2012 programme
Transcription
2012 programme
Contemporary Art, Design, Film, Music and Literature from the Middle East and North Africa Nour Festival of Arts Foreword Cllr. Nicholas Paget-Brown, Deputy Leader of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, said: “In just two years the borough’s Nour Festival has grown into one of the most important festivals exploring Middle Eastern arts and culture in the UK. Not only is it part of our commitment to bringing international cultural excellence to the borough, but it also fosters closer ties and understanding with this part of the world and our Arabic speaking communities in the area. “The involvement of the V&A, Science Museum and other leading venues is a testament to the quality of success of the Festival to date. With their involvement we can reach new audiences and explore new avenues into the region, its cultures and art forms.” The Nour Festival of Arts will deliver dazzling contemporary artistic talent from the Middle East and North Africa to London audiences during OctoberNovember 2012. For the first time the festival is to expand beyond Leighton House Museum to include a stellar cast of participating cultural organisations. New festival partners include the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Science Museum, the Ismaili Centre, the Mosaic Rooms, Al-Manaar: the Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre and The Tabernacle. The festival also works in collaboration with a host of London and UK partners, including the Arab British Centre, the British Egyptian Society, Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing, the London MENA Film Festival, London Iranian Film Festival and Arab New Trends Ltd. The Nour Festival of Arts aims to: - reflect and celebrate the arts and culture of contemporary Middle Eastern and North African regions - promote film, literature, music, visual arts, fashion, dance, cuisine - demonstrate artistic excellence and work that is thought-provoking and challenging The Nour Festival is coordinated by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and reflects the Council’s commitment to bring the very best international contemporary arts and culture to the borough. Nour – which means ‘light’ or ‘illumination’ in various Middle Eastern languages – sets out to explore contemporary culture from across the region and North Africa. The festival was inaugurated at Leighton House Museum in 2010, a building that is recognised as being an international symbol of east meeting west. 2012 Nour Festival identity, customised by Muiz My creation of the identity for the Nour Festival 2012 reflects both the glorious diversity and unity of our past as Arabs and Muslims, [including our historic contribution and legacy of science and the arts to the world] and the traumatic, colonial carvery of our regional family into distant, troublesome neighbours. Our artistic heritage is one of our crowning achievements and has the capacity to piece these fragments back together. Cover image, Salaam Salute by Muiz, 2009 Nour Festival of Arts Exhibitions Nuclear Nuqta The fission of Islamic art from the classical to the contemporary Leighton House Museum 12 Holland Park Road Kensington W14 8LZ 3-26 October Open 10am-5.30pm daily Closed Tuesdays Museum admission applies Information: Full details of admission charges are available online: w: www.leightonhouse.co.uk Nuclear Nuqta: Muiz in conversation - Saturday 20 October, 2-4pm For more information: www.leightonhouse.co.uk Muiz is a visual communicator whose innovations in Arabic aesthetics have won him recognition by some of the world’s most iconic designers. His work evolves an experimental visual language born from the principles of classical Islamic art and philosophies which reflect the complex, cultural semiotics and geopolitics of the modern Arab world. Muiz has launched a critically acclaimed magazine, branded national and international arts organisations and festivals and been recognised in digital and print journals across the globe. Nuclear Nuqta is Muiz’s debut solo-exhibition in the United Kingdom. Leighton House will be hosting a selection of Muiz’s work, whose characteristic exploration of the Arab and Muslim identity and how they are informed by culture, language, geography and politics has become even more relevant in the post-911, revolutionary era. By reclaiming, both visually and literally, language that has been redefined by political and media interests, Muiz seeks to provide a platform to re-examine the misconceptions and stereotypes that have fractured and provoked communities into conflict and what denotes their individual or collective identities. This existential artistry is underpinned by his signature evolution of classical Islamic and Arabic art principles and philosophies into a striking, contemporary aesthetic. His work ultimately asks challenging questions of us exemplified by our reactions to the work; highlighting the potential [and importance] of a minority’s perception of truth to resonate and impact the majority. “All art is political - because those that create art are governed by it.” www.muiz.co.uk +=<<15+ Muiz & Andy Houghton Nour Festival of Arts Exhibitions ‘Kütmaan’: Exploring the realities of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT ) lives and culture in the Middle East Leighton House Museum 12 Holland Park Road Kensington W14 8LZ 5-30 November Open 10am-5.30pm daily Closed Tuesdays Museum admission applies Information: w: www.leightonhouse.co.uk t: 020 7602 3316 e: [email protected] Bradley Secker is a British photojournalist and documentary photographer who works around themes of identity and human rights. His work has been published widely in TIME Magazine, the New York Times and The Guardian amongst others. He is currently based in Istanbul. ‘Kütmaan’ is the Arabic for the act of hiding or concealing. This exhibition forms part of a five-year photographic project documenting the realities of life for some LGBT individuals in the Middle East between 2010 and 2012. The images in this exhibition tell diverse personal stories and relate the experiences of those LGBT people who are forced to claim asylum based on their sexuality or gender identity. The exhibition highlights the circumstances of gay Iraqi men who have since 2010 been forced to leave their homes due to homophobia and seek asylum in Syria and who are then displaced or resettled into Turkey. The exhibition also explores LGBT Kurdish identity in south eastern Turkey and documents how these communities are seeking legal equality and acceptance. Other important themes considered include the prolonged wait of Iranian LGBT refugees in central Anatolia before their resettlement in Europe or North America. ‘Farhad‘ by Bradley Secker Nour Festival of Arts Exhibitions Translations Leighton House Museum 12 Holland Park Road Kensington W14 8LZ 6-30 November Open 10am-5.30pm daily Closed Tuesdays Museum admission applies Information: w: www.leightonhouse.co.uk t: 020 7602 3316 e: [email protected] Dia Batal is a spatial designer based in London. Her work is context specific and designed for physical interaction. Batal creates objects that function as devices to impact people’s lives in public and private spaces, in relation to social, cultural, and political concerns. Her recent projects Translations and Cart-og-ra-phy, have been exhibited in art galleries in Beirut, Manama, Paris, and in London and Liverpool. Dia Batal will be installing pieces from her Translations collection throughout Leighton House, responding to the context of the space and building on Leighton’s own collection of objects from the Arab World. In Translations Batal borrows from the traditional Arab art of working with text to create pieces that tell a story. These objects use possible transformations of the text and the corresponding shifts in meaning to relate to the space that the object occupies, and the function of the object itself. ‘This is Not a Table‘ by Dia Batal Photograph by Stephen Jakub Nour Festival of Arts Exhibitions Light from the Middle East: New Photography Victoria and Albert Museum Porter Gallery Cromwell Road London SW7 2RL 13 Nov 2012 - 7 April 2013 Daily 10am-5.45pm and until 10pm every Friday Free Information: w: www.vam.ac.uk t: 020 7942 2000 The exhibition is curated by Marta Weiss, Curator of Photographs at the V&A. The first major exhibition of contemporary photography from and about the Middle East, Light from the Middle East: New Photography features over 90 works by some of the most exciting artists from across the region. Photographs by 30 artists from 13 different countries showcase a range of creative responses to the social challenges and political upheavals that have shaped the Middle East over the past 20 years. The exhibition covers a wide range of techniques and subject matter, from photojournalism to staged and digitally manipulated imagery. This exhibition has been enabled through the establishment of the Art Fund Collection of Middle Eastern Photography at the V&A and the British Museum. Shadi Ghadirian. From the series Qajar, 1998 Nour Festival of Arts Exhibitions Working from Life The Mosaic Rooms 226 Cromwell Road London SW5 0SW 28 Sept-16 November Open 11am-6pm Tues-Sat Special Sunday opening: 11 November 12-5pm Free Information: w: www.mosaicrooms.org t: 020 7370 9990 e: [email protected] Abderrahim Yamou was born outside Casablanca in 1959. He left Morocco to study biology in France, before changing to sociology with a focus on researching contemporary Moroccan art. He gave up formal studies to become a self-taught artist, working in both painting and sculpture. He has exhibited widely in group and solo shows throughout Europe and North Africa. He lives between Paris and Casablanca. The Mosaic Rooms is delighted to present Working From Life, the first UK solo exhibition by one of the leading contemporary Moroccan artists, Abderrahim Yamou. This exhibition will feature new and recent paintings, previously unseen. Yamou is inspired by the natural world, by organic processes, continuity and change, the tensions and instabilities of boundaries and of spaces in between. Yet beneath the surface of these beautiful paintings, produced in both large and small scale, there is an underlying sense of disquiet. ‘Les amas bleus‘ by Abderrahim Yamou, 2012 Nour Festival of Arts Exhibitions The Watchtower of Happiness and other landscapes of occupation The Mosaic Rooms 226 Cromwell Road London SW5 0SW 26 Nov-12 December Open 11am-6pm Tues-Sat Free Information: w: www.mosaicrooms.org t: 020 7370 9990 e: [email protected] Febrik, a collaborative platform for participatory art and design research, seek to unravel the politics of the right to public space. Their work considers the potential of curious and familiar narratives of daily social play. Febrik was founded by Reem Charif, Mohamad Hafeda and Joumana Al Jabri. For more information visit http://febrik.org/ Febrik will take over The Mosaic Rooms transforming it into A Watchtower of Happiness and other landscapes of occupation. The main gallery room will be transformed into an interactive space to be activated by members of the public using altered mobile objects, a watchtower structure, and landscapes of domesticity. The work engages with the current public occupation and displacement practices happening in the Middle East for political and economic motives. There will be a programme of associated events, whose highlights include The Watchtower Of Occupation at the V&A Friday Late on 30 November, from 6.30-10pm. Mohamad Radwan’s Watchtower of Happiness-Dream Space project 2004 Nour Festival of Arts Exhibitions ‘The Original Arab Spring – Palestine Rising’ Mica Gallery, Mica Creative CIC & FQMS MICA Gallery Studio 2, 1st Floor 259A Pavilion Road London SW1X 0BP 2-20 October Open Monday-Friday 10am-6pm Saturdays by appointment Free Information: w: www.micahub.com w: www.fqms.org FQMS is a charity dedicated to supporting medical education in Palestine by upgrading skills, improving the quality of teaching and training candidates in specialist fields. Mica Gallery specialises in Modern Islamic and Contemporary art. Mica Creative is the sister arm of Mica Gallery and is a social enterprise charity dedicated to creative projects working with Diaspora communities. ‘The Original Arab Spring – Palestine Rising’ showcases contemporary art inspired by and responding to Palestine. The exhibition seeks to capture an array of visual observations of the Original Arab Spring and intertwines this with the essential role of medical services and education in the region both historically and to the present day adopting a unique creative approach to promoting awareness and raising funds for charity. Palestine Spring, 2011 Nour Festival of Arts Film The London MENA (Middle East & North Africa) Film Festival – LMFF Leighton House Museum 12 Holland Park Road Kensington W14 8LZ Wednesday 31 October LMFF Short Film Night 31 October-2 November Doors open 6.30pm Films start promptly at 7pm Tickets: £7 per person Information: w: www.nourfestival. eventbrite.co.uk t: 020 7602 3316 e: [email protected] l: length d: directed by The Pillars UAE / Egypt, 2012 l: 15 minutes d: Moustafa Zakaroa We follow various people who are going through changes in an ever-changing society, in this cinematic adventure which is anchored around the five pillars of Islam. The Portrait Egypt, 2012 l: 8 minutes d: Ahmed Magdy Taking place on a Friday, with protests at a high in Tahrir Square in Cairo, an artist is isolated in her studio and we discover what is more important to her – her own needs or the ideology of the protesters. Visualising The Past: Rebranding The Present II UK, 2010 l: 10 minutes d: Jessica Jacobs A short documentary exploring the interest and, in some cases, love that various visitors feel towards the historic city of Damascus in Syria. Soul UAE, 2011 l: 9 minutes d: Fatima Abdallah A mysterious man asks a sculptor for a strange request – to create an exact replica model of himself in clay. A conceptual film, which questions the meaning of existence and the journey of a soul. Transition Iraq, 2011 l: 5 minutes d: Abbas Al Badri The animated story of a snail who finds himself in a tricky situation, and the adventures which can come with change and transition. Zafir Egypt, 2010 l: 20 minutes d: Omar El Zohairy An elderly couple go about their daily routine, where they can hear the clamour of Cairo’s hustle and bustle outside the closed window. Ostora UAE / Syria, 2012 l: 8 minutes d: Hani Kichi Set in the depths of the ocean, Erato the mermaid falls victim to her own curiosity and breaks the ultimate laws of the sea. Can a young Bedouin who dreams of uniting his people under one goal save her from her destiny? Five Pounds UAE / Egypt, 2011 l: 11 minutes d: Mohamed Adeeb An older woman is followed through the dark streets of Cairo by a mysterious young man. Why does he follow her? Who is he and what does he want? The Hardest Question Jordan, 2012 l: 15 minutes d: Ahmed Samara What would you do if it was your last day on earth? This short film documents the entertaining and moving answers of some of Amman’s residents. Nour Festival of Arts Film Thursday 1 November LMFF Documentary Night l: length d: directed by Friday 2 November LMFF Feature Film Night Missing UK / Jordan, 2010 l: 3 minutes d: Tariq Rimawi An animated story - a window opens on a child in a wartorn area, where he longs for his past peaceful life. Recorded Introduction from Director l: 5 minutes d: Nassim Abassi In My Mother’s Arms Iraq / UK / Nethelands, 2011 l: 85 minutes d: Mohamed & Atia Al Daradji A documentary focusing on some of the Iraq war’s most hapless victims – children. Husham works tirelessly to protect 32 of these children in a small orphanage in one of Baghdad’s most dangerous districts. When the landlord gives Husham and the boys just two weeks to vacate the premises, a desperate struggle ensues. Majid Morocco, 2010 l: 116 minutes d: Nassim Abaasi Plus Q+A with either the Director (Mohamed Al Daradji) or the Producer (Isabelle Stead). l: length d: directed by A coming of age story about a ten year old Moroccan orphan called Majid. Following recurrent nightmares, he discovers that he can’t remember his parents’ faces anymore and there are no photographs of them apart from the charred remains of a family photo with his parents’ heads burnt away. With the help of his new friend Larbi, Majid decides to go on a quest to find a photograph of his dead parents. It’s a journey that will take them to the big city of Casablanca where danger and adventure await them. Nour Festival of Arts Film The Mosaic Rooms Film Programme The Mosaic Rooms 226 Cromwell Road London SW5 0SW 3 October, 7-8 November 7pm £5 2012 UK Iranian Film Festival [UKIFF] Information: w: www.mosaicrooms.org t: 020 7370 9990 e: [email protected] The Mosaic Rooms launches its new film programme, with screenings held on the first Wednesday of each month celebrating films from the MENA region. We will launch the programme on 3rd October with an evening of selected new and recent short films from Kuwait. This will be followed by three screenings – on the 7th, 8th and 9th November – of films inspired by the work of Nobel Prize winning Egyptian author Naguib Mahfouz to celebrate the centenary year of his birth. Full film listings and details can be found on our website. (See above). Ciné Lumière 17 Queensbury Place South Kensington London SW7 2DT 15-23 November £12 Screenings & Times w: ukiff.org.uk The UK Iranian Film Festival is the only annual festival to present Iranian cinema in the UK. The festival aims to produce the best, and most diverse, Iranian film programme in the country, and to attract as many people as possible to view Iranian cinema. Regardless of who you are, where you come from and what you do, this is a cultural event where you can enjoy and exchange opinions. The Iranian Film Festival in London provides a chance to experience, enjoy, learn and discover! Nour Festival of Arts Literature Selma Dabbagh: Festival Writer-in-Residence: ‘Who Are You to Write That?” In Partnership with Bloomsbury Qatar Publishing and the Arab British Centre October-November For venues and dates, please check our festival website for details w: www.nourfestival.co.uk Lectures & Workshops £10, £8 concessions Information: w: www.nourfestival. eventbrite.co.uk t: 020 7361 3619 e: [email protected] Selma Dabbagh is a British Palestinian writer of fiction based in London. Her first novel, ‘Out of It,’ was published by Bloomsbury in December 2011 to widespread acclaim. Her short stories have appeared in anthologies published by Granta, International PEN and the British Council. She was the 2005 English PEN nominee for the David TK Wong Short Story Award. She is currently working on a second novel and collaborating in writing a full-length feature film script. Selma Dabbagh’s residency, ‘Who Are You to Write That?’ questions the assumptions placed on writers to stick to certain subjects, perspectives, national identities and even geographical terrains when writing fiction. The residency, through its series of lectures and workshops, explores how political subject matter can be dealt with in fiction and considers the risks involved in doing so. Drawing on the decisions taken and criticism received of the author’s own work, the residency will encourage participants to challenge expectations. The residency will commence with a lecture introducing the subject of the residency itself and a follow-up lecture will cover the subject of how to deal with politics in fiction. Workshops will focus on dialogue in prose and script as well as plotting and planning fiction. Selma Debbagh by Jonathan Ring Nour Festival of Arts Literature Sudanese Poetry Evening The Mosaic Rooms & Poetry Translation Centre In Ramallah, Running The Mosaic Rooms 226 Cromwell Road London SW5 0SW 18 October 7pm Born in Omdurman, Khartoum, Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi is famous in his native Sudan for his outstanding lyric poetry. He represented Sudan at Poetry Parnassus in July 2012 and his translations into English have been published in many leading journals. The Mosaic Rooms and the Poetry Translation Centre present an evening with the acclaimed Sudanese poet Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi, whose work vividly reflects the complexity of his heritage as an African poet writing in Arabic. His recent residency at The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology has led to a series of poems in response to its collection of ancient Sudanese objects. He will be joined by PTC Director, Sarah Maguire, who will read her translations of Saddiq’s poems; and by Joanna Oyediran, who will discuss Saddiq’s poetry in the context of Sudanese culture and politics. Sarah Maguire, founder and Director of The Poetry Translation Centre, has published four highlyacclaimed collections of poetry. Joanna Oyediran is the Sudan Programme Officer at the Open Society Initiative for East Africa. Information: w: www.mosaicrooms.org t: 020 7370 9990 e: [email protected] The Mosaic Rooms 226 Cromwell Road London SW5 0SW 25 October 7pm Information: w: www.mosaicrooms.org t: 020 7370 9990 e: [email protected] Guy Mannes-Abbott is a writer, essayist and critic, whose work often appears in visual art contexts, most recently at the Folkestone Triennial. He has taught at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, London and has given regular readings of his work. In Ramallah, Running is published by Blackdog Publishing and co-produced by ArtSchool Palestine and Sharjah Art Foundation. To celebrate the recent launch of In Ramallah, Running, The Mosaic Rooms is pleased to present a discussion led by the author Guy Mannes-Abbott. The book is a uniquely personal encounter with Palestine interweaving short, poetic texts with exploratory essays. International artists and prominent writers have been invited to respond both directly and indirectly to the texts with newly commissioned works. Guy will be joined by a panel of special guests to discuss and explore further the issues, thoughts and experiences raised through the book. He will also give a short reading from the book. Nour Festival of Arts Literature Ghassan Zaqtan The Mosaic Rooms 226 Cromwell Road London SW5 0SW 1 November 7pm Information: w: www.mosaicrooms.org t: 020 7370 9990 e: [email protected] Ghassan Zaqtan was born in 1954 near Bethlehem and lives in Ramallah. He has worked with the Palestinian resistance movement and was editor of Bayader, the literary magazine of the Palestine Liberation Organisation. He is editor-in-chief of the quarterly poetry journal Al-Shoua’ra and is co-founder and director of the House of Poetry in Ramallah. Zaqtan also writes two weekly newspaper columns. The Mosaic Rooms is pleased to celebrate the launch of Ghassan Zaqtan’s most recent collection of poetry in its award winning English translation. In Like a Straw Bird It Follows Me, Ghassan Zaqtan’s tenth poetry collection, translator Fady Joudah brings to English-language readers new work by one of the most important and original Palestinian poets of our time. Ghassan Zaqtan will be in discussion with Fady Joudah. Bookcover, Yale University Press Nour Festival of Arts Music Youssef Hbeisch and Ahmad Al Khatib in concert with John Williams A. M. Qattan Foundation, Beit Almusiqa, Edward Said National Conservatory of Music Cadogan Hall 5 Sloane Terrace London SW1X 9DQ 23 October 7.30pm Born in 1974, Ahmad Al Khatib learned oud with the Palestinian master Ahmad Abdel Qase. In 1997, he joined the Edward Said National Conservatory in Jerusalem, teaching in the Oriental Music Department and soon heading it. This special concert featuring Youssef Hbeisch. Ahmad Al Khatib and John Williams is in support of the Gaza Music School and the Beit Almusiqa (Shafa’amr) programme. Born in 1967, Youssef Hbeisch lives between Paris and Haifa. He taught for 7 years at the Edward Said National Conservatory and for 10 years at Beit AlMusica (Galilee) and gives academic seminars and master classes on a regular basis. Information: w: www.mosaicrooms.org t: 020 7370 9990 e: [email protected] The concert opens with the renowned Maestros of the Duo Sabîl, Ahmad Al Khatib, and Youssef Hbeisch, performing from their own acclaimed repertoire. John Williams, who has perhaps done more than any other artist to bring the classical guitar to audiences world-wide, will then take to the stage for a solo performance. The climax of the evening comes as all three artists come together for what promises to be a spectacular finale. The concert is organised by the A. M. Qattan Foundation, Beit Almusiqa, and the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music. Sabil CD cover by Youssef Hbeisch and Ahmad Al Khatib Nour Festival of Arts Music Attab Haddad Ensemble Leighton House Museum 12 Holland Park Road Kensington W14 8LZ 26 October 7.30-9.30pm (Doors open at 7pm) £10, £8 concessions (Pre-booking recommended) Attab Haddad Oud and composition Ben Davis Cello Kit Downes Piano Matt Ridley Double Bass Philippe Barnes Flute Vasilis Sarkis Middle Eastern percussion Information: w: www.nourfestival. eventbrite.co.uk t: 020 7602 3316 e: [email protected] Of Iraqi heritage, Attab Haddad’s original compositions draw on Flamenco, Arabic and Turkish music to describe a scintillating instrumental journey through Andalusia and the Middle East. The prodigious talents of each member of the ensemble flow together to create a unique sound: deep resonances from oud, cello and bass are balanced by fanciful flights of flute and delicate percussion; rhapsodic melodic structures take off-the-beaten-track twists and turns whilst being rooted in a great tune; and the tight compositional approach is cloaked in a sense of jazz-like freedom. Haddad released his debut album ‘Days Distinctive’ in 2011 on Weave Records. “A lovely ensemble piece, with a virtuoso at its heart.” The Guardian “strong and fresh compositions… full of drama, adventure and humor” Allaboutjazz.com www.attabhaddad.com Nour Festival of Arts Music Reem Kelani Nour Festival of Arts and London Arab New Trends Ltd The Tabernacle 35 Powis Square London W11 2AY 22 November 8-9.30pm (Doors open at 7pm) Information: w: www.nourfestival. eventbrite.co.uk t: 020 7361 3618 e: [email protected] £10 advance £12 door Palestinian singer, musician, broadcaster (and proud local artist) Reem Kelani has long carried the banner for Arabic music in the UK, giving workshops to generations of schoolchildren, working with choirs and training the best British Jazz musicians in Arabic music. She has a truly global following and has toured extensively. After her first critically acclaimed album “Sprinting Gazelle”, Reem is working on her next album, a tribute to the great Egyptian composer Sayyid Darwish (1892 – 1923). Concert night with Reem Kelani, one of the most important female Arab singers of her generation. “Her voice combines the poignancy of Billie Holiday with the glass-busting power of Aretha Franklin.” The Independent, July 2011 “Reem Kelani delivered one of the best concerts seen in years at Leighton House... A truly memorable evening.” Nour Festival of Arts, Leighton House, Oct 2010 “[Reem Kelani] has a genius for finding the universal in the particular ”An extraordinary musical map of Palestine emerges from her work, more vibrant than any historical document.” The Metro, July 2007 “Spectacular.” The Guardian, Feb 2003 www.reemkelani.com Reem Kelani by Saeed Taji Farouky Sharq January 2006 Nour Festival of Arts Music Emel Mathlouthi Nour Festival of Arts and London Arab New Trends Ltd The Tabernacle 35 Powis Square London W11 2AY 23 November 8-9.30pm (Doors open at 7pm) £10 advance £12 door Born in Tunis, Emel Mathlouthi is a songwriter, composer, guitarist, and singer who is bringing an amazing brand new sound to Tunisian music. Endowed with an outstanding voice, she evokes Joan Baez, Sister Marie Keyrouz and the Lebanese diva Fairouz. Her captivating style is lyrical, and displays powerful rock, oriental and trip hop influences (she has formerly collaborated with Adrian Thaws aka Tricky). Information: w: www.nourfestival. eventbrite.co.uk t: 020 7361 3618 e: [email protected] Emel Mathlouthi’s tracks are anthems to popular risings from the Jasmin Revolution in her home country Tunisia. While the future still looks uncertain, her music maintains its stridency. Emel released her album Kelmti Horra (My Word Is Free) early in 2012. It quickly became the cornerstone of a musical genre that spread beyond Tunisia. Emel is Mediterranean and urban; fiery with a radiant voice. Kelmti Horra comprises 10 gems, principally in Arabic with occasional dips into French and English. With electro and trip hop rhythms, her music is inspired by key moments in her life and her surroundings. Emel Mathlouthi is a songwriter with the rare knack of turning torment and suffering into dreams. “Emel Mathlouthi marries her songs of social protest to electronica : a rumble of drum and bass on incendiary declarations.” Financial Times – David Honigmann www.emelmathlouthi.com Emel Mathlouthi by Azza BeÌ ji & Ghaith Arfaoui Nour Festival of Arts Music Charbel Rouhana - Duox Zen Duo Nour Festival of Arts and London Arab New Trends Ltd The Tabernacle 35 Powis Square London W11 2AY 28 November 8-9.30pm (Doors open at 7pm) £10 advance £12 door Winner of the 2000 “Murex d’Or” Musician of the Year, Charbel Rouhana notably conducted and arranged the BBC3 World Music Awards Album of 2007 “ Al Muwashahat” by Ghada Shbeir. Rouhana has performed with Arab legends Marcel Khalife, Fairuz, Magida El Roumi, Julia Boutros, Hariprasad Chaurasia on numerous occasions. He formed the Beirut Oriental Ensemble in 2007. Charbel’s style is not restricted to his oriental roots – his live performances are rich in harmonies and open to improvisation. Information: w: www.nourfestival. eventbrite.co.uk t: 020 7361 3618 e: [email protected] Lebanese composer, singer and musician, Charbel Rouhana is one of the few masters to have shaped the Arab lute and its techniques. Arguably one of the most renowned composers of his generation, oud player Charbel Rouhana created the Beirut Oriental Ensemble and made himself a worldwide reputation, playing with legends like Fairuz, Marcel Khalife and Magida El Roumi. Here at the Tabernacle, he will perform his latest, and most sophisticated album, ‘’Doux Zen’’ for the first time in the UK, along with Lebanese oud player Elie Khoury. www.forwardmusic.net Nour Festival of Arts Debates & Talks William Holman-Hunt: A Pre-Raphaelite in Jerusalem British Egyptian Society Leighton House Museum 12 Holland Park Road Kensington W14 8LZ 10 October 7-8.30pm (Doors open at 6.30pm) £5 per person Information: w: www.nourfestival. eventbrite.co.uk t: 020 7602 3316 e: [email protected] Jill, Duchess of Hamilton has an MA in Near and Middle East Studies from SOAS at the University of London. For the past five years – while completing her PhD – she has spent long periods living in Jerusalem. She is a regular contributor to the Catholic Herald and has written fifteen books including God, Guns and Israel (now in its 3rd edition), From Gallipoli to Gaza, the Desert Poets of World War One (2003) Gardens of William Morris (1998), and Marengo, the Myth of Napoleon’s Horse (2000). Few people today realise that one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelites, William Holman Hunt, owned a house in Jerusalem, spent a total of 7 years there over 40 years, and that his art was much influenced by his deep love of the Middle East and the holy city. This talk explores his life in Jerusalem, his paintings and the house which he built at 64 Hanevi’im Street in 1869. To help answer the question of whether his paintings in the Middle East were in keeping with the Pre-Raphaelite aim of ‘objective reality’, this unique presentation will compare and contrast his paintings of the region with photographs taken of identical scenes. Jill, Duchess of Hamilton will also discuss the recent efforts to preserve and list his Jerusalem home. The Holman-Hunt House Jerusalem Nour Festival of Arts Debates & Talks The Day of Rage British Egyptian Society Leighton House Museum 12 Holland Park Road Kensington W14 8LZ 15 October 7-8.30pm (Doors open at 6.30pm) £5 per person Information: w: www.nourfestival. eventbrite.co.uk t: 020 7602 3316 e: [email protected] Wafaa El Saddik (Ph.D. Vienna University) became Director General of the Egyptian Museum, Cairo, in 2004 and held the post until 2010. Dr. El Saddik is an engaged board member of numerous scholarly and archaeological committees and organisations, both national and international. Her commitment to involving her young compatriots in Egypt’s heritage ranges from founding and serving as president of the Children’s Alliance for Traditions and Social Engagement (C.A.T.S.) to teaching at both Cairo and Helwan Universities. On Friday, 28 January 2011, Egyptian young people called for a major demonstration in the city centre. They knew: it is now or never! But the same day was also the day of the greatest tragedy to happen to Egypt’s antiquities destruction and looting in the world renowned Egyptian Museum and at numerous archaeological sites. Though Egypt has lived through many wars and revolutions in the past century, never before has there been such vandalism at historical sites. Today, 21 months after Egypt’s revolution, priceless antiquities are still missing from the Egyptian Museum and from innumerable storage facilities the length and breadth of the country. It is a huge, critical challenge today to protect Egypt’s cultural heritage – with low-paid guards and inadequately financed state security personnel – while the country suffers from an ever decreasing number of tourists and the resulting decline in income. This talk assesses the impact of the past 12 months on Egyptian heritage and the challenges ahead. Nour Festival of Arts Debates & Talks Syria’s Art of Resistance Art and Botany Leighton House Museum 12 Holland Park Road Kensington W14 8LZ 19 October 7-8.30pm (Doors open at 6.30pm) £5 per person Information: w: www.nourfestival. eventbrite.co.uk t: 020 7602 3316 e: [email protected] Malu Halasa is co-author of The Secret Life of Syrian Lingerie: Intimacy and Design, with Rana Salam, and Transit Tehran: Young Iran and Its Inspirations, with Maziar Bahari. She is Editor at Large for Portal 9: Stories and Critical Writing about the City, from Beirut, and co-curated the Culture in Defiance exhibition at the Prince Claus Fund Gallery, in Amsterdam. How do people face up to dictatorship, mass killings and snipers? To paraphrase Jameel, the masked director of the award-winning cyber puppet series Top Goon: Diaries of a Little Dictator, everything scary can be dealt with through laughter, beauty and human resolve. In an illustrated lecture about the exhibition Culture in Defiance: Continuing Traditions of Satire, Art and the Struggle for Freedom in Syria, Malu Halasa examines the role of culture in a country scarred by violence. The engaged images and ideas featured in the exhibition’s cartoons, art, graffiti, cell-phone cinema and political posters challenge a regime and inspire a revolution. The Mosaic Rooms 226 Cromwell Road London SW5 0SW 20 October 12pm Free Dr Wolfgang Stuppy is a Seed Morphologist at Kew’s Seed Conservation Department, which manages the Millennium Seed Bank Project at Wakehurst Place in Sussex. He has published various books, including an award winning book in collaboration with the artist Rob Kesseler. The Moroccan artist Abderrahim Yamou will discuss his work with the internationally renowned Dr Wolfgang Stuppy from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Yamou’s work is inspired by the natural world, and this talk will give a unique insight into the relationship between art and botany in contemporary art practices, and reveal the inspiration behind the works in his exhibition at The Mosaic Rooms, Working from Life. Abderrahim Yamou was born outside Casablanca in 1959 and has exhibited widely in North Africa and Europe. Information: w: www.mosaicrooms.org t: 020 7370 9990 e: [email protected] Nour Festival of Arts Debates & Talks Arts in Iran: Political, historical and social context Roya Arab & Leighton House Museum Leighton House Museum 12 Holland Park Road Kensington W14 8LZ 17 November 3-5pm £5, £3 concessions (Iranian tea & biscuits included) Information: w: www.nourfestival. eventbrite.co.uk t: 020 77602 3316 e: [email protected] Roya Arab is Honorary Research Assistant at the Institute of Archaeology, UCL. Her research focuses on the uses and abuses of the past in the present. Ladan Razeghi, was formerly an editor on Press TV and is currently completing an MA in Digital Media at London Metropolitan University. The majority of people operate within the norms of the society they live in. Iran over the past three decades has been subject to many political and social changes, which continue to impact on life on many levels. By and large, the Iranian people have adapted to the dynamic social and political changes within Iran, and have also had to come to terms with the changing face of Iran in the international arena. Once welcome visitors around the world, many Iranians now find themselves regarded as nationals of a ‘pariah state’. A panel of Iranian female academics and artists discuss the socio/political and historical context within which art and culture operate in Iran. The session is chaired by Dr Sahar Rad, of the School of Oriental and African Studies. Dr Sahar Rad studied for her PhD at SOAS, where she is currently a research partner at the Centre for Development Policy and Research and a member of the Centre for Palestine studies. Shirin Shafaie received her MSc in Middle East Politics at SOAS where she is currently completing her PhD on critical war studies, including the Iran-Iraq war and Iranian war narratives. Mehrnaz Shahabi is an independent researcher. She is the author of “The Oxford Research Group and the West’s Discourse on Iran” (Fair Observer, June 2012) which is a critical review of the ORG’s briefing “Iran Nuclear Impasse: Breaking the Deadlock”. ‘Help me out’ by Ladan Razeghi Nour Festival of Arts Debates & Talks Day Symposium: Middle Eastern and North African Music: Contemporary Contexts, Future Trends Ismaili Centre 1-7 Cromwell Gardens South Kensington London SW7 2SL 24 November 10am-4pm Free - limited tickets Information: w: www.arabnewtrends.com e: [email protected] FB: Arab New Trends Nour Festival and Arab New Trends Ltd This day symposium, the first of its kind to be held in Europe, discusses the position of Middle Eastern and Arab music within the wider music industry of the UK and Europe. With key opinion formers, musicians, music labels, publishers and programmers from the UK and Europe, the day will explore the future promotion and development of Arab music around three central themes: - Promoting Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) artists in the UK - Doing business in Europe with music from the MENA region - The consequences of social and cultural changes in the Arab World on the music industry. Gary Otte Nour Festival of Arts Special Events The Dash Café: An Arab Spring? A panel conversation and live music from U-cef and The Arab League The Flyover 3 – 5 Thorpe Close London W10 5XL 25 October Talk from 7pm Music from 9pm £5 per person (Pre-booking advised) Information: w: www.nourfestival. eventbrite.co.uk t: 020 7361 3618 e: [email protected] An inspiring evening of conversation and music. A lively panel of journalists, academics, artists and activists with first-hand experience from the region, will debate how the media has shaped our ideas of the “Arab Spring”. The panel includes Dr Fatima El-Issawi, a journalist, analyst, and Research Fellow at POLIS, based at the London School of Economics; and is chaired by Turi Munthe, founder of the citizen journalism website Demotix. DJ U-Cef And The Arab League will brew an excellent blend of traditional Maghrebi music fused with dub, jazz and fresh urban beats that will transport you from West London deep into the heart of the Sahara. Dr Fatima El-Issawi is a journalist, analyst and Research Fellow at POLIS, the journalism and society think tank at the London School of Economics. She is leading a research project on ‘Arab revolutions: Media Revolutions’ looking at the transformations in the Arab media industry under transitional political phases within the current uprisings. Turi Munthe is the CEO of the citizen journalism website Demotix. He’s been a publisher, editor, policy analyst, lecturer, journalist and talking head for CNN, BBC, NBC, al-Jazeera, Asahi, Reuters, and Sky. He has written for The Economist, Slate.com, the Financial Times, the Telegraph, the Nation and many other publications. www.demotix.com Born and raised in Rabat, U-cef (aka Moulay Youssef Adel) absorbed much of his native Morocco’s traditions before moving to New York and then to London. His first CD ‘Halalium’ was a milestone in Moroccan urban dance music, and inspired a whole generation of rappers, b-boys and protools adventurers, from Tangiers to Taroudant and Melilla to Marrakech. www.u-cef.com U-cef by Kay Wahlig Nour Festival of Arts Special Events V&A presents Friday Late with MasterCard: Record, Reframe, Resist Victoria & Albert Museum Cromwell Road London SW7 2RL 30 November 6.30-10pm Free Information: w: www.vam.ac.uk t: 020 7942 2000 The V&A is collaborating with numerous artists and organisations for the Friday Late with Mastercard, including Sharjah Art Foundation, The Mosaic Rooms, Banipal, Febrik, Zeid Hamdan and Maryam Saleh, Aya Haidar and Lawrence Abu Hamdan. V&A presents Friday Late with MasterCard: Record, Reframe, Resist. Change your vantage point – climb The Watchtower of Occupation to encounter experiences of control, surveillance and observation. To mark the V&A exhibition Light from the Middle East: New Photography, you are invited to immerse yourself in an evening of interactive art installations, award winning films, live underground music, experimental photography and a pop-up book club. Airmail byJowhara AlSaud, from the series Out of Line, 2008 Nour Festival of Arts Special Events The Mosaic Rooms Supper Club: Sarah Al-Hamad The Mosaic Rooms Secret West London location: to be disclosed on booking Sarah Al-Hamad is a writer, photographer, domestic cook and the author of Cardamom and Lime: Recipes from the Arabian Gulf (New Holland). She was raised in Kuwait, and some of her earliest memories are of her aunt’s bustling kitchen and her dad eating dates with buttermilk. Her passion for learning about cultures through food is revealed in her new book Sun Bread and Sticky Toffee: Date Desserts from Everywhere, which is published in spring 2013. The Mosaic Rooms Supper Club: Lamees Ibrahim The Mosaic Rooms 11 October Dinner, 6.30-10.30pm £40 (3-course meal & wine) Information: 10 places – booking essential 11 November High Tea, 3-6pm £25 12 places – booking essential w: www.mosaicrooms.org t: 020 7370 9990 e: [email protected] The Mosaic Rooms launches a new programme celebrating Middle Eastern food and the stories and traditions that surround cooking and eating. We launch the programme with two intimate events led by Sarah Al-Hamad: a ‘Cardamom & Lime’ themed three-course dinner, and an ‘Arabian High Chai’ with special teas, cakes and savory nibbles. In both events guests will have the opportunity to help prepare several of the recipes, watch Sarah cook, and learn about the ingredients typically used in Kuwaiti and Syrian cuisine. Secret West London location: to be disclosed on booking 27 October 11am-3pm 21 November 6.30-10.30pm £40 (3-course meal & wine) Lamees Ibrahim was born in Baghdad. She came to London to study, obtaining a PhD from Kings College Hospital Medical School. London has been her permanent home since 1988. Lamees Ibrahim’s first book The Iraqi Cookbook was published in 2009 to great success, with recipes featured on the Guardian online. Lamees is currently writing her second book and due to popular demand has begun hosting cookery classes and dinners. Information: 10 places per event Booking essential w: www.mosaicrooms.org t: 020 7370 9990 e: [email protected] The Mosaic Rooms launches a new programme celebrating Middle Eastern food and the stories and traditions that surround cooking and eating. We are delighted to present two culinary evenings with the celebrated Iraqi cook Lamees Ibrahim. With stories, discussions and demonstrations, guests will have the opportunity to try their hand at several recipes and enjoy a three-course meal of authentic Iraqi cuisine. Nour Festival of Arts Special Events Yalda 2012 – Iranian celebration of the winter solstice New Music Iran (NMI) and Leighton House Museum Khayaal Theatre at Al Manaar: Tales from Arab Lands Al Manaar: the Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre and Khayaal Theatre Leighton House Museum 12 Holland Park Road Kensington W14 8LZ 1 December 6.30-10pm (Doors open 6.30pm) £7, £5 concessions Pre-booking strongly recommended Information: w: www.nourfestival. eventbrite.co.uk t: 020 7602 3316 e: [email protected] Roya Arab is a musician and archaeologist, and Honorary Research Assistant at the Institute of Archaeology, UCL. Her interests are in the sociopolitical and economic contexts of an artefact, once it has been removed from, or highlighted in, the landscape, for study and/or display. Besides her work in public archaeology and throwing light on Iran’s ancient history, Roya is currently working with young Iranian musicians to help develop and promote their talents. Come and celebrate Yalda, with poetry music and fine fare. 6.30-7.15pm Hamid Navim performs popular Iranian songs in the Arab Hall 7.30-8.30 pm Hafez hour in the studio 9.00 -10.00pm Live music in the Studio: Roya Arab presents Alamute performing songs old and new, with guests including Ash Koosha. Silk Road Books will be present with publications relating to Iran and the wider region. Mahdi Restaurant of Hammersmith will provide a range of Iranian delicacies. Al ManarThe Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre 244 Acklam Road London W10 5YG 10 November 6.30-8pm Free Alia Alzougbi is a BAFTA Scotland nominated and award-winning actress and storyteller of international renown, with acclaimed stage, TV and film roles to her credit. Alia has been an associate artist with Khayaal since 2005. Revel in the humour, wit and wisdom of tales from the Arab world performed by Alia Alzougbi, a world-class storyteller from Lebanon. Our collection of stories has been chosen to celebrate the generosity and warmth of Arab culture and the Arab imagination that has shaped Western notions of wonder for centuries. Khayaal is the UK’s first award-winning professional theatre company dedicated to the dramatic exploration of Muslim world literature and the experience of Muslims in the modern world. For more information visit www.khayaal.co.uk Information: w: www.almanar.org.uk Nour Festival of Arts Special Events Tea & Coffee: A Portobello Wall Commission A co-commission by the Nour Festival and the Culture Service, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Portobello Wall Portobello Road (Opposite the Spanish School) London W11 October 2012 - March 2013 Free Nadia Hammoud is a London born artist. She stepped into the arts as a production photographer on film sets, working closely with actors and directors. Story is key to her pieces, whether documentary or fiction. They are the drinks of first meetings and old reunions, rivals and lovers, enemies and friends, the poor and the affluent. The smell and taste can remind of you of home, holidays and endless moments. This work is a mix of documentary photography and scenes of fiction, depicting these very moments. Covering different periods in history, this series also offers an insight into the journey of teas and coffees from the countries of their source to the current cafés of Ladbroke Grove, paralleling journeys made to the UK by past and present North African and Middle Eastern residents. Nour Festival of Arts Families and Young People Science Museum at Al Manaar: the Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre Al Manaar The Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre 244 Acklam Road London W10 5YG 13 October, 3 November 10 November 2.30-3.30pm Free Information: w: www.almanaar.org.uk 13 October Glorious Blood a show for KS2 7-11 year olds and families 3 November Water Transporter a workshop for KS3-4 11-16 year olds 35 participants max 10 November Colourful Kaleidoscopes a workshop for KS2 7-11 year olds and families 35 participants max Did you know that the Arab physician Ibn Nafis (died 1288) first described the pulmonary circulation of the blood? Learn more about him, follow the journey of blood through the human body, discovering what it does; what’s in it; where it goes; and what happens when you start to lose it... Hear more about the Kurdish engineer, artist and craftsman Al Jazari (1136-1206) who developed the earliest water supply system by hydropower. In this workshop you will face the problem of transporting water across a 6ft gap without carrying it. Your solution will consist of: a funnel, bamboo canes, guttering, string, hosing, plastic sheeting, elastic bands... and a whole heap of ingenuity. The foundations of modern day optics were laid down by the Iraqi scholars Al Kindi (801-73) and Ibn Al Haitham (Alhazen) (965-1040). This workshop explores how we see the world around us. Do you understand your cones from your rods? Join us to find out all about the amazing jobs our eyes do without us ever realising, plus you even get to make your very own colourful kaleidoscope! This is a show for those with an interest in blood, guts... and all things gross. Nour Festival of Arts Families and Young People V&A CreateFutures Artist-led photography workshops at Al Manaar and the V&A Al Manaar The Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre 244 Acklam Road London W10 5YG Victoria & Albert Museum [V&A] Cromwell Road London SW7 2RL 3 November (Al-Manaar) 2.30-4.30pm 10, 17, 24 November (V&A) 11am-4pm Visit of the galleries & exhibition; digital photography workshops Booking & information e: [email protected] Audience type: 16-24 year olds 16 November (V&A) 6.30-8pm Curator tour 30 November (V&A) Display of completed work at the V&A (Art Studio, Sackler Centre) Maria M. Kheirkhah is an artist/academic researching criticality/ diversity/visual knowledge and culture systems of the Middle East relative to the U.K. She is Assistant Professor, Richmond University; co-runs The Practice Exchange seminar series at Chelsea College of Art and Design; and is a Trustee/board member at the 198 Gallery, London. The V&A is running a series of artist-led photography workshops for young people aged 16-24, who will explore the “Light from the Middle East” exhibition. Looking at images and exploring different photographic techniques, participants will be encouraged to document real or staged aspects around their daily life in response to topics within the show. Working with artists, participants will have the opportunity to create a photographic work and display it at the V&A. Workshops will take place at Al Manaar, Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre in North Kensington and at the V&A. Places are limited. Saida in Green by Hassan Hajjaj, 2000 Nour Festival of Arts Nour Festival of Arts and The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in partnership with: Al Manaar: The Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre 244 Acklam Road North Kensington London W10 5YG 020 8964 1496 www.almanaar.org.uk Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing 50 Bedford Square London WC1B 3DP www.bqfp.com.qa Dash Arts Unit 22, Toynbee Studios 28 Commercial Street London E1 6AB 020 7377 6606 www.dasharts.org.uk The Ismaili Centre 1-7 Cromwell Gardens South Kensington SW7 2SL www.theismaili.org/ ismailicentre/london London Iranian Film Festival Office 441 22 Nottinghill Gate London W11 3JE www.ukiff.org.uk MICA Gallery Studio 2, 1st Floor 259A Pavilion Road London SW1X 0BP www.micahub.com The Arab British Centre 1 Gough Square London EC4A 3DE 020 7832 1310 www.arabbritishcentre .org.uk The British Egyptian Society 5 Brownlow Road Croydon, Surrey CR0 5JT 020 8681 7200 www.britishegyptian society.org.uk The Flyover 3-5 Thorpe Close London W10 5XL www.theflyover.co.uk Leighton House Museum 12 Holland Park Road London W14 8LZ Tel: 020 7602 3316 www.leightonhouse.co.uk The London Middle Eastern and North African (MENA ) Film Festival Golden House 30 Bloomsbury Street London WC1B 3QJ www.menafilmfest.com The Mosaic Rooms 226 Cromwell Road London SW5 0SW 020 7370 9990 www.mosaicrooms.org Nour Festival of Arts Saqi Books 26 Westbourne Grove London W2 5RH 020 7221 9347 www.saqibooks.com The Science Museum Exhibition Road South Kensington SW7 2DD www.sciencemuseum. org.uk Waterstone’s 193 High Street Kensington London W8 6BA 020 7937 8432 www.waterstones.com The official PR partner of the Nour Festival of Arts 2012 Nour Festival campaign artwork All press enquiries to: Kallaway Ltd 2 Portland Road Holland Park London W11 4LA Salaam Salute by Muiz, 2009 Tel: +44 (0)20 7221 7883 Fax: +44 (0)20 7229 4595 Key Contacts Will Kallaway [email protected] The Tabernacle 35 Powis Square London W11 2AY 020 7221 9700 www.tabernaclew11.com Victoria and Albert Museum Cromwell Road South Kensington SW7 2RL 020 7942 2000 www.vam.ac.uk Nazneen Nawaz [email protected] For more information: www.muiz.co.uk Nour Festival of Arts Nour Festival 2012 RBKC Culture @NourFestival #NourFestival NourFestival.co.uk [email protected]