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Egypt's cultural picks of the week, 17-24 November: VIDEOS Exhibitions, films, workshops, spiritual music and chanting from around the world; this week offers a variety of cultural events taking place across Egypt between 17 and 24 November
Sunday 17 November Samaa Festival for Spiritual Music and Chanting in multiple venues, 6:30pm The sixth annual International Samaa Festival for Spiritual Music and Chanting that opened on Saturday 16 November brings together music from countries around the world. The festival will continue until 21 November and is held in four venues simultaneously: Saladin's Citadel (Salah Salem , Joseph's Well Theatre (Citadel), Al-Ghory Dome (Old Cairo) and Al-Hanager open area (Opera House grounds). Sunday 17 November will offer performances from China, Yemen, Greece, Albania, Azerbaijan, Jordan, Pakistan, Egypt, Indonesia and Sudan. Check the details here. Poetry Jam at the Wekalet Al-Ghoury, 7pm In an event organised by the Austrian Cultural Forum, three Egyptian poets will join their counterparts from Austria, Switzerland and Germany to perform their writings and improvised work together. The performance will include the artists playing with words and language, while entertaining listeners with quick, humorous and satirical texts. Wekalet al Ghoury, Islamic Cairo (opposite of Al Azhar Mosque) Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Taha Hussein's death at the French Institute, 7pm The French Institute in Cairo will commemorate the 40th anniversary of the death of the dean of Arabic literature, Taha Hussein, on Sunday 17 November at the Institute's headquarters in Mounira. The event will host writer and critic Gaber Asfour, actor Yahia El-FAkharany, and novelist Youssef El-Qaeed. The French Institute will provide a reading of the personal letters that Hussein exchanged with the renowned French writer André Gide. The event will also feature a live oud performance. Madraset El-Hoqouq El-Ferenseya Street, Mounira, Cairo Gottlieb Wallisch Piano Recital at the International Music Centre, 8pm Austrian pianist Gottlieb Wallisch will perform works by Bach, Bartok, Haydn, Schumann and Liszt. Wallisch has won several prestigious prizes at international piano competitions, including 1st prize at the Grand Prix Ivo Pogorelich at the Stravinsky Awards (USA). During his career, Wallisch has performed with many leading international orchestras and worked with renowned conductors. See Wallisch performing Schubert's Sonata in E minor in the video below. Manasterly Palace, Rhoda Island, next to the Nilometre, Cairo ## Also on this day: - Samaa Festival for Spiritual Music and Chanting. Check the detailshere. - Cairo International Women's Film Festival. Check the details here. - Several exhibitions openings. Read more about the openings and ongoing exhibitions in our Art Agenda. Monday 18 November Cairo International Women's Film Festival in a variety of locations in Cairo The Cairo International Women's Film Festival opened on 16 November and will continue until 22 November, bringing films from more than 20 countries to the city. The festival, titled "Among Women Filmmakers," features a selection of the best feature, short, animation and documentary films made by women in the past two years. The festival spans a number of venues across Cairo: The Artistic Creativity Centre, the AUC Ewart Memorial Hall and the Falaki Theatre. Check the programme details here. Below is a trailer of the film Coming Forth By Day written and directed by Hala Lotfy, which will be screened among other films at Falaki Theatre this week. Also on this day: - Samaa Festival for Spiritual Music and Chanting. Check the details here. - Check our Art Agenda for exhibitions held in Cairo. Tuesday 19 November Screening of Bosnian film "Cirkus Columbia" at the Cairo Opera House, 6:30pm The Cairo Opera House's Cine Club will screen Danis Tanovic's "Cirkus Columbia," a 2010 Bosnian drama set in Herzegovina in the early 1990s, after the dissolution of Yugoslavia and before the Yugoslav Wars. The film is based on a novel of the same name by highly acclaimed Bosnian-Croat writerIvica Dikić. Read more here, or watch the trailer below. Small Hall, Cairo Opera House, Zamalek, Cairo "The Challenges of Writing" discussion at the Goethe Institute, 7pm Goethe Institute in Cairo will host five German writers and Egyptian writers Khaled El-Khamisi, Ibrahim Abdel-Meguied and Mansour Ezzeddine at the German Association to exchange and discuss the challenges of writing. The event is held as part of the Goethe Institute Festival with Cairo as a city of publishing. 5 Bostan Street, Downtown, Cairo El Sakia String Orchestra at El-Sawy Culturewheel, 7pm Celebrating its 4th anniversary, El-Sakia String Orchestra, conducted by Mohamed Saad Basha, will open its new season with compositions for piano and string by Italian composer Cipriani Vincenzo, who will be also be performing a piano solo. Other compositions will include works by Gardel, Bregovich, Piazzolla. The concert will be joined by guest trombone player Michael Louis. Wisdom Hall, 26th of July Street, Zamalek, Cairo Also on this day: - Samaa Festival for Spiritual Music and Chanting. Check the details here. - Cairo International Women's Film Festival. Check the details here. - Check our Art Agenda for exhibitions held in Cairo. Wednesday 20 November State of Harmony performance at the French Institute, 7:30pm State of Harmony is an ensemble consisting of students from the Cairo Conservatory. Comprising celli only, the ensemble began performing in 2010, giving their first concert that included of works by Vivaldi at the Cairo Opera House's small hall. Their upcoming concert at the French Institute will be an original compilation fusing classical music with modern pop accents. The programme will include compositions from Vivaldi and Piazzola, along with musical remake of the songs by Lady Gaga. Madraset El-Hoqouq El-Ferenseya Street, Mounira, Cairo Last day of Egyptian Masters' exhibition at ArtTalks The Egyptian Masters' exhibition includes rare works by key figures in modern Egyptian art, representing the artistic movements that emerged in Egypt in the first half of the 20th century. On display are works by Mahmoud Said, Mahmoud Mokhtar, Ragheb Ayad, Adham Wanly, Seif Wanly, Margaret Nakhla, Yousef Kamel, Ramses Younan and Fouad Kamel, all on loan to ArtTalks from private collections. Read more about the exhibitionhere. Ahmad Abdalla's newest movie premiere in Egyptian cinemas Film Clinic, the production company behind Ahmad Abdalla's latest endeavour "Farsh w Ghata" (Rags and Tatters) has announced that the award winning and highly anticipated film will be screened in cinemas in Cairo and Alexandria for only one week. Following the critical success of his first two films, "Heliopolis" and "Microphone," "Farsh w Ghata" has been making festival rounds in the past months, and has been gaining recognition from juries, critics and audiences alike. Watch the film trailer below. Nile City Cinema, Bandar Mall Cinema, Wonderland, Reniacense Dandy Mall, Americana Plaza, Renaissance San Stefano (Cairo) and Raniassance Carrefour (Alexandria). Also on this day: - Samaa Festival for Spiritual Music and Chanting. Check the details here. - Cairo International Women's Film Festival. Check the details here. - Check our Art Agenda for exhibitions held in Cairo. Thursday 21 November Screening of Bollywood movie "ChakDe!" at Maulana Azad Centre, 4pm The 2009 Bollywood movie "ChakDe!" will be screened at Maulana Azad for Indian Culture. The movie, which follows the story of an Indian women's hockey team, is directed by Shimit Amin and stars Shahrukh Khan and the ChakDe Girls. Read more about the Maulana Azad Centre'sfilm screenings here. Watch the film trailer below. 23 Talaat Harb, Downtown, Cairo Lectures on cinema and filmmaking in Makani, Damietta, 5pm Lectures covering a wide range of topics about cinema and filmmaking are part of Makani's recent initiative titled "Face to Face: Social media is older than the Internet," organised in collaboration with Dahlia Refaat. The project aims to reach emerging filmmakers in Damietta. Lectures take place on Thursdays and Fridays until the end of November. Read more here. Makani, Sorour Square, Oscar building, Damietta Also on this day: - Closing of the Samaa Festival for Spiritual Music and Chanting. Check the details here. - Cairo International Women's Film Festival. Check the details here. - Check our Art Agenda for exhibitions held in Cairo. Friday 22 November Lectures on cinema and filmmaking in Makani, Damietta, 4pm Lectures covering a wide range of topics about cinema and filmmaking are part of Makani's recent initiative titled "Face to Face: Social media is older than the Internet," organised in collaboration with Dahlia Refaat. The project aims to reach emerging filmmakers in Damietta. Lectures take place on Thursdays and Fridays until the end of November. Read more here. Makani, Sorour Square, Oscar building, Damietta Closing of the Cairo International Women's Film Festival at Falaki Theatre, 5pm The Cairo International Women's Film Festival opened on 16 November and brought films from more than 20 countries to the city. The closing ceremony will include an award ceremony for the best films and filmmakers of the festival. The festival programme is available here. El-Falaki Street, the American University in Cairo Downtown Campus ## Saturday 23 November Mediterranean Music at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, 7pm The Bibliotheca Alexandrina Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Mohamed Saad Basha, will perform compositions by Sameh El Azab and Vincenso Capriani, who are also soloists of the evening. El Azab will perform on guitar with Italian composer Capriani on piano. El Geish Road, El-Shatby, Alexandria Verdi's Messa da Requiem at the Cairo Opera House, 7pm The Cairo Symphony Orchestra and a cappella choir, conducted by Nayer Nagui, will perform Giuseppe Verdi's Messa da Requiem. Soloists of the evening will include: tenor Georges Wanis, soprano Iman Moustafa and mezzo soprano Elena Shavadrova. Watch fragment from Messa da Requien (Tuba Mirum) performed by the Orchestra and Chorus of la Scala in Milan conducted by Herbert von Karajan in 1967, below. Main Hall, Cairo Opera House, Zamalek, Cairo Also on this day: - Check our Art Agenda for exhibitions held in Cairo. Sunday 24 November No Thank You, We Don't Want It: Mona El-Bayoumi at Picasso Art Gallery A solo exhibit featuring paintings by Mona El-Bayoumi will run until the end of November at the Picasso Art Gallery in Zamalek. The exhibit showcases artist's interpretations of the role of Western forces in Egypt in the past three decades. Symbolism drawing on Egypt's pharaonic heritage and a vibrant palette is employed to illustrate the Egyptian people's yearning for freedom and independence, according to the curatorial text. The exhibition runs until 29 November. Check our Art Agenda for other exhibitions held in Cairo. 30 Hassan Assem Street (off Brazil Street), Zamalek, Cairo ## ------------- Follow Arts and Culture updates on Twitter @AhramOnlineArts and on our Facebook page Ahram Online: Arts and Culture. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/86611.aspx
