity and bridging the gap between the post-war generation and internet millennials.

pix04

Hady Moamer – Zekrayat ElMostabal

Hady Moamer, known under the pseudonym Jean Bleu, has been steadily rising in Egypt’s music scene. After making his mark as both a producer and rapper with the eclectic EP ‘Darbt Bar2‘, Moamer unveiled his second EP, ‘Zekrayat Elmostabal‘ (‘The Memories of The Future’), a captivating collection of tracks that blend Upper Egyptian folklore with modern British sounds, exploring a range of human emotions.

pix05

Pink Seasalt – Out of Luck

Egyptian indie rock band Pink Seasalt took us on a trip with their dreamy and eclectic tunes on their album ‘Out of Luck’. Led by guitarist and songwriter Mahmoud Hafez, the band’s mesmerising live performance at Memphis Records’ Tidal Dream Festival earlier this year showcased their talent and won the hearts of a crowd of fans.

pix06

El Mokh – El Magzar

Egyptian music producer El Mokh, took a new direction to Mahraganat music in his debut album ‘El Magzar.’ Seamlessly blending influences from Lofi, Shaabi, Mahraganat, and Hip-hop, the album features seven tracks that artfully divide into two distinct halves.

pix07

Xander Ghost – Fayadan

Cairo-born, UK-based rapper and producer Xander Ghost’s ten year long career with music has led him to develop a unique blend of electronic music, pop, and rap music that maintains accessibility in his EP ‘Fayadan‘, a fusion of experimental mixes, Synth-Trap beats, and unexpected sounds rarely heard in Arabic rap.

pix08

Noel Kharman – Mouthakerti

Rising to regional notoriety through her viral mash-ups of Arabic classics and modern pop songs, followed by a successful run of original releases, Palestinian artist Noel Kharman finally released her long awaited debut EP ‘Mouthakerti’ (My Diary), where she channels a blend of Arabic Pop influences while tackling love, loss, hope and ambition.

pix09

Taymour Khajah – Barren Land

In music, it’s said that you need to know all the rules before you can break them. On ‘Barren Land’, Kuwaiti multi-instrumentalist, composer, and music producer Taymour Khajah takes this statement to heart as he deftly blurs the lines between technical prowess and rebellious cacophony in his blend of spoken word vocals and free-thinking Jazz instrumentals.

pix10

Dina El Wedidi – Five Seasons

On her latest EP ‘Five Seasons’, Egyptian artist Dina El Wedidi effortlessly laces dense melodic and rhythmic ideas into an accessible fusion of Jazz, Pop, and traditional Arabic music in one of her most intricately arranged releases to date.

pix11

Hamza Namira – Raye2

‘Raye2’ serves as a glimpse into current-day Egyptian Pop music, as the album embraces elements from emerging global trends such as Afrobeats, while still maintaining the quintessential feel-good energy of a Pop record. With artists around the region experimenting with similar sonics, this album stands out for the sheer effort and attention to detail found in its thoughtful production and songwriting.

pix12

Husayn – Switch

After his success with the Egyptian rap group Maadi Town Mafia, Husayn took the opportunity to explore his own personal sound with his album ‘Switch’, where he touches on genres like Pop, EDM, old-school Hip-hop, and Trap, while tying everything together under the concept of making the switch between different personas to interact with different people.

pix13

Muhab – Ya Kahera

Having made a name for himself in the Egyptian rap scene in the last year with the release of two full-length albums, ‘Bye’, and ‘Ya Kahera’, Muhab struck a chord with Rap fans due to some similarities with Egyptian Rap pioneer Marwan Pablo. However, in ‘Ya Kahera’, the artist began developing a sound that he could truly call his own, where he adopts elements of Egyptian Trap and Shaabi instrumentals, while veering further from typical Rap flows and looking more to RnB inspired vocals.

pix 14

Assyouti – The Disintegration of Eric Omelette

Considered a pioneering figure in Cairo’s underground electronic music scene, Egyptian producer Assyouti has established himself over the years through his high-octane releases and unmatched energy. On his latest release ‘The Disintegration of Eric Omelette’, Assyouti outdoes himself yet again with a collection of no-nonsense jungle and his personal spin on breakcore.

pix 15

Saint Levant – From Gaza With Love

After being propelled into the global mainstream with the success of his 2022 single ‘Very Few Friends’, Palestinian artist Saint Levant took on the task of developing his new-found style of sultry trilingual RnB on his sophomore EP ‘From Gaza, with Love’, where he revisits a series of tumultuous love affairs, funnelled through the melodies that shaped his upbringing.

pix 16

Shobee – HOWLS

Moroccan artist Shobee has been consistently rising through the ranks of the kingdom’s rap scene, showcasing smooth flows and an underlying musicality throughout his spontaneous releases. Having released his debut album ‘HOWLS’ earlier this year, the rapper made a point to display his versatile and experimental instrumentals in the concise full-length project, while retaining his low-key energy that he has become highly regarded for.

pix17

Wingii – Magnesto

Much like fellow rapper and Maadi Town Mafia member Husayn, Egyptian rapper Wingii also uses his debut album to explore his own sound with a mix of Jersey Club, Trap, and Drill beats, along with some Alt-rock and piano-based instrumentals in the introspective album named after, and heavily inspired by, the life of his uncle Mangesto.

pix 18

Rasha Nahas – Amrat

Departing from big-band arrangements and opting instead for a more minimalistic pallet, Rasha Nahas’ ‘Amrat’ is a story of two chapters; the first driven by loneliness and alienation, written during the pandemic while suffering a hand injury, and the second driven by a longing for home. In the process of writing the album, Nahas’ injury limited her usual guitar-based workflow, leading her to experiment with new sounds and electronic instruments, marking the album as a transformative point in the artist’s career.

pix 19

Ouella – Yak Labas

‘Yak Labbas’ is a 6-track EP in which Moroccan artist Ouella expresses his longing for his Moroccan heritage. Born and raised in Egypt, Ouella’s experience has been that of feeling like an outsider in either culture, and in this EP, he dives into his constant need to connect with his roots.

pix 20

Maurice Louca & Elephantine – Moonshine

Forming a musical family of sorts while recording the album, Egyptian experimentalist Maurice Louca and the band of free-form Jazz musicians, Elephantine, have developed a close interpersonal connection that sits at the core of ‘Moonshine’. With two drummers, expansive arrangements, and an underlying sense of melancholic expression, the album delivers a sonic experience that is both organic and intoxicating.

pix 21

Tardast – Leave to Remain

Speaking on his struggles as a refugee in the UK, Iranian grime MC Tardast’s Farsi flows, signature production style, and traditional influences give ‘Leave to Remain’ its distinct sound, coined as ‘Farsi Grime’ by the artist himself. In this album, Tardast refines this sound even further as he recounts his growth as an artist in the diaspora.

pix 22

SANAM – Aykathani Malakon

Lebanese free-rock sextet SANAM’s debut album is an otherworldly exploration of spacious textures, poignant poetry, and visceral instrumentation. Having decided to record the album live with no overdubs, the six seasoned musicians’ varied backgrounds blended together in the undirected harmony that arose from their improvisation.

pix 23

Laï – Digital

In her debut EP ‘Digital’, Lebanese singer-songwriter Laï ventures into a dark interpretation of Pop music, full of moody textures and ominous atmospheres, in a style she describes as Anti-pop. The ambitious concept of the album, along with the animated visualizers, present Laï as a digital version of herself, adding to the nuance of emotional exploration found on the release.

pix 24

QOW – EL Mosameh Sherine

By sampling and rearranging some of Sherine Abdel-Wahab’s most memorable ballads, Egyptian producer QOW, also known as Omar El Sadek, takes listeners on an unfolding ambient odyssey, where evolving textures and soft melodies draw listeners into the project’s hypnotic draw.

pix 25

Baskot Lel Baltageyya – Baskot

While listening through this album, you may pick up on elements from genres such as Alternative Rock, Electronica, or Post-shaabi, but when fused together, the sound of ‘Baskot’ defies categorization, as it does not lean too heavily on any one influence. Instead, the album only weaves these familiar elements within the surreal soundscapes that give the album its character, brought to life through Adham Zidan’s experimental compositions and Anwar Dabbour’s uncanny songwriting.

pix 26

ZULI – Komy

While legendary Egyptian producer ZULI’s latest EP ‘Komy’ is full of hard-hitting club bangers, it is only a taste of what the artist has in store for the future, as he explains that the EP is a collection of tracks that have been sitting around for years, with some dating back to as early as 2016 which he wanted to “get out of the way” before releasing his newer material. The EP still stands out as an innovative release, in which the producer looks to collaborators around the region to expand his sonic influence. The producer, along with his collaborators, also made the commendable decision to donate all proceeds to Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP).

pix27

Zenobia – Warriors Never Die

Musical duo Zenobia ventures into the realm of Palestinian folk songs, specifically those associated with women’s melodies. Zenobia carefully selected four emblematic folk songs traditionally sung by women, originally intertwined with moments in everyday life such as weddings, celebrations, and funerals, amplifying the voices of marginalised individuals, becoming a conduit for the narratives of the unheard.

pix 28

Shkoon – Masrahiya

Delving into the Arabic rendition of “theatre” or “a play,” Shkoon’s latest album, ‘Masrahiya,’ explores the intricacies of performances and the masks we wear in our daily existence. ‘Masrahiya’ unfolds as a masterful tapestry within the framework of a three-chaptered album, where themes of tragedy, politics, and irony seamlessly intertwine. The duo characterises their music as a perpetual rebellion against traditional sonic norms, ardently endeavouring to surpass cross-cultural boundaries and reflect on the multifaceted nature of the human condition.

pix29

Mishaal Tamer – The Deep

Mishaal Tamer’s enchanting voice transformed the Saudi singer into the Middle East’s loverboy. Each song on the album casts a spotlight on pivotal moments that have shaped Mishaal’s life and career. The album is a poignant exploration of the artist’s fears and anxieties, and reflects his willingness to confront and share the most intimate chapters of his personal narrative through the medium of music.

pix 30

Lana Lubany – The Holy Land

Palestinian Pop artist Lana Lubany’s ‘The Holy Land’ is an introspective, eight-song musical exposé, examining themes of homeland and belonging. Connecting Western and Middle Eastern sounds, Lana Lubany’s distinct, alluring, and rhythmically bilingual music resonates loudly in her latest release. ‘The Holy Land’ presents the narrative of her personal odyssey from self-loss to self-discovery with each song functioning as a distinct chapter representing negativity, temptation, mental turmoil, reaching a point of no return, and ultimately reclaiming personal strength.

pix 31

El Kontessa – Nos Habet Caramel

El Kontessa’s inaugural album, ‘Nos Habet Caramel’, unites seven sample-rich, rhythm-infused tracks characterised by percussions, impactful vocal hits, synths, and sounds sourced from Cairo’s environments. Seamlessly merging her production skills with DJ expertise, El Kontessa crafts each track into a condensed and dynamic structure reminiscent of a DJ’s set.

pix 32

Tinariwen – Amatssou

‘Amatssou’ is the ninth album by the Tuareg band Tinariwen, with the album’s title meaning “beyond the fear” in Tamasheq, a Berber dialect. The Tuareg band intertwines their trademark winding guitar melodies and mesmerising rhythms with contributions from guest musicians, including Daniel Lanois on pedal steel, piano and strings. The enriched arrangements give the songs a grand and universally resonant quality. Infused with poetic allegory, the lyrics advocate for unity and freedom. Within the songs, themes of struggle and resistance emerge, subtly alluding to recent political turmoil in Mali.

pix 33

Youmna Saba – Wishah

‘Wishah’, which translates to ‘Veil’ in Arabic, is a musical composition composed by Youmna Saba featuring voice, oud, and electronic sounds. Structured into five distinct chapters, the composition unfolds to reveal a process of gradual revelation. Each track peels away layers of constructed emotions and perceptions intricately woven over time, exposing a space that no longer holds existence. “Wishah” serves as a poignant farewell to home, capturing the essence of departure and the transformative experience that accompanies it.

pix 34

TIF – 1.6

Hailing from Algeria, TIF stands as a trailblazer in the burgeoning North African rap scene, seamlessly blending Hip-hop bass with Oriental influences. Often referencing themes of love, emancipation and homeland in his lyrics, TIF is a master in code switching, with his soft vocals offering a fresh approach to rap. ‘1.6’ is a highly awaited follow-up to his standout performance on ‘Houma Sweet Houma’ in 2022.

pix 35

Teen Idle – Nonfiction

In her latest album, ‘Nonfiction,’ New-Jersey-raised Egyptian-born musician Sara Barry explores themes of departure, heartbreak and the challenges of growing up. The album vividly depicts the perpetual process of bidding farewell to childhood and the hardships that accompany adulthood, underscoring our hesitancy to embrace change. Through its 11 tracks, ‘Nonfiction’ skillfully blends indie-rock with bedroom pop, creating a sonic landscape that blurs traditional boundaries.

pix 36

Mayssa Jallad – Marjaa: The Battle of the Hotels

‘Marjaa: The Battle of the Hotels’ is a concept album based on singer-songwriter Mayssa Jallad’s dual expertise in music and urban research. Crafted in collaboration with producer Fadi Tabbal, the music intricately weaves Tabbal’s spatial approach to sound with Jallad’s exploration of Beirut’s Hotel District. The album is a homage to Jallad’s master’s thesis in Historic Preservation, a comprehensive study detailing the history of the Battle of the Hotels that unfolded in the late 70s in Lebanon.

pix 37

Acid Arab – Three

The Franco-Algerian collective Acid Arab’s latest, titled ‘٣ (Trois)’ features ten tracks of compelling dancefloor hits. The album’s sophisticated production and the captivating performances of eight guest vocalists from North Africa, Syria, and Turkey contribute to its diverse and intriguing nature. Acid Arab incorporates Algerian Gasba, Anatolian Trance, Synthetic Dabkeh, and Bionic Raï. With nearly a decade of exploration in various music genres through collaborations and extensive travels across the Mediterranean and beyond, Acid Arab continues to push boundaries.

pix 38

Vargas – I Hate Summer

In his second studio album, Moroccan rapper Vargas ventures into new territories, exploring a fusion of techno, rap, dance, and drill. ‘I Hate Summer’ has a variety of low and high energy tracks which share the same fusion of sounds and genres that are distinct to Vargas’ persona.

pix 39

Hassan AbouAllam – Shalfata

Cairo-based Hassan AbouAllam’s latest dance album is made up of four tracks, plus a remix of each of them from renowned producers and dancefloor masters Zuli, 3Phaz, Trakka, and Joaquin Cornejo. The project is marked by clean mixed drums and distorted sound design and vocals, giving listeners some ear candy within every track.

pix 39

Marwan Pablo – Akher Qet3a Faneya

After another lengthy hiatus, Alexandria-born rapper Marwan Pablo dropped his long-awaited ‘Akher Qet3a Faneya’. The album was mostly produced by Pablo himself, along with a few tracks produced by frequent collaborator Hadi Moamer. Although Pablo didn’t necessarily switch his sound, he introduced new flavours and twists that added to his discography of bouncy production and social commentary-based rhymes, illustrating the dark realities of his personal experiences in society.

pix 40

El Sawareekh – 2oll Ya Rayek

This project illustrates the Mahraganat duo’s originality and consistent efforts to develop their sound. By incorporating numerous elements from genres such as Shaabi, Hip-hop and Pop, they have managed to refresh their influential style in their latest EP.

pix 41

Zaid Zaza – Zaza El Waseem

On his latest album ‘Zaza El Waseem’, Ziad Zaza points to change as his main motivation behind the LP. The Fayoum-born, Cairo-based artist juggles multiple genres on this release, dabbling with EDM, Pop and Mahraganat sonics while also staying true to the Drill sonics that have defined his sound in the past.

pix 42

MOSHTRQ – VA01 MOSHKILA

After establishing a reputation for themselves within Cairo’s underground music scene, MOSHTRQ’s first release as a collective sees them embarking on an exploration largely centred around fast tempos and left-field sonics. From Postdrone’s warped break-beats and vocal chops to Yaseen and Dakn’s tempo shifting hybrid bass banger, it’s safe to say that every MOSHTRQ artist adds their own distinct sound and character to this release.

pix43

Afroto – Belad

Afroto’s five-track EP ‘Belad’ showcases his diversity as an artist as he expands his vocal style within multiple genres ranging from Shaabi, Trap and Electronica. ‘Belad’ also features regional rap stars Ziad Zaza and Marwan Moussa, who amplify the energy of the EP with their electrifying verses.

pix 44

Sabine Salame – Tafi El Daw

Lebanese artist Sabine Salame’s debut album features 10 diverse tracks that take the listener through the different emotional stages of immigration. The album stands out due to its effortless merge of Rap, spoken word and melodic singing. Through the use of dark humour, Sabine is able to translate her personal tragedies of separation and alienation into an overall uplifting experience. The album is a collaboration with fellow Lebanese producer and sound design artist, Jawad Nawfal AKA Munma.

pix 45

Mvndila – HYDR

Straight from the heart of Sudan emerges 23-year-old up-and-coming rapper, singer and songwriter Mvndila who delivers heartfelt testimonies about the emotional toll of being a young man in a modern day Sudan on his latest EP ‘HYDER’. The five-track EP comes with heavyweight production credits boasting names like ‘77, Sammany, Swish, Khayyat, and MarwanOnTheMoon, while covering topics such as depression, love and codependency.

pix 46

Lil Baba – Seif

Known for his influential production style, Lil Baba’s debut EP as a rapper showcases his singing chops, smooth flows and witty wordplay. The release also brings together members of ‘El Mexic’ collective such as Abo El Anwar, Ahmed Santa, and Abyusif, as well as Egyptian hit-maker 3enba to deliver a diverse list of tracks that maintains a consistent vision and sound throughout.

pix 47

Eldab3 – 3awdet Eldab3

Although Eldab3 hasn’t been the most active artist throughout his career, when he does release, he makes sure that he offers a valuable addition to the sound coming out of the region. In ‘3awdet Eldab3’, the artist refines his fusion of Rap, Electronic and Mahraganat to create well-rounded entries that solidify his artistic vision with his most concise collection of tracks to date.

pix 48

Abo El Anwar – Akhro Noor

Prolific Egyptian rapper Abo El Anwar dropped his first full-length album ‘Akhro Noor’ in early 2023. The project features a set of heavy hitting tracks that revolve around Jersey club beats, old school Rap sonics, as well as some emotional RnB tracks. The project also features summer-hit Blanco, featuring Maadi Town Mafia member Husayn, where the pair go back and forth along the track while effortlessly merging their flows and lyrics creating a catchy sing-along that took TikTok by storm.

pix 40

source/content: cairoscene.com (headline edited)

_________

___________________________________

MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA

MOROCCAN-BRITISH: Model Nora Attal is going places but never forgets where she’s from

The London-born aspiring actress has a deep appreciation for her Moroccan heritage – which may explain why migration is an issue so close to her heart.

Nora Attal has the index finger of one manicured hand extended across the bridge of her nose, and the straightest face she can muster in the circumstances.

It started as an attempt to brush aside the fuss made about her eyebrows, which are, according to various beholders, glorious, serious, stunning, bold, thick, enviable and — somewhat at odds — natural and well groomed.

But now the British-Moroccan fashion model is mulling over a new signature look. “Oh, no! They’re just hair on my face,” Attal tells The National, embarrassed and amused by the attention. “I get them from my Dad — he has very bushy eyebrows.

“If I didn’t groom them, they would be a monobrow. Actually, I saw the film Frida yesterday. It was incredible. I think,” she pauses to regard the mocked-up effect in the zoom camera, “I might just do that … grow a monobrow.”

Perhaps such thinking is to be expected after a 48-hour infusion of cultural rebellion. The day before watching the biopic on the hirsute and indomitable Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, Attal was celebrating turning 23 at her first ever music festival near her home in Spain.

There, she was among the crowd asked by flamboyant American rapper and actress Megan Thee Stallion to make a particular gesture of protest to the US Supreme Court for overturning Roe v. Wade.

“Megan Thee Stallion’s my new icon,” Attal, an enthusiastic gesticulator in daily life, says, “but who I look up to evolves all the time.”

She favours strong, not-so-silent types. Michelle Obama, the former first lady of the US, was top for a while for always telling it as it is — “I still respect her a lot” — along with actor, musician and serial disrupter Riz Ahmed and the Arab writer and women’s rights champion Leila Slimani.

“People like this, I love. I really try to take in their energy,” she says.

It’s a fighting spirit that Attal herself embodied recently when Maria Grazia Chiuri, the creative director of the French fashion house Dior, reportedly said that “models don’t represent women … the model is only a girl who passes in front of you”.

Having walked the runway for Dior 20 times since Chiuri took over, an indignant Attal vented on her Instagram stories, posting: ‘And to hear that I’m not a woman … she is very vocal about her feminism narrative, yet so archaic in thinking that models should only be hangers”.

“Coming into adulthood has been quite nice,” she tells The National. “I understand myself more and, because of modelling, I’ve travelled such a long time alone, experienced a lot, and I’ve maybe grown up quicker.

“I’m definitely more confident, like the way I speak to adults in the industry.”

She recalls being a shy, studious little girl, born in London to two Moroccan parents, Charhabil (Charlie) and Bouchra, and growing up on a council estate in Battersea until the family moved to Surrey.

Sport was an outlet, sometimes whether she liked it or not because of her talent for everything from gymnastics, basketball and tennis to golf and representing her county in long-jump.

Saturday mornings in the house were full of music, regularly featuring Michael Jackson, Prince, Stevie Wonder, and Diana Ross, to whose live performance Attal would dance the night away at a star-studded after party in Marrakech a decade later.

The walls of her childhood bedroom were plastered with magazine covers and fashion campaigns, America’s Next Top Model was the programme of choice, and she would doodle clothes on mannequins in English class instead of writing, say, the set essay on Thomas Hardy.

Yet the industry wasn’t one that young Nora easily identified with or conceived of entering, not least because “there weren’t many people who looked like me”.

“I don’t think she would have ever imagined anything like this,” Attal says, her hands making an all-compassing vertical circle in the air. “Ever, ever, ever.”

It wasn’t long, though, before the striking 12-year-old in blue Converse trainers and a hoodie was first spotted while out in a shopping mall.

“My Dad said ‘yeah, no’ when I went to see the agency,” she remembers with a smile, “and I really appreciate that now …

“It’s tough. I don’t think that young girls should be working in such an adult industry, which doesn’t have a union or HR department that you can go to.”

Modelling, it seems, wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Two years later, the British fashion and documentary photographer Jamie Hawkesworth turned up at her high school, casting for a JW Anderson campaign.

Attal subsequently debuted as Anderson’s muse, dubbed “the mystery girl”, and spent the next few years fitting fashion shows and shoots around education, poring over textbooks while waiting at castings or back stage after hair and make-up.

A fortnight before receiving her A-Level results in History, Psychology and Art at Ewell Castle School, the September issue of British Vogue landed in newsagents with Attal on the cover beside Kate Moss, Edie Campbell, Stella Tennant and Jean Campbell.

The avid true-crime fan was offered a place at Greenwich to study criminology but “took a gap year, deferred it and then dropped it”.

“Working in this industry, I can see that almost anything is possible if you put your mind to it,” she says. “I think everyone should know that.

“My family, being Moroccan, would have loved it if I became a doctor or a lawyer or a pharmacist, and had a normal life but you should do what makes you happy — and you will be successful.”

Represented by Viva Model Management, her own success can be measured by the fact that it would be faster to name the exclusive brands, designers, magazines and celebrity photographers that she hasn’t collaborated with than those she has.

Her brown doe-like eyes, long dark hair and slender 5ft 10in figure quickly became a mainstay on the global circuit in an ascent likened to that of Gigi Hadid.

As with Hadid, she has come to treasure her Mena heritage, and an appreciation has deepened over the years for the hardships that her parents overcame as immigrants “for me to get where I am”.

“It is really important for me to remind myself of that,” she says.

It makes her all the more sensitive to the migration issues prevalent in the UK, particularly the controversial policy of deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda. She has just sent an email opposing the plan to her local MP in England, and urged her 71,000 Instagram followers to do the same.

“I think it’s terrible, I really do. My mum has friends from Syria and Iraq. It could be anyone. Even if you don’t have Syrian friends or Iraqi friends, it’s just a basic human right.”

She talks about what it has meant to have been able to incorporate her North African roots into modelling work many times during a vibrant career.

The editor of Vogue Arabia, Manuel Arnaut, described her as “cool, contemporary and a great ambassador of the Arab world” when she graced the December 2017 cover in a Berber ceremonial headpiece.

Among several shoots with the noted American photographer Steven Meisel was one set against the dunes of the Sahara, and she has traversed a catwalk at El Badi Palace in Marrakech.

But perhaps her favourite fashion “story” ever was for a Vogue Italia issue devoted to DNA. The editorial team descended on Attal’s ancestral home in Larache, near Tangier, where she has spent two months every year since she was a toddler.

Her abiding memories of those visits are the aromas of tagine and couscous emanating from the kitchen of her grandmother, Fatna, and forays to the picturesque old town of Chefchaouen in the surrounding hills or along the coastline in search of quiet bays.

This time, though, Fatna lined up in the family living room next to Attal, her brother, Adam, sister, Yesmin, and parents, all dressed top to toe in Chanel for a black and white photo shoot.

“My grandma had never seen anything like it in her life,” she says, fondly. “She thought it was quite strange but was excited. She really loved it.”

More recently, her extended family fronted Ralph Lauren’s holiday campaign for Eid in a video clip that also included Attal’s then fiance, Victor Bastidas, a director and cinematographer 10 years her senior.

The couple met on location at the 16th-century Samode Palace nestled in the ancient Aravalli hills outside Jaipur, but it is all a bit of a blur to Attal now.

What stands out most is being photographed aged 17 by Mario Testino alongside an elephant painted with orange and pink food dye, and embellished in heavy jewellery.

“Arrrgh!,” she says, reliving the excitement and leaning back to show the proximity with her hands. “I shot with an elephant in real life that had to be just here.”

Happily, Bastidas and Attal bonded years later in London over their mutual love for the music written and performed by Thom Yorke for Luca Guadagnino’s supernatural horror film Suspiria, and began dating just before the coronavirus tightened its grip on the world.

Their fairy-tale wedding was held a few months ago at Cortijo San Francisco, a 1,900-square-metre “farmhouse” in Estepona, near Marbella, built as a refuge by the Hollywood actor Stewart Granger who starred in King Solomon’s Mines with Deborah Kerr.

There is a picture from the day of an ornate Mexican fireplace that would have dominated the room until Attal, in strappy skyscraper heels and a breathtaking Lanvin gown, stepped down a narrow passageway into the scene.

The pandemic has marked many other new beginnings for Attal. She did a Run for Heroes in support of the NHS, painted and made lino prints, learnt to cook (pizza, ramen noodles from scratch, a mean carrot cake), and moved to Barcelona for the fresh air and to be closer to nature.

At such a time, it is unsurprising that someone whose favourite poem is William Blake’s Auguries of Innocence — “To see a World in a Grain of Sand. And Heaven in a Wild Flower …” — began to consider the wider picture.

“It was a very big reset. It made me sit down and think about what I wanted to do with my life,” Attal says.

The answer was to act, and she has just graduated from the prestigious Baron Brown Studio in California after two years of studying the Meisner technique over the internet.

Asked if she’s thought much about who she would like to work with, Attal whips out her phone. “Yes, I have lists for everything. A list of directors, of actors, films that I like, references of things.”

For the record, Guadagnino is director number one, leading, in no particular order, Todd Phillips, Pedro Almodovar, Tim Burton, Wes Anderson and the Iranian Asghar Farhadi, “though I don’t speak Farsi, but…,” she says, trailing off hopefully.

Whether theatre or independent film, Attal doesn’t mind. Just having undertaken the training is, she believes, her biggest triumph, which is saying something.

“I’m actually very proud of myself for going back to school, even though it’s on Zoom or it’s not necessarily as heavy as being a doctor.

“I’m doing things that maybe I wouldn’t have done before. I’ve taken the step to tell agents and brands that ‘No, I can’t do that job because I’m studying acting’, and I’m putting my foot down. I think, before, I doubted my abilities, and now I’m like: ‘Yeah, just do it, why not?’”

It is hard not to wonder where Attal’s forthright tendency, fervour and self-determination, so unusual in a young woman in her early 20s, come from.

A clue may lie in a single line buried among the Moroccan press coverage that describes her paternal great-grandfather as a revolutionary, poet and director. The snippet is, it has to be said, uncorroborated, but sounds just about right.

source/content: thenational.ae (headline edited)

___________

pix: Vogue Magazine

_________________________

BRITISH / MOROCCAN

LEBANESE-FRENCH Lina Ghotmeh Awarded Winner of the ‘Great Arab Minds’ (GAM) Awards 2023 in Architecture & Design

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, has announced Prof. Lina Ghotmeh, architect and professor of architecture, as the winner of the first Great Arab Minds (GAM) award in the architecture and design category, in recognition of her timeless contributions to global architecture.

In a tweet published on his official X account, Sheikh Mohammed congratulated Prof. Ghotmeh on winning the first award in this category of GAM, the Arab world’s largest movement launched in 2022 to search for exceptional Arab talents in various fields. Prof. Ghotmeh’s insightful work and research highlight the intimate relationship between architecture and nature.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed said that architecture and architectural landmarks are the foundation of the distinguishing features that set cities and communities apart, and the building blocks of their identities and values, making them easily recognised. He added that they are also timeless tales of the creative outputs of humanity and the rise of civilisations.

Prof. Ghotmeh has a remarkable track record in her field. She has overseen the development of over 65 global architectural projects, including renowned museums, exhibitions and cultural buildings. More specifically, Ghotmeh conducts in-depth analyses of environments and meticulously selects materials that are not only suitable for each setting but also capable of withstanding harsh conditions. Her unique approach ensures that all her projects are evolved and practical outcomes of her research on coexisting with nature and the surrounding environment.

Among Prof. Ghotmeh’s most notable works is a building near the industrial port of Beirut, which survived the 2020 Beirut explosion, having been designed using innovative techniques and select local materials.

www.linaghotmeh.com

source/contents: wam.ae (headline edited)

__________

______________________

FRANCE / LEBANON

ALGERIA: 1970, the year an Algerian Film ‘Z’ Won the Arabs’ only Oscar award

8 years have passed since the Algerian film “Z,” the only Arab film, received an Oscar award for best foreign film and best montage.

In 1970, American actor Clint Eastwood and Claudia Cardinal, the famous Italian actress, announced Algeria’s win.

It was received by Ahmed Rashdi, on behalf of the production department of the National Organization for Algerian Cinema, which produced the film.

The film “Z”, one of the most prominent political films in the history of international cinema, was a joint French-Algerian production, dealing with the assassination of the politician Gregory Lambrax in 1963, and the uprising of youth and students condemning dictatorship and repression.

The story was an adaptation of a book by Greek novelist Vassilis Vassilikos inspired by the events of the coup which took place in Greece in the mid-sixties as the army took control of power.

It focused on the assassination of the of democratic Greek politician Grigoris Lambrakis in 1963, and the uprisings of youth and students angry at his assassination, denouncing dictatorship and repression.

Most of the scenes were filmed in Algeria by director Costa-Gavras in areas similar to the nature of the city of Athens.

French actors including Jean-Louis Trintignant, Yves Montand along with Greek actress Irene Papas, Algerians Hassan Hassani, Sayed Ahmed Akoumi and Alal al-Mohaib were among the actors.

The letter “Z” was chosen as the title of the film, because it represents a symbolic political connotation in the Greek language, meaning “living.”

It was used by political adversaries of the coup in Greece, as they wrote it on the walls of the Greek cities to denounce the politics of repression and the death of Lambrax.

source/content: english.alarabiya.net (headline edited)

__________

“Z” Wins Foreign Language Film: 1970 Oscars

______________

ALGERIA

EGYPTIAN: Mohammed Sadiq Bey – The First Arab Photographer of the Holy Kaaba

Photographers from all over the world compete to capture the most beautiful images of the oldest holy place on earth, hardly anyone in the world has not seen the image of the Kaaba.

Egyptian Mohammed Sadiq Bey, was the first photographer to take pictures of the Kaaba through the lens of a camera; about 138 years ago in 1880 when he went to Mecca.

Sadiq Bey took the earliest pictures on records and wrote four books about his visits to the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque during that period.

Nowadays photographers take pictures of the Kaaba to capture its beautiful gold threaded black silk cover and the Koranic verses that adorn it.

source/content: english.alarabiya.net (headline edited)

___________

The Kaaba photographed in 1880 / pix: wikipedia

pix: en.wikipedia.org / Muhammad Sadiq

________

EGYPT

SUDANESE Photographer Ala Kheir looks to preserve memories of his homeland at a group show in New York

The Khartoum-based photographer’s work has become ‘a nostalgic collection’ of what his city looked like before the current outbreak of violence .

When the Khartoum-based Sudanese photographer Ala Kheir was approached to feature in “Reframing Neglect,” a group show in New York presenting works by African photographers, he had no idea that the exhibition would be staged as his country was plunged into another violent conflict.  

Sudan has been in the throes of political turmoil since authoritarian leader Omar Al-Bashir was overthrown in 2019, but the explosion of violence on April 15 between Sudan’s two warring generals Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan of the Sudanese Armed Forces and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo’s Rapid Support Forces took the world by surprise, including Kheir.  

“Reframing Neglect,” curated by contemporary artist and activist Aïda Muluneh, is focused not on warfare, but on the need to end what are termed “neglected tropical diseases,” which included leprosy, sleeping sickness and river blindness. It showcases works by Kheir and photographers from six other countries in Africa — Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Sudan and Ethiopia.  

Kheir’s works in the exhibition were shot in the Stables Industrial Area, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Khartoum where families fleeing unstable regions have made makeshift homes. It’s also where the majority of the people in Sudan living with NTDs reside. But now, with the violence that has transformed Khartoum into a constant battleground, even they have been forced to find refuge elsewhere. 

Kheir’s work subtly addresses Khartoum’s complexity, as well as the socio-economic issues that shape it, or at least shaped it before the current violence.  

“I work in a way that feels more like seeing,” Kheir explains from his home in Khartoum.  “This city has been my playground for so long. Even though I am from Darfur, Khartoum is where most of my work is. Through my photography I try to document and engage with the city and understand it better. 

“With my camera I’ve been to all parts of the city, all parts of the community,” he adds. “I’ve been photographing projects in the outskirts — in the poor, relatively new neighborhoods — and in the center of the city, where the action is.”  

Through photography, Kheir strives to raise awareness of the community of artists whose lives are now at risk in Khartoum. 

“I try to use photography with the aim of self-reflection, while also enjoying the process and the difficulty of making a simple photograph that delivers a message,” he says.  

Kheir runs The Other Vision, a platform that focuses on photography education and training in Sudan, through which he assists young photographers and connects Sudanese artists to the rest of Africa, as well as engaging with the public to address social issues to bring about change in Sudan. 

“When I look at my photography now and think about the war that is currently taking place in Khartoum, my work has become very important to me,” he tells Arab News. “I keep looking at the photographs I took of the city; they have become a nostalgic collection of what it used to look like. 

“Since I cannot photograph the city now like I did before, I am reviewing the work I have done over the past 10 years and I want to publish a book with these images,” he continues. “Khartoum and Sudan will not be the same after this war.” 

source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)

____________

‘Home is Here,’ one of Sudanese photographer Ala Kheir’s images from the New York group exhibition ‘Reframing Neglected.’ (Supplied)

_________

SUDAN

EGYPT: Huawei XMAGE Awards 2023 Celebrate Regional Photographers. Egypt’s Sadek Khafagy Won 1 of the 17 Best-in-Category Winners

Huawei has announced the 57 winners of the XMAGE Awards 2023. The competition, which spotlights photos taken with Huawei devices, named three grand prize winners, 17 best-in-category winners, 34 runner-up winners, and three honorable mentions.

This year’s winners were selected from more than 600,000 entries received between April 7 and Aug. 15 from participants from nearly 100 countries. After China, the five countries with the highest number of entries were Malaysia, Türkiye, Poland, the Philippines, and the UAE. The most popular phone models used were the P60 Pro, P40 Pro, and Mate 40 Pro.

Out of the 17 best-in-category winners, one hails from Egypt. Sadek Khafagy won the award in the outdoor category for his work titled “Reflection.” His image captures the striking beauty of the unique rock formations of The Wave in Arizona. After a rainy day, water pools in this area reflect the oranges and yellows of the layered rock walls and bright blue sky. Khafagy’s photograph masterfully depicts this vista in perfect symmetry.

Regional talents honored 

A number of photographers from the Middle East and Africa region have won special awards from the Huawei community. The UAE, being one of the countries with the most submissions, bagged 10 out of the 15 MEA XMAGE Awards dolled out in 2023. Their images told rich visual stories from breathtaking landscapes, glistening architecture, and the diverse culture of the UAE. Talented photographers from Saudi Arabia and South Africa also earned special awards. The special awards had gold, silver and bronze winners in several categories ranging from portraits and art and fashion to “Hello Life” and outdoor. 

Gold winners: In the art and fashion category, the image “Art-Chitecture” captures a unique architectural design with excellent composition that almost makes it look like a flower. The portrait “Drying Up” is a monochrome shot of a man drying hotel towels, full of a sense of story. And “Water Drop” in the Hello Life category was a creatively inverted macro shot of a water droplet against a surreally colorful background.

Silver winners: In Hello Life, “Golden Summertime” encapsulated the radiance of summer in a vivid splash of golden sunset colors. The portrait “Behind the Mask” shows an Emirati girl with her eyes conveying deep emotion behind her traditional face mask, a poetic image that celebrates cultural heritage. The joyful “Best Buddies” image depicts the silhouette of children at the beach against the colorful hues of the evening sky, representing the innocence and sincerity of childhood friendship. The expressive portrait “Innocent Beauty” masterfully uses chiaroscuro lighting to accentuate the doe-eyed gaze of a young girl. In the outdoor category, “Skyscrapers” features tiny window cleaners rappelling down the gleaming facade of a soaring skyscraper. This photo contrasts immense architecture with small human figures. 

Bronze winners: The serene “The Kite Runner” captures a solitary young boy silhouetted against a misty dawn sky as he tries to fly his kite. The cinematic “Life Sun” depicts the blazing sun casting dramatic rays through the immense desert landscape of AlUla. Another spectacular shot titled “Kyrgyzstan Postcard View” documents the culmination of a rewarding nine-hour mountain trek, showcasing the cascading valleys and jagged peaks revealing themselves in a breathtaking panorama.

“The Last Light” is an atmospheric landscape taken at dusk, the fading sun casting the mountainous terrain in an ethereal glow. The “Night Under the Galaxy’s Lights” places an SUV in the middle, framed by the dazzling sweep of the Milky Way and some light-painting trickery. The image titled “There is No Love Like Snail Love” playfully highlights nature’s wonder through two spiraled gastropods tenderly exploring each other’s shells. And the portrait of a farmer carrying a woven basket on his head demonstrates excellent cultural storytelling. 

Through unique perspectives, artistry, and storytelling, these 15 photographers from the Middle East and Africa have proven themselves at the forefront of their field.

The three grand prize-winning photographs that captured the judges’ hearts include: “Dragon Clouds” by Domcar Calinawan Lagto from the Philippines, “Airshow” by Piotr Cebula from Poland, and “Fearless Eagle” by Dou Chuanli from China. Each grand prize winner will receive $10,000 from the XMAGE creation fund, to support their photography and to encourage them to continue using Huawei devices in the future.

The 17 best-in-category winners and the 34 runner-up winners will each receive $1,500 and $1000, respectively.

source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)

_______________

Sadek Khafagy from Egypt won the award in the outdoor category for his work titled ‘Reflection.’ His image captures the beauty of the rock formations of The Wave in Arizona.

__________________________

MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA

PALESTINE: A new Book Authored by Academic & Historian Nur Masalha ‘ Palestine : A Four Thousand Year History’ becomes a Best-Seller

With Israel and Hamas at war in Gaza, books about the Palestinian issue and its history are in demand. One best-seller, the Palestinian academic and historian Nur Masalha’s “Palestine: A Four Thousand Year History”, argues that there is an urgent need to teach a history of the land and its people based on facts, not myths.

Masalha’s book was published in English in 2018 and was made available in Arabic in 2019 by the nonprofit Centre for Arab Unity Studies, based in Beirut. The author notes on Facebook that the book has topped Amazon best-seller lists in four categories: prehistory, prehistoric archaeology, Bible hermeneutics, and antiquities.

A Hijacked History

Masalha is currently a member of the Centre for Palestine Studies at SOAS, University of London, and is a former director of the Centre for Religion and History at St. Mary’s University, Twickenham.

His book examines Palestine’s distant history and the attempts of Israel’s founders to hijack that history with non-scientific interpretations, changing the names of Palestinian cities and villages to Hebrew ones, and even changing the names of Israel’s founders and leaders from the names they were born with in Russia, Poland, Ukraine, and elsewhere, to Hebrew names.

In his introduction to the Arabic edition, Masalha expresses the hope that his book will “draw attention to the history, heritage, and deep roots of the Palestinians, the indigenous Arab population of Palestine”.

Nur Masalha’s book explores Palestine’s history, identity, and cultures from the Late Bronze Age until the modern era. The author hopes it “challenges the colonial approach to Palestine and the malicious myth of a land without a people.”

The book tells us that “Palestine” was the land’s name throughout ancient history. The name was first documented in the Late Bronze Age, about 3,200 years ago, and later in Greek sources. The name was used between 450 B.C. and 1948 A.D. to describe “a geographical area between the Mediterranean Sea, the Jordan River and various neighbouring lands.”

The book explores Palestine’s evolution, history, identity, languages, and cultures from the Late Bronze Age until the modern era. The author points out that “the history of Palestine is often taught in the West as the history of a land, not as Palestinian history, or the history of a people.” He thus hopes his book “challenges the colonial approach to Palestine and the malicious myth of a land without a people.”

Masalha uses a wide range of evidence and contemporary sources to examine the history of Palestine.

It also seeks to trace the beginnings of the concept of Palestine in geographical, cultural, political, and administrative policies. He argues that the Israelites’ conquest of the land of Canaan, and other basic stories in the Old Testament, are “mythical narratives” that try to establish a false awareness, not an evidence-based history following facts.

Updating History Textbooks

Masalha believes that history textbooks and curricula “must be based on historical facts placed in their context, concrete evidence, and archaeological and scientific discoveries, rather than on traditional opinions, imaginary narratives from the Old Testament, and repeated religious-political doctrines that are narrated for the benefit of influential elites.”

According to the book, some historians have argued that Palestine did not exist as a formal administrative entity until the British Mandate for Palestine was created after World War I. In reality, Masalha says, Palestine has existed as an administrative entity and an official state “for more than a thousand years.”

Masalha believes that history textbooks and curricula “must be based on historical facts placed in their context, concrete evidence, and archaeological and scientific discoveries, rather than on traditional opinions [and] imaginary narratives.”

The book charts the ancient origins of the name “Palestine” among the country’s multiple religious beliefs. Masalha says that, after more than 150 years of excavations in and around Jerusalem, there is still no historical, archaeological, or practical evidence of the “Kingdom of David” around 1000 B.C. The reason there is no material or practical evidence for the “United Kingdom of David and Solomon” and for other comprehensive narratives from the Old Testament, he argues, is simple: “They are invented traditions.”

Hebraised Names

Masalha gives a list of Israeli leaders who were born with Russian and Eastern European names but later adopted names with a Hebrew ring. They include:

  • David Ben-Gurion (1886–1973), Israel’s first prime minister and minister of defence, who used the Israeli army after 1948 to impose general Hebraisation and “purification” of surnames and personal names. Ben-Gurion was born as David Grün in an area of Poland then part of the Russia Empire. His mother’s name was Scheindel. 
  • Moshe Sharett, who became Israel’s foreign minister in 1948 and served as prime minister from 1954 to 1955, was born as Moshe Chertok in 1894 in Kherson, then part of the Russian Empire and now in Ukraine. He chose to Hebraise his surname in 1949, after the establishment of the State of Israel.
  • Golda Meir, who was prime minister of Israel between 1969 and 1974, was born Golda Mabovitch in Kiev in 1898, and became Golda Meyerson by marriage in 1917. It is worth noting that she did not change her surname until she became minister of foreign affairs in 1956.
  • Menachem Begin, founder of the Likud Party and prime minister of Israel from 1977 to 1983, was born Mieczyslaw Begin in 1913 in Brest-Litovsk, then part of the Russian Empire and now Brest, Belarus.
  • Yitzhak Shamir, who served as Israel’s prime minister twice between 1983 and 1992, was born Itzhak Yezernitsky in 1915 in an area that is now part of Belarus.
  • Ariel Sharon, who was prime minister from 2001 to 2006, was born Ariel Scheinerman in colonial Palestine in 1928. His parents, Shmuel and Vera, whose name later became Dvora, emigrated to Palestine from Russia.

Masalha says that until the advent of European Zionism, members of Palestine’s Arabic-speaking Jewish minority were fondly known as “the Jews, children of the Arabs,” and were an integral part of the Palestinian people, Arabic being their language, culture and heritage.

Settler Colonialism

The book also addresses the settler colonialism at the heart of the Palestine conflict. Settler colonialism is a “structure, not an event”, according to Masalha, and is “deeply embedded in European colonialism.” 

He argues that British colonialists, by denying the existence and rights of indigenous peoples, often viewed vast areas of the globe as “terra nullius”, land that belonged to “nobody.”

The author finishes by stressing that “decolonising history and restoring and preserving the ancient heritage and material culture of the Palestinians and in Palestine, are two vital matters.” 

He adds: “There is an urgent need to teach the ancient history of Palestine, and the history of the local Palestinians (Muslims, Christians, Samaritans, and Jews), including the production of new and critical Palestinian textbooks, for schools, institutes, and universities, as well as for millions of exiled Palestinian refugees.” 

He also believes that “this understanding and education must include the new critical archaeology of Palestine, the new critical understanding of antiquities, and the memories of this country.”

source/content: al-fanarmedia.org (headline edited)

______________

Nur Masalha’s “Palestine: A Four Thousand Year History” challenges the “colonial” approach to Palestine as “a land without a people.”

_____________

PALESTINE

SAUDI ARABIA: Obaid Alsafi Wins MENA Region’s Biggest Art Grant Ithra Art Prize

The artist’s award-winning installation will be revealed during the third instalment of the Arts AlUla Festival.

The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) has announced Saudi artist Obaid Alsafi as the winner of the 6th edition of the Ithra Art Prize, the largest art grant in the MENA region. Alsafi’s winning submission, ‘Palms in Eternal Embrace’, is a large-scale sculptural installation that explores approaches to safeguarding the natural world, focusing on endangered palm trees—a powerful symbol of Arabian landscapes and heritage.

Alsafi, a multidisciplinary artist with a background in computer science, brings a scientific perspective to his creative process, investigating the impacts of the unseen on the visible environment and physical realities.

“I am honoured to receive this year’s Ithra Art Prize and to shed light on the importance of preserving the natural world in the breathtaking setting of AlUla’s natural heritage and oasis landscape,” Alsafi tells SceneNowSaudi. “Challenging the boundaries between the organic and the synthetic, the natural and the cultural, and the human and the non-human. I hope that ‘Palms in Eternal Embrace’ will inspire audiences to reflect on the extinction of a plant group that is so characteristic of our region and foundational to our identity.”

Established in 2017, the Ithra Art Prize provides MENA artists with the opportunity to receive a USD 100,000 award, along with up to $400,000 in funding to bring their ideas to life. This year’s edition, titled “Art in the Landscape,” is a collaboration with Arts AlUla, part of a broader strategic partnership with the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU).

Alsafi’s ‘Palms in Eternal Embrace’ is set to be revealed during the third instalment of the Arts AlUla Festival on February 8th. The unveiling will include a live performance art piece focusing on the conservation of the biological essence of the palm tree.

source/content: cairoscene.com (headline edited)

______________

_________________

SAUDI ARABIA

EGYPTIAN-BRITISH: Coronation pride for Royal Architect Dr. Khaled Azzam

After years lost in an educational wilderness, the Egyptian-British designer found his niche as a world authority on Islamic art and architecture with noble patrons such as King Charles III.

The Chelsea Flower Show was just some annual event that happened in London as far as Khaled Azzam was concerned, until the day he answered a call from the heir to the throne.

Prince Charles , inspired by two antique Turkish rugs at his residence in Gloucestershire, was on the phone with an unusual brief: “I want you to work with me to design a garden.”

“I thought it was fabulous,” Azzam tells The National. “I’d never designed a garden before in my life so I went to see him at Highgrove House. He’s long been fascinated with Islamic art and architecture, and, because that’s what I practise, we always spoke about such things.

“He said, ‘All these carpets that I live with and love are interpretations of gardens, but I would like to design and build a garden that is an interpretation of carpets. I want to flip it around’.”

So it was that in 2001, among the usual avant-garde displays and emerging trends at the horticultural showcase, the first entry ever submitted by a member of the British royal family instead dug deep into the past.

The classic Islamic charbagh representing the four gardens of Paradise in the Quran was a crowd-drawing triumph yet, when it won a coveted silver-gilt medal, Azzam remembers thinking: “Whoa, that’s crazy.”

In situ ever since at the Highgrove estate, The Carpet Garden is the living incarnation of the two men’s long combined efforts to bring forth new shoots from ancient artistic roots.

Now, more than 20 years on, Azzam presides as director of the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts that is regarded as a centre for excellence in teaching the geometries held to be the common thread between age-old skills all but abandoned in much of the modern world.

The aim is to nurture patterning techniques such as the kind of inlaid stone workmanship used to create the Cosmati Pavement, the 13th-century mosaic floor on which, fittingly, the throne will be placed during the coronation ceremony for King Charles III inside Westminster Abbey on Saturday.

An extensive network of PSTA outreach programmes has spread across the globe from the core educational base in London to regenerate the cultural heritage of different regions and communities, from Jamaica to the UAE to China.

But, from the outset, the school’s ethos often evoked incomprehension, ridicule and, at times, undisguised animosity from some within the art establishment.

“There were moments that I was very, very worried, saying, ‘if this dies, it dies with us’,” Azzam recalls. “What His Majesty was saying that architecture, cities and education should be about, and how we should deal with the environment, was not commonplace. All those things were seen to be interesting and quaint. We never saw ourselves as being alternative. We were part of what we used to call ‘essential thinking’.

“Very early on, we had this strong bond; we understood exactly what we had to do. Then, I had to understand something. He was a prince, now he’s a king. We’ve had visionaries, we’ve had patrons all throughout history, that is the role of a prince. But my role is to make it happen.”

If the mission was to accumulate centuries of precious creative knowledge for alumni to reinvigorate and, in turn, hand to the next generation then there was one significant impediment.

“There weren’t any masters to teach us,” Azzam says.

The disconcerting discovery came when he went to set up a regional centre in his birthplace in 2005 with the Egyptian Ministry of Culture, Art Jameel and local artisans from whom he had hoped to gain a deeper understanding of tradition.

Instead, Azzam had a moment of transformational thinking that “not everything old is beautiful” — the craftsmen and women, in spite of their evident skills, had for generations been learning by rote.

“I really respect them and their role in the community but some of it was quite shoddy workmanship. They would start telling me, ‘Ah, but you don’t know, I am an eighth-generation carpenter and I learnt this from my grandfather’.

“But, because we came from an academic background and could analyse this stuff, I said, ‘your grandfather made a mistake three generations ago and you’re just repeating that mistake’.”

Most saddening for Azzam, however, was that the artists were stuck perpetually reproducing the same designs over and over again. Without much grasp of the underlying mathematical principles, they were incapable of extending the lineage of their traditional arts and crafts by creating anything new.

“It opened my eyes to the limitations of simply teaching young people through copying the forms of the past. We had to go back to the origin, to deconstruct buildings and understand how they were built. We had to look at certain principles to see what they were about. In a way, it was a voyage backwards.

“Then there was a moment where we started turning around, and now we feel that there is enough of a contemporary heritage to call it a living tradition and move into the future.

“If we’ve been successful in one thing, it’s in really delivering the philosophy into practice. It’s not just talk, it’s about making things, creating this process from the origin to the manifestation.”

That their son would end up running any school, let alone a prestigious art institution for the Prince’s Foundation, would once have been inconceivable for Azzam’s parents, Laila and Omar, who long kept quiet their fears over his prospects.

Young Khaled, despite being widely read and full of curiosity about what was happening in the world, was nonetheless lost within the four walls of a classroom.

“I was always last in the class because I just didn’t understand what was going on at all.

“Although my parents never let on, they admitted it much later, saying, ‘You know, we didn’t think you’d even make it into university’.

“And the fact that I not just got into university but then got a PhD and became involved in education … my brother says it’s a sign of the end of the world,” he says, smiling affectionately at the long-running joke.

It pops up again when we’re discussing Azzam’s receipt of the Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order, a knighthood granted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2009, and his speech before Pope Benedict XVI as representative of Muslims at an interfaith forum the following year.

“I don’t know why until this day that I was chosen,” he says. “It’s another sign of the end of the world, according to my brother.”

Azzam puts being such “a terrible student” down to a childhood disrupted by frequent geographical moves but doesn’t rule out an undiagnosed learning difficulty. “In our day, you were just stupid if you didn’t get it,” he says.

Education eventually took its place as the most important part of his working life once he began to understand that the Latin root, educere, means “to draw out of” not “to put into”.

As a consequence of his own difficulties, he feels an enormous responsibility towards those unable to cope with school systems intent on treating students like empty vessels that need filling with facts and figures.

“I became very, very interested in the journey you take a student through to bring what’s in them out to the surface,” he says.

Though born in Egypt, where his mother “always returned to have her babies”, the family lived abroad because of his father’s job as a senior urban planner for the UN.

After a stint in Saudi Arabia, there was a relatively settled period of 10 years in Lebanon until civil war broke out. They struggled on for almost a year until Omar, working in Paris at the time, suggested that the rest of the family join him temporarily: “Just come over for Christmas,” was the gist, “things will die down.”

“We managed to get on a flight one day very, very quickly — just packed a hand bag each and ran off to the airport. We left everything behind, all our books, our toys, our belongings, our clothes and just never went back because the war never ended. We had to rebuild our life. Then England became my home and I’m very grateful.”

This is not quite how his younger self felt when first pitching up late one Autumn afternoon in what was then the “very, very small town” of Cambridge.

“There was nothing to do. In those days, everything shut at five o’clock. It was foggy, cold and damp, and I’d just spent two years in the South of France. I was trying to figure out what I had done wrong.”

The posse of four siblings received a hospitable welcome from the locals and quickly grew to love their adopted home and the architecture lining the cobbled streets.

There was a particularly memorable encounter, surrounded by fluted limestone columns, medieval stained-glass windows and Tudor symbols in King’s College Chapel that would later inform much of Azzam’s work.

Beneath the celebrated fan-vaulted ceiling of the 500-year-old Gothic landmark built by a succession of English monarchs, the teenager made an unexpected discovery: he found himself.

“Physically, I had nothing to do with that place. Culturally, I was an Egyptian who came to England. I wasn’t even an architect yet. I was doing my O-Levels and A-Levels.

“But there was something in me that completely understood that building; the message, the beauty of it.

“I felt I belonged there, that it was part of me. It was a very profound experience that changed my life somehow.”

Arriving at what he says all the great civilisations of the world had known, however, came only with time and experience.

It has been a constant journey of learning with two particular guiding lights along the way. The first was Abdel Wahed El Wakil, the foremost authority in Islamic architecture with whom Azzam subjected himself completely for eight intense years at a “hothouse” of an office in London.

“We had a difficult relationship because he was very demanding but he was my master who taught me everything I know about architecture,” he says. “I just totally understood that this idea of apprenticeship is to give yourself to somebody, and if you find that person, you’re very, very lucky.”

Through El Wakil, he met Keith Critchlow, the renowned geometer and founder of the Visual and Traditional Arts Department at the Prince’s Institute of Architecture, and developed a deep fascination with the properties underpinning the order of nature.

He talks of the intricate chambers of the nautilus shell and the honeycomb built in hives by bees or the movement of planets over time across the night sky, but perhaps his favourite example is the delicate, six-fold symmetry of a single ice crystal.

“All snowflakes are hexagonal because the molecular structure of water is hexagonal yet — and this blows my mind every time I say it — no two snowflakes that fall on the ground are the same.

“There is a principle of unity manifesting variety. All snowflakes start from the same origin but their final form is the record of their journey down to Earth. In a way, that’s us as human beings as well.

“If you look at a DNA structure, the very basic thing that binds us all together, it’s a beautiful spiral that has a certain proportional system and yet we’re all different.”

The firm belief that we all have the same origin is fundamental not only to his work at the school but also as principal of Khaled Azzam Associates, the “little practice” he started in 1991.

It is hard, he agrees, not to lose count of the many architectural projects he has been involved in over the years: mosques like that commissioned by King Abdallah II to commemorate his father, the late King Hussein, in Amman; royal residences, commercial buildings, offices and schools across the Middle East; and, most recently, the master plan launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to sustainably develop the historic Al Ula site in Saudi Arabia where he is headed a few days after our interview.

“I’ve been running two careers, that’s why the number of projects looks bigger than it is,” Azzam, now 62, says modestly.

When it’s pointed out that there doesn’t seem to be much spare time weighing on his hands, Azzam concedes that he wouldn’t know what to do with it if he had any. He works all day, never tiring because, well, he doesn’t see it as work.

“I am blessed in my life because I do things I love. I think very, very early on in my career, I just said: I want work to be part of my identity, part of my character — it all has to be one.

“The school has always been somewhere that I found a great sense of nourishment and fulfilment. And it’s very much part of my life. My wife, Mona, complains that they’re my family more than my family at home.”

Home proper is Clapham in south London, where Mona has laid the unshakeable foundation that has made “all this possible”, Azzam acknowledges. Everything is taken care of so that he never has to worry: the house, the well-being of their children, Issam, 24, and Nadia, 19, and the bills “that she knows I won’t pay”.

A few hours before the rest of the family wakes each day, he is already at his desk with a cup of coffee, drawing while looking out across one of London’s largest parks.

“It’s very quiet,” he says. “There’s nobody there, and then you see one person, then two people, and then you see life coming through, and you start having a funny relationship with it. It’s beautiful.”

From his perch, Azzam envies the super fit elderly man who runs around Clapham Common each day, and often wonders with a glint of amusement what the dogs make of their owners diligently picking up after them.

He watches the latest exercise trends come and go with the seasons — the boxing or tai chi or, as with a few years back, “everybody standing on their heads”.

No surprises, though, that after a lifetime eschewing fleeting fashions, he isn’t inclined to join them.

source/content; thenationalnews.com (headline edited)

_________

Khaled Azzam concedes that he wouldn’t know what to do with spare time if he had any away from work. ‘I am blessed in my life because I do things I love,’ he says. Photo: Mark Chilvers

_______________________

BRITISH / EGYPTIAN