SISTRUM Sistrum is a musical instrument from ancient Egypt, also known by the Greeks and Romans (mentioned in poems of Ovid and Virgil). In Egypt you can see sistrum in paintings of Nefertari and the goddess Bastet and Isis. The sistrum is made of metal, usually brass, and it is 30 – 70 cm long […]
T-Mobile New Horizons The International Film Festival T-Mobile New Horizons is just taking place in Wrocław. For eleven days you can watch movies from all over the world, also from the Middle East. These four tiles caught my eye: “Twenty Eight Nights and a Poem”, dir. Akram Zaatari, Lebanon (26.07 – 16.00), “Taxi”, dir. Jafar Panahi, […]
SAIDI Saidi is a folk dance from the Upper Egypt region of Said. This style was introduced on stage by Mahmoud Reda. I mentioned the male version of this dance with the cane called tahtib in the previous post – saidi is it’s female version. It can also be danced with a cane made of […]
NAY NAY or NEY, NAI (per. نی) is a Persian flute which has been used in Middle East music for 5 000 years! You can see it in the wall paintings in Pyramids of Giza. Nay is made of reed and traditionally has 6 holes in the upper part for fingers and one hole at […]
DAF DAF (دف) is a large drum with little rings made of metal attached to wooden frame. The membrane is made of goat skin. This musical instrument comes from Iran, but now we can also hear it in the music of Middle East. In Iran, daf was used during important celebrations. We can also read about […]
TAHTIB Tahtib is a folk Egyptian male dance called also a “stick/cane dance”. But first, tahtib was a fighting martial art from Upper Egypt – style of self-defense. The image of men fighting in this manner is in the Egyptian pyramids. Lately it evolved into a dance – imitation of a battle with a wooden […]
BRAVE FESTIVAL Brave Festival – against cultural exile starts this Friday. It is already the eleventh edition, this year focusing on the griot tradition and the art of storytelling. I participated in the previous editions and I saw Addal – Moroccan dancing women from the Valley Ameln with a long veil covering their faces, a […]
BUZUQ BUZUQ (arab. بزق ) is a plucked string instrument. It is a long-necked lute with 5 to 7 strings and, unlike the oud, it has frets. Buzuq is not a typical Arabic instrument – it can be heard in the music of Turkey (and it’s related to Turkish saz), Greece (related to buzuqi) but […]