Visual arts, singing and a dervish on roller skates: Tarek Aboul-Fetouh tells Youssef Rakha about life's ever-changing configurations It seems as if this conversation at Estoril has already taken place: the pace, the cadences and even the thematic outlines are all too familiar. Yet Tarek Aboul-Fetouh -- architecture graduate, set designer, independent producer-curator- coordinator -- is less effervescent than usual; his trademark enthusiasm seems to express itself as much in symptoms of sleep deprivation as in the ups and downs of the project under discussion. "I haven't slept properly for days," he confesses as he urges me to prepare notebook and pen -- and clear-cut questions. On his way to Menya to start working on the principal topic of the conversation at hand, he seems both determined and distracted; such is the state of mind that has characterised his many-sided career in the arts since his days as El- Warsha Theatre Company's young costume designer, tent-maker and so called scenograph. The now Brussels-based international fund for Arab arts, Young Arab Theatre Fund (YATF; [email protected]) was Aboul-Fetouh's way of transcending the dictates of increasingly prescriptive production frameworks, up to and including the theatrical "free troupes" from which he emerged. And his success is due as much to this brand of distraction, without which he would not be able to maintain such a far-ranging network of contacts, venues and deadlines, as to determination. "The fund," he says, "is finally starting to grow..." So be it: the sense of déjà vu is undermined not only by the Coptic hymns paradoxically playing in the bathroom -- it is Christmas Eve -- but by the fact that, only two years ago, Aboul-Fetouh's confidence may not have allowed for quite so much focus. "We are very happy," he tentatively points out, nodding to his Dutch companion, Trudi Maan, an artist-set designer and YATF board member who has been pleasantly sms-ing on her mobile phone since the start of the conversation. Since its initial stages -- "We started with little money," Aboul-Fetouh is eager to emphasise -- the fund's success has been evidenced in popular productions in Tunisia, Beirut, Amman as well as Cairo and Alexandria. Tours of the Arab world and of Europe have been underway, and interactive, multinational projects went as far south as Zanzibar. It is perhaps the Jesuits Association Garage in Sidi Gaber, Alexandria, that encapsulates the fund's contribution most clearly. A disused space belonging to one of YATF's numerous "local partners," it was renovated to accommodate as many performance and Association activity uses as possible, with Aboul-Fetouh -- always the frustrated architect -- creating a flexible modular design and installing modern components, lighting and sound. A full 100 performance nights on the space has provided numerous artists with otherwise unavailable opportunities; it is more in demand than ever. The most recent development in the by now celebrated Garage Theatre: sound insulation for the ceiling; and the fact that, in the next round of activities, for the first time, someone with no connection to YATF is creating his own, brand new configuration, in this way turning Aboul-Fetouh's original dream into reality. In a parallel way, YATF funds are more forthcoming. The Garage Theatre, it turns out, is but the first episode of an ongoing saga: five spaces in Minya, Amman, Bierut and eventually Cairo. In Amman and Bierut disused, ill-reputed cinemas (the Riviera Cinema in Bierut has served as both a porn venue and a military barracks) have been located, the "local partners" who own them approached and plans for their design drawn up. "The idea," Aboul-Fetouh explains, "is that the local partner will then undertake the task of organising programmes for the space in question. We'll be working to put people in touch with each other, of course, but one of our jobs is to coordinate among the five venues, which will all retain links with YATF." The theatre of the Jesuits and Brothers Association in Minya, a complex that also includes a monastery and civil work offices, is a rather more immediate undertaking. Renovations are to begin shortly for the opening in March, a thoroughly multidisciplinary event supported by the Dutch Embassy for which Aboul-Fetouh has engineered a series of small-scale productions which are also to participate in the House World Cultures season, a programme entitled "Disorientation," in April. This time the process of space appropriation has thus gone hand in hand with that of production-networking; and the project is appropriately called "Young Voices, New Visions." "The monastery was built more than 100 years ago. More recently the Association has concentrated on civil, socio-cultural development endeavours; and there always existed this theatre, which was a traditional style proscenium that served basically as a school theatre." The modular design, incorporating portable components like blocks that serve as seats, partition bases and storage compartments, will make for as much flexibility as that of the Garage Theatre. The lighting is similarly designed to allow for as many configurations as possible. "The foyer," Aboul- Fetouh adds, "will not have as many walls as it does now; it will open out directly onto the stairs. The colours will be as bright and happy as possible, for the benefit of the children who study and engage in activities at the association. We are also looking for funds to install air-conditioning." One space-specific undertaking spills directly into the visual arts slant of Aboul-Fetouh's current event concept. "I have been obsessed with multidisciplinary work," he frequently asserts. Of the two walls that enclose the width of the space one has windows that open out onto the real world of Menya; the other is blank. "So we thought we'd let the Japanese philosophy of architecture inspire us." On the blank wall, windows of the same size will be constructed opposite the real windows; but instead they will open out onto the two-dimensional world imagined by artist Lara Baladi. "Lara," Aboul- Fetouh intones, "will in this way bring her world to Menya, adding a sense of balance." Bringing their world to Menya is what the artists engaged in "Young Voices, New Visions" will be doing, too. Aboul-Fetouh had selected four young artists whose choice to make art their vocation and settle in Cairo (they are currently members of El-Warsha Theatre Company) was a result of socio-cultural development projects undertaken by the Association in the village of Bayadeya and the town of Mallawi. Soeur Celeste of the former had founded the Upper Egypt Choir in the former, while El-Warsha founded the Stick Dancing Centre in the latter. Of the three young singers now part of "Young Voices," Basem Wadie and Salib Fawzi were members of the choir (Laila Fawzi, the third, is a Cairo-born Warsha member who collaborates with them). Basem Adly, another participant, remains a major figure at the centre. "I felt that these young artists, however confined their current endeavours, were at the threshold of professionalism. And I wanted to work with visual artists." Khaled Hafez, Nermine Hammam, Amal Shoukri and Sherif El- Azma are among the names Aboul-Fetouh has finally settled on. "So I filmed the singers performing and showed the videos to them. They were very enthusiastic, and each selected a singer to work with." Hafez's Pop Art-inspired video, for example, will rely in part on Wadie's singing; Shoukri will work with Sami; and the star of El-Azma's latest video will be Donya Masoud, a rather more professional Alexandria-born singer who worked briefly at El-Warsha but is in no way affiliated with it or the Menya projects. Each of the four singers will, in addition, stage a more tightly conceptualised individual concert; Fawzi's, to mention but one, revolves around the multifaceted contribution of the celebrated 1960s icon Mohamed Fawzi. Adly, who has delved deeper and deeper into modern dance, is currently working with older choreographers to develop a Van Leo-inspired theme of a dervish on roller skates, a performance to which Hammam will contribute the visual dimension. All in all there will be seven productions, three of which will be visual arts-music collaborations. To be confirmed, in addition, story-teller Sherine El- Ansari and video artist Motaz Nasr are to undertake their own as yet unpublicised collaboration. "The collaborative projects will not only help the younger artists to develop professionally," Aboul-Fetouh explains, "they will give the visual artists the opportunity to take their work to Menya -- something that would not have been available otherwise." He takes a sip of his omnipresent cup of Turkish coffee and beams. "So you see what creating a new space can be about," he laughs. And as he picks up his bag, in the distance, the sound of the Coptic hymns seep through the folding doors of the bathrooms, filling the by now half-empty Estoril and becoming more and more pronounced.
