Celebrating Arab art and culture, musicians from the MENA region bring their sound to Liverpool Arab Arts Festival in July 2020, as the digital festival launches its programme from Liverpool.
The festival launches on Thursday 9 July with Moroccan musical collective Walead Ben Selim and Widad Broco/N3rdistan. Between rock, trip hop, electro, oriental-beat with world influences, this quartet mixes with ease digital power, ancestral Arabic poetry, the targeted singing intermingling here and there with the melodies of a Qanoon and African Keys. Without falling into the trap of ethnic-electro this firey sonorisation serves as an engine to this group producing the most highly musical journey of the moment.
Hailing from one of the most musically rich cities in the Levant, Hello Psychaleppo is the brain child of Aleppian electronic music producer and visual artist Samer Saem Eldahr who brings an intimate live performance to Liverpool Arab Arts Festival on Friday 10 July.
Both of these events are in partnership with Marsm UK.
After wowing the crowds at the closing of last year’s Family Day, the festival welcomes back Daraa Tribes as the celebratory closing event on Saturday 18 July. A fusion of ancestral tribal music and Saharan Blues, Daraa Tribes comes from the oasis town of Tagounite in the Daraa River Valley of Morocco, with each member originating from a different tribe, bringing with them diverse music traditions to create an eclectic style only to be found in the oases of the North African Sahara.
Founded in 1998, Liverpool Arab Arts Festival takes place each year in arts and cultural venues across Liverpool. In 2020, a digital programme of performance, music, film and conversation will see artists, writers, musicians and filmmakers connect virtually from their homes in Ramallah, Kuala Lumpur, London, Beirut and more.
The Festival programme includes performances from artist-in-residence, spoken word poet and activist Lisa Luxx, renowned Arabist and author Tim Mackintosh-Smith, an event in partnership with independent publisher Comma Press connecting writers in Gaza, Ramallah and Jerusalem in ‘Writing the Palestinian City’ and a film programme celebrating female directors in today’s Arab world.
Each of the music events wil be available to watch live on Facebook.