Every month and a half, Egyptian youth gather together in different venues to open up and express their most genuine and raw experiences. Through a project called Mashroo3 Mareekh (previously known as Project Yourself: Open Mic), anyone can sign up in advance upon arrival and project themselves in whatever form they wish. Anyone of any age or background is welcome to participate, and performances include music of all genres and types, theatrical presentations, stand-up comedy, dancing, poetry readings, monologues, and occasionally improvisation on stage. The founder of Mashroo3 Mareekh, Mariam el-Quessny, tells Youm7 more about the details of the project; Youm7: What is Mashroo3 Mareekh? Mashroo3 Mareekh is an initiative to promote self-expression, an outlet to channel ideas and an umbrella to incubate many other self expression initiatives. Mashroo3 Mareekh branches out into different projects, from the regular monthly open mic, Microphone al-Mareekh, to other projects in different governorates outside Cairo, Qafilat al-Mareekh. Is it any different from Project Yourself: Open Mic? Yes. Project Yourself has now branched off from Mashroo3 Mareekh. It is a section of what the entire project is going to be about. Project Yourself is now called Microphone Mareekh, but it is the same project. Why did you pick the name Mahroo3 Mareekh? Mashroo3 Mareekh translates into “Mars Project” and it was picked because it was unearthly, which allows it to be open to interpretation. It could grow, expand, and move in different directions. Nothing is set in stone and the audience can bring flavor and chemistry to the project and manipulate it any way they want, as long as it is genuine and raw. How long has the project been in process? Since December of 2009. The upcoming event, on July 1 at Azhar Park, will be the 15th event for Microphone Mareekh, which was previously known as Project Yourself. Who is in charge? Are there any sponsors or funding? I am the founder and in charge of Mashroo3 Mareekh. Nehdet Mahroosa offers us advice and suggestions and gives us grants. Nehdet Mahroosa gave us a great push and they are an amazing organization. They allowed Mashroo3 Mareekh a great possibility to expand and provided a reliable catalyst. Nahdet mahroosa incubates the project legally and by providing advice and money, if needed. What is the goal of Mashroo3 Mareekh? To spread the idea of self-expression, flip the switch, to allow people empowerment even if for only a little while. For a short while, a performer will be able to discover themselves and their expression will be influencing. The aim is to link people together form each governorate to another. There is very little difference between audiences in Cairo for example than those in the governorates of Minya or el-Bahareya. Surprisingly, this project I believe is more successful out of Cairo, because people weren't afraid of being on stage, because there was confidence on stage and they opened up completely. There was this one performance of a 15-min pantomime about the fall of the regime. Here in Cairo, the performances are more contained. Another aim is to understand what happens and the thoughts and ideas outside Cairo. It promotes inbound tourism, to get to know Egypt more. There is this obsession with Cairo, and the capital city represents all of Egypt but it doesn't. Mashroo3 Mareekh wants to get over the exclusivity of Cairo and burst the bubble. What has Mashroo3 Mareekh achieved? There have been mini achievements: a great number of people expressed themselves honestly, they were vulnerable for a few moments, absorbed into their performance. And the audience was absorbed with them. There was sharing and human interaction. Mashroo3 Mareekh is a moment outside real time, for personas to come out of introverts and for instant reaction. How did the revolution affect the project? It didn't affect it that much, actually. Prior the January 25 Revolution, politics were still discussed but with more creativity, more metaphors to hide and mask and not be blunt about it. The performers got away with their freedom of expression because there is no monitoring since the project is not 'official.' There is a lot of leeway. But now, it's upfront, more powerful, it sort of lost the artistry and subtlety. How do you pick your venues? We aim to pick someplace as cozy as possible. The less agenda, the better. We didn't want el-Sawy Culture Wheel, Townhouse or any culture monopoly. Makan and Drab1718 are nice and it's a great way to support their space as well as they support our project. We never wanted to pick any commercial places Where did the Project Yourself project take place before? The first one was in Cellar Door Bistro in Maadi. There have been several ones in Makan. The project took place in Darb1718 many times. July 1 will be the first time Mashroo3 Mareekh will take place in Al-Azhar Park, starting at 7:00 P.M.
