MazaJ Festival
Organisation: Zenith Foundation
Time: 18 November 2010 9:30am - 21 November 2010 11:30pm
Place: London Venues: City University and Café Oto
Zenith Foundation Presents:
MazaJ Festival | 1st edition
Festival of Experimental Middle Eastern Music
MazaJ (meaning mood in Arabic) is a place of free expression, of attunement that presents sonic experimentation from the Middle East and its diaspora.
The first edition of the MazaJ Festival is a celebration of contemporary and experimental Arabic music and Middle Eastern sonic culture, taking place in London. Curated by artist Seth Ayyaz, MazaJ encourages audiences to look beyond the ‘world music’ label by stripping bare the stereotypes of ‘Arabic’ or ‘Middle Eastern’ music. Forging links between UK and Middle Eastern artists and audiences, the festival takes the form of a one-day conference and concert at City University London, a Resonance FM broadcast on the Friday, followed by a weekend of talks and performances at Café Oto.
The festival features work from a selection of contemporary composers, live musicians, leading electronic producers and sound installation artists from the Middle East and its resonant diasporas. These artists are linked by their sonic experimentation within and without a tradition of Middle Eastern musical practice in which improvisation has always played a key role.
The Volatile Frequencies Conference at City University London will provide a critical framework for the weekend and on the Saturday, media partners The Wire will also host a panel discussion between festival artists and invited speakers to contextualise the artists’ work.
Confirmed artists performing at MazaJ include:
Seth Ayyaz (UK), Mazen Kerbaj (Lebanon), Hassan Khan (Egypt), Mutamassik (Egypt / USA), Mahmoud Refat (Egypt), Sharif Sehnaoui (Lebanon), Michael Zerang (USA)
Thursday 18 - Sunday 21 November 2010
MazaJ Festival Events
18 November
Conference | City University | 9.30am-5.30pm | Free, click here to pre-register
Concert | City University | 7-9pm | £5, click here to book
20 November
Panel Discussion | Café Oto | 5.30-7.30pm | £5, click here to book
Concert | Café Oto | 8pm till late | £10 in advance, click here to book or £12 on the door
21 November
Concert | Café Oto | 7pm till late | £10 in advance, click here to book or £12 on the door
Click here for full listings and details.