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1 - 4 April, 2007

Cultural Bridge; Egypt - Switzerland

Discussions

Hugo Loetcher visited Egypt in January 2006 and met Gamal El Ghitani through the discussions and readings in "Qantara (small bridge) Project" which took place in Luxor and Cairo. This year, a bigger cultural bridge is being built between Egypt and Switzerland which includes, literature and social discussion on a broader scale. Radwa Ashour, an Egyptian writer and a Professor at the English Literature Department of Cairo University is meeting with Hugo Loetcher for 3 different readings and discussions from 1 to 4 of April 2007 in Basel, Bern and Zurich. The moderator for the dialogue will be Hartmut Fahndrich, a specialist in Arabic Culture and a translator. Under the theme of "Islam and Europa", Ismail Amin and Nahed Selim will discuss orient and occident, Islam and Christianity, Men and Women issues. The moderator will be Susanne Schanda, a journalist who lives in Zurich and Cairo. A performance by Omar Ghayyat and Ahmed Roby, who are artists in residence at Schlachthause Bern, will take place within the same program.

24 March, 2007

Musical Windows

Concert

Martin Schumacher, Ahmed El Sawi and Bob. They all met during Martin Schmacher's residency in Cairo in March 2007. Listening to the music of each other and playing together on personal levels, they discovered that there is a lot in their music which they would like to share with friends and audiance. The concert will take place at EL Ghoury Palce, al Azhar Street, on Saturday, March 24 at 8 pm.

23 March, 2007

Michael von Graffenried - inside Cairo

one day exhibition

Michael von Graffenried, tha artist in residence in Cairo since January 2007 (check projects page), showing 8 panoramic photographs taken during his residency in Cairo. From the graduation at American University to the army recruit at Al Azhar University, from Camel market to Friday prayer, he has tried to capture the reality of this middle eastern capital.

18 & 20 March 2007

Swiss Viedeo Film Series

Screening

A program of short experimental for Thomas Isler and others

MARCH 18, 07
Part One
TV-Movie directed by Thomas Isler, Super-8, 6 min
13 Words and Life directed by Thomas Isler, Super-8, 4 min Untitled, directed by Thomas Isler, Super-8, 5 min
Leonie's Dream ABC directed by Thomas Isler, Super-8, 6 min
Faster Movie, Kill Kill Kill directed by Thomas Isler, 16mm, 6 min
Part Two
Sad Song directed by Max Phillip Schmid, Experimental, 16mm, 5 min
Mister Würfel directed by Raffael Sommerhalder, Animation, 35mm, 5 min
Never Be Single directed by Jan Schonburg, Benedikt Ritter, Fiction, 35mm, 10 min
Taxi Trip directed by Nico Gutmann, Documentary, Video, 20 min
The Cello directed by Thomas Isler, Fiction, 35mm, 20 min
MARCH 20, 07
Wanakam, a documentary film directed by Thomas Isler, 35 mm, 83 min Many Tamil refugees, even after years in Switzerland, still have only temporary residence permits. The constant fight for permits and work, authorization to travel and education wears down their lives. Wanakam tells the story of Nixsan, put in a home for children, who has stopped talking since he fled from Sri Lanka; of Sasi, who is consumed with homesickness; of Mena, on her difficult path to independence and of Aiya, who escapes his loneliness with sad songs. Wanakam focuses on people who benefit from immigration policies only because they provide cheap labor. Their chances of social integration are almost nil.

Cairo, January 14 - February 7, 2007 - Alex, January 21 - February 7, 2007

Mafish Agaza fi Gaza "No Holidays in Gaza"

exhibition

Curator & artist Rayelle Niemann,
Artists, Raouf Haj Yahya, Taysir El Batniji ,
Gaza, the Gaza-Strip, situated at the Mediterranean with a 100km long shoreline, is a perfect destination for holidays, light-coloured sand and rock formations provide a divers costal area, restaurants along the seaside offer a big variety of local delicacies, plenty of fish and home made dishes. The back lands are enriched with fertile grounds, lush gardens, endless orange and mango groves and huge fields with olive-trees and grains.The old city of Gaza and its surrounding areas give an insight into the ancient history, the historical heritage of this key strategic crossroad of the region. Beautiful ancient buildings, palaces, hamams and amazingly arranged gardens pay witness to a 3000-year old narrative, incorporating the period of the Pharaohs, Philistines as well as Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine eras. If you are ready to spend some leisure time in one of the most interesting territories in the Middle East, rich in past and current history, come to Gaza, to indulge body and mind.

The works of Taysir Batniji (Gaza + Paris), Raoof Haj Yehia (Ramallah), and Rayelle Niemann (Cairo + Zürich) offer different artistic approaches to Gaza. The exhibition will open the discussion of artistic strategies penetrating a topic that is widely dealt with in the media without reaching beyond certain stereotypes. The trap of ,authenticity,in wide spread documentaries, either film or photography, is challenged by these works reinforcing the complexity of the situation in a rather processed reassessment.
The exhibition will take place at Contemporary Image Collective 20 Safeya Zaghloul St., off Qasr El Eini st., Monira, Cairo.
Alexandria Contemporary Arts Forum, 10 Hussein Hassab st.,2nd floor, Azarita, Alexandria

Cairo, December 10, 2006 - January 13, 2006

Maghreb Connection
Movements of Life Across North Africa

International Project of art and research
directed by Curator Ursula Biemann

THE MAGHREB CONNECTION focuses on systems and modalities of migratory movements which constitute the Maghreb and Mediterranean area. From a range of aesthetic positions, the project seeks to develop discursive and visual representations of the growing complexity of North African mobility in relation with the development of the European Union. In parallel to the agreements about "free movement" inside the European Union, its external borders are increasingly being sealed. In this new scheme, the Maghrebi migrants and those sub-Saharans who use the Maghreb as transit zone are perceived as a threat. While this notion of an invasion - largely spread by the European media - seems to legitimate the restrictive political measures concerning immigration, the European economy reaches further down into the Maghreb to establish giant transnational logistic centers or to find cheap labour for outsourced production. At this point, the relations between Europe and Africa have entered a new post-colonial phase. This project features works by artists
DOA ALY (Cairo), YTO BARRADA (Tangier), RAPHAËL CUOMO/MARIA IORIO (Geneva), HALA ELKOUSSY (Cairo), CHARLES HELLER (Geneva), URSULA BIEMANN, (Zurich), HELENA MALENO (Tangier) in collaboration with media/design activists OBSERVATORIO TECNOLOGICO (Malaga) and the photographer ARMIN LINKE (Milan).Conference participants include Michel Agier, Ali Bensaâd, Mehdi Alioua, Brian Holmes and the artists.
The opening is at the Townhouse Gallery
on December 10 at 7 pm
conference December 11, from 11 am - 7 pm

November & December 2006

El Sabr Gameel

Swiss-Egyptian Music Encounter

For a long time, Arabic music is played without written note, while the European music needed to be written down since the middle ages. This means that we have 2 different cultures concerning composing and playing of the music. The European musicians have studied music visually while the Arab (Oriental) musicians depended on audio methods (oral) for playing their music. El Sabr Gameel is an encounter between Swiss artists from one side and Egyptian artists from the other, aiming to create a deep insight into each culture with a further understanding of the differences between them. The Arab musicians will deepen their understanding of the specialty of their music. The Swiss artists will be introduced to the oral music which will develop their imagination of composing without a written note, as the improvisations form an important part of the Oriental music. After the great success of the concernt in Switzerland during November, the program in Egypt as follows:
Bibliotheca Alexandrina
Monday, December 11, 8 pm
El Gomhoreya Theatre
Wednesday, December 13, 8 pm
Beit El Harawi,
Thursday, December 14, 8 pm.

Tehran, April 14 -17, 2006

How can it Hurt, When it Looks so Good

Tracing the Limits of Artworld Internationalism
Contemporary Art Exhibition

Concept: Tirdad Zolghadr
The project at hand raises issues of local ambition, international fashion and intersecting art histories. It asks the question of what the European market wishes to buy, and why it wishes to do so. It is rather plain to see that the West is not a mere observer of globalized cultural flows, but a consumer playing a decisive role. Just as any other demanding client, it actively defines the supply. The question is thus which strategies might be useful when facing such hegemonic structures. What is the precise difference, in this context, between careerism and strategy, between authenticity and local history? The first part of the exhibition took part in Centre d'art contemporain de Genève, October 2004, under the title "Ethnic Marketing". The second part will take place in Tehran at Av Gallery, Azad Gallery and the University of Tehran.

March 19 - April 10, 2006

Tales from a Globalizing World

International photography exhibition

It is a collective project that draws its strength from its individual authors, by uniting photographic and styles of experience, it combines various aspects of globalization into an image of the new reality that is shaping the world we live in. The main idea of the project is to present the growing development gap between the first world and the fourth world (Sub-Saharan Africa, Rural areas of Asia, South America, in every country and city on earth like social exclusion, unemployment, homelessness, prostitution, crime, sickness..). Each photographer has his story and the 10 Stories (241 photos) express a single subject that can be comprehended only in the light of its constant transformation (together create a whole). Also see the exhibition's website
The opening is on Sunday, March 19, 2005 at 7 pm.
The exhibition will continue until April 10, 2005.
Open daily from 10 am - 10 pm.
At El Hanager Arts Center, Cairo Opera Grounds.

March 16 & 17, 2006

Wameedd in Tunisia

Kamilya Jubran & Werner Hasler

Wameedd is the result of the dynamic and symbiotic creative process of Kamilya Jubran and Werner Hasler. In the unique opportunity of their meeting, they have created an experiment with no suppositions or fixed destination. They have different cultural and artistic roots but their worlds intermingle. At each meeting, Kamilya and Werner go into a different orbit, inspired by the questions that mobilize their imagination. Each encounter generates new meaning within the simplicity of the sound. The result is fragile, uncertain and expressive, an open communication without preconceptions. Also see website and website
March 16, Centre Culturel de Hammamat
March 17, El Teatro Tunis, within the project "Femmes, guerres et creation"

January 19 - February 13, 2006

Booby trapped heaven & Contours

Amal El Kenawy & Barbara Graf

This exhibition revolves around the idea that identity has not a fast or a clear answer, but more a continuous process of transformation and metamorphosis. Amal Kenawy's exploration of meaning of life can be characterized as a metaphoric, narrative, fictional and poetic form. Her works begins from personal poetry and narrative in which she reaches out the invisible and attempts to bring it into vision. For her, the human body is the medium which individuals experience the universe through it. Barbara Graf's starting point is the somatic body as a source of material and is developed in a more analytic way, the cutting pattern in the double meaning of the anatomist and the tailor creates a body expression in the space between analysis and poetry.
The exhibition will take place in Mashrabia Gallery, 8 Champollion St.,
From 19 January to 13 February 2006 Daily 11 am to 8 pm, except Friday.

2 - 10 January 2006

Qantara: Literature as Mediator

Gamal El Ghitani & Hugo Loetscher

Hugo Loetscher is a prolific writer of novels and essays as well as a cosmopolitan traveler. He was born in 1929 and studied political science, history of economics, sociology and literature in Zurich and Paris. Since 1965 he visited regularly Latin America, and the Far East. He has spent time as a lecturer and writer in residence at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, the City University of New York, and Munich University. His visit to Cairo is to meet with Gamal El Ghitani and explore how literature can be a mediator.
Gamal El Ghitani, is an Egyptian writer and the editor in chief of Akhbar El Adab, a weekly literature newspaper in Egypt. A lot of his novels were translated to French & German.
There meetings, readings & discussion will take place on
Monday Jan 2, in Akhbar El Adab, 6 Sahafa st., at 6 pm.
Tuesday Jan 3, at the Greege Club, 21 Mahmoud Bassiony St., Down Town.
Thursday Jan 5, at Luxor Cultural Palace, 7 pm, Luxor city.

11 - 31 December 2005

PhotoCairo

A program of exhibitions, video/film screenings, presentations, panels and workshops

PhotoCairo 3 explores the ways in which artists challenge, employ and re-imagine the reproducible image as a vehicle for positioning individuals and institutions within national, cultural and socio-econimic ideological contexts. By presenting a multiplicity of aritsts' positioning strategies, photoCairo 3 aims to transcend geographic boundaries to create an international platform for the deate surrounding contemporary visual culture.

November 12 - December 24, 2005

Family "You, Me and the Trajectories of a Post-Everything Era"

Egyptian-Swiss workshop & Exhibition in Alexandria

This is a project which aims to address issues revolving around the status quo of the micro social unit, investigating its complicated relationship with both social history and the macro politics of the present day social landscape, as well as, the role it plays in the formulations of individual identity. It invites six Egyptian and Swiss artist Peter Aerschmann (CH), Heba Farid (EG), Hassan Khan (EG), Hadel Nazmy (EG), Elodie Pong (CH) and Costa Vece (CH) to reflect upon the family as "social construct" that continues to affect the life of the individual as much as it does international and local politics. The project will start with a 3 weeks workshop and culminates in a 3 weeks exhibition in Alexandria during November & December 2005. Also see the project's website

November 13 - 30, 2005

Actual Position

Egyptian-Swiss Art Project on Topography and Identity in Egypt

Dialogue is promoted as a result of increasing communiction adn the easier exchange of information, a positive effect of gobalistion. Questions are asked, What does it mean to work "intercultural" in the art world? Which criteria's can be defined? What happens to our mental borders? Are we really open to other cultures? How can we help each other? Which are the chances and the danger of such a change? These questions will be analyzed, discussed and debated among Swiss artists (Gertrud Genhart, Ralph Hauswirth, Clara Saner and Hildegard Spielhofer) and the Egyptian artists (Hala Elkoussy, Maha Maamoun and Mahmoud Khaled) through the workshop which is taking place at the Town House Gallery during November 2005.

November 2005

Theatre

Stage Reading by Hany Ghanem

Hany Ghanem, Egyptian theatre director is presenting a stage reading in cooperation with Vorstadt - Theatre in basel. This event is a result of Ghanem's residency in Bern during the year 2004.

September 8, 9 and 12, 2005

Swiss-Egyptian Concerts

Bazaaris & Ahmed El Sawy

The first meeting between Asita Hamidi and Ahmed El Sawi was through Ahmed's residency in Switzerland in 2003. He spent 2 months to explore the Swiss Music Scene and to develop his musical vision. He met Bazaaris and played together discovering a lot of harmony among each other. Now concerts are taking place in Cairo at the end of Asita's and Bjoern residency for one month and a half (see projects).

Bazaaris and Ahmed El Sawy are presenting their musical blend on:
September 8, 2005 Open Air Theatre in Cairo Opera House
September 9, 2005 El Genaina Theatre in Al Azhar Park
September 12, 2005 Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Small Theatre
All concerts start at 9.00 pm.

23 & 24 June, 2005

Swiss-Egyptian Films

Azzurro & The Collar and Bracelet

The Swiss director Denis Rabaglia and the Egyptian director Khairy Beshara coached together a film workshop in January 2005, under the theme of "Sarcasm and Irony" through which two Egyptian young directors got the chance to achieve first stage of their 10 minutes films. The screening will be for Rabalia's film Azzurro, Beshara's film "The Coral & the Bracelet" and the two films of the young directors.

From 3 - 21 June, 2005

Swiss-Egyptian Modern Dance Festival

philippe Saire, Gisela Rocha & Nomades Companies in Cairo

Cairo Opera House has invited 3 Swiss Modern Dance Companies this year to present their shows in Cairo and Alexandria with other 13 Egyptian groups.
Philippe Saire Company "Les Affluents",
June 3 Cairo Opera Main Hall,
June 5&6 , Sayed Darwish Theater - Alexandria
Gisela Rocha "RE Mine"
June 7&8, Gomhoreya Theatre - Cairo,
June 10, Sayed Darwish Theater - Alexandria
Nomades Company "Traces",
June 12&13, Gomhoreya Theatre - Cairo,
June 15, Sayed Darwish Theater - Alexandria

23 & 24 April, 2005

New Horizons

Music Concert

New Horizons for Anna Spina's Dream
The spirit of Beit al-Harrawi in an Egyptian-Swiss Music Concert.

The Swiss violinists Anna Spina and Burkhard Streit are giving 2 concerts in Cairo with Egyptian Oud player and composer Nehad El-Sayed along with a number of Egyptian musicians.

These two concerts are a dream comes true for Anna Spina. Ever since her first visit to Beit al-Harrawi, where she played with Klaus Huber, one of Switzerland's most prominent contemporary music composers, in two concerts that he held there in May 2004, she has been dreaming of coming back to this place and playing music that is inspired by its architecture and spirit.

The compositions chosen are by three of the most famous Swiss composers: Daniel Ott, Juerg Wyttenbach, and Mela Meirhans. Improvisations by Egyptian musicians on the Nai, Qanoun, and other oriental and western instruments, as well as compositions by Nehad El-Sayed, will blend into the works.

The two concerts will take place in Beit el Shaimy, Al Darb Al Asfar, off El Moez st., El Gamaleya

February 3 - February 26, 2005

RAISONS (IN)VISIBLES

Exhibition

Mona Marzouk is participating in a visual art group exhibition organized by PROGR within "La mer blanche" Festival in cooperation with Schlachthaus Theatre. Marzouk will be working on a wallpainting which expreses her inspiration from the Architecture and develops a special artistic language.

February 3 - February 26, 2005

RAISONS (IN)VISIBLES

Exhibition

Mona Marzouk is participating in a visual art group exhibition organized by PROGR within "La mer blanche" Festival in cooperation with Schlachthaus Theatre. Marzouk will be working on a wallpainting which expreses her inspiration from the Architecture and develops a special artistic language.

February 2 - 23, 2005

Illusory Loneliness
Illusory Landscapes

Exhibition
Performance

Two visual artists and two sound artists take the desert as their point of departure in exploring variably unfamiliar physical, psychological, and spiritual terrains.
Amr Fekry produces an installation in which he deals with issues of space, time, light and form from a Sufi perspective.
Myrtha Steiner's drawings and paintings are inspired by her perception of nature. Her works evoke the fragile and intangible qualities of nature and its rhythms. They reflect a way of researching the essence of "being" in nature.
Mahmoud Refat... and Werner Hasler collaborate on a sound installation and concert.See also his Website.
Some of the artists respond in their work to the novel "I, the king, have come" by Bahaa Taher.

Opening: Wednesday Feb. 2, 7.00 p.m. Daily: 3-23 Feb. From 10 a.m - 2 p.m and 5 pm - 9 pm
Venue: Makan, 1 Sa'd Zaghloul St., in front of Dareeh Sa'd

Illusory Soundscapes
Werner Hasler, Karima Nait and Mahmoud Refat Concert
Friday Feb.4, 8.00 p.m.
Venue: El-Sawi Culture Wheel, End of 26th of July, Zamalek

February 5 - 13, 2005

Arab Perspectives Music Festival
Cairo Symphony Orchestra

Music Festival

Turkmani is participating in the Festival with his music and a lecture discussing his experience as a Swiss Musician from Arabic origin, living in the west and the effects of Western Music on his compositions and perspectives. He will also discuss the effects of Arabic Music on Western composers who adapted oriental impulses in their compositions.

January 27 - Febraury 14 , 2005

Images of Childhood

Literary Encounter

Two Swiss writers, Noelle Revaz and Eugene Meiltz will accompany 3 Egyptian writers, Ahmad Abou Khneiger, Alaa Khaled and Osama Eldanasory on a trip across Egypt to revisit the places associated with the Egyptian writers' childhood - places which haunt their memories and continue to shape their imagination as writers. The Egyptian Photographer, Salwa Rashad, will accompany the wirters and captures with her cameras the re-encounter/ the first encounter with these places of the own childhood places.
The trip will take 8 days (january 28 - February 4, 2005) after which the writers will share their experience with the public on February 9, 2005 at the Saqya Cultural Center.

Febraury 5 - 17, 2005

The Curtain

Theatre Play

A play based on the text (The Curtain) of the well known Egyptian writer Yusuf Idris was adapted for theatre by the Swiss Director Thea Dumsch with a contribution of the Egyptian script writers Tarek Saeid and Maher Sherif. The play is produced by Pro Helvetia in cooperation with Bibiotheka Alexandrina. It will take place in Alexandria from 5 - 7 February and on the Sawi Cultrual Center (Al Saqya) from 12 - 17 Febraury 2005.

December 5 - 9, 2004

Renweing the Old Sufi and Ancient Greek Music

Concerts

Conrad Steinmann with Ensemble Melpomen and El Moseliya Troupe
Arianna Savall, voice and barbitos, Luiz Alves da Silva, voice and kymbala, Massimo Cialfi, percussion, Ahmed Elsawi, compositions and Oud, Ahmed Eltawila, voice

The encounter of Sufi music and ancient Greek music shows, how much do both have in common. The ancient Greek music, recomposed after the lyrics and the instruments of the period, reflects the intercultural exchanges between classical Greece and Pharaonic Egypt, which were many folded. On the other hand the Sufi music is also a mirror of much older traditions, which have their roots maybe in Late Greek and early Arab practices it will be of great interest to hear how close this music comes to the Greek one, both being brought to blossom around the Mediterranean.
Concerts will be on:
Sunday, December 5, 2004, Beit Al Harrawi, Cairo, 8:00 pm
Tuesday, December 7, 2004, Jesuite Cultural Center, Menya, 8:00 pm
Thursday, Cecember 9, Assiut University, 8:00pm

May- September 2004

Contemporary Egypt

Exhibitions, films within Tutanchmun exhibition

On the occasion of exhibiting the monuments of the old Egypt's king '''Tut-Ench-Amun'' in Basel, Switzerland; between April and September 2004, Pro-Helvetia will be organizing several cultural nights that focus on the different forms of the modern, and contemporary Egyptian life. These events will take place also in Basel during the same period of the exhibition. Through watching these events, the Swiss citizen will be able to draw a picture concerning the cultural work of Pro Helvetia, in Cairo, which is based in the first place on intercultural dialogue and exchange.

One of the very special events Organized by Pro-Helvetia is an Egyptian movies' night where four, modern Egyptian movies will be shown in Stadkino Basel, and will be introduced by the Swiss film Critique Kristian Bergmann; who will also discuss the movies with the audience after watching each of them. These movies are ''Al Madina''-The City, ''Araq Al Balah''- Dates' drink, ''Asrar Al Banat''-Girls' Secrets, and ''Al Irhab Wal Kabab''- Terrorism and Kabab.
The films will be shown all during May 2004. Kristina Bergmann will be introducing and discussing the films on four evenings from 21. ? 36. May. For more information please see the website

Finally wait for more projects the field of visual art (video installation of Wageh George, photos of Daniel Stähli, and paintigns of Margo Veillon,, the Swiss artis, who lived in Cairo for more than 50 years. Her paintings show the Egyptian world through Swiss eyes).

April 8 - 30 in Egypt, September 26.- October 10 2004 in Amman

MediaSculpture

Video Art Exhibition

The travelling exhibition MediaSculpture, which has been organized by Pro Helvetia and conceived and realised by the curator Ursula Wittmer will be shown in Cairo at The Palace of Arts in the time between April 8 - 29.
The exhibition comprises eleven video installations created since 1993 by Ana Axpe, Heinrich Breiter, Chérif and Silvie Defraoui, Erik Dettwiler, Edith Flückiger, Franz Gratwohl, Hervé Graumann, Bettina Grossenbacher, Alexander Hahn, Eric Lanz and Chantal Michel. Works that experiment with the various technical possibilities are supplemented by poetic, playful and performance-inspired videos.

A video sampler on DVD (Digital Video Disk) with work by video artists including Franziska Megert, Silvie Fleury, Edith Flückiger, Eric Hattan, Muda Mathis, is a further important part of the travelling exhibition. Although video has been firmly established in the art scene since the beginning of the 1960s, it is still widely regarded as avant-garde form of art. It is an appropriate medium for the portrayal of experiences of a fascinating world between dream, fiction and reality, giving video artists the opportunity of capturing scenes from reality and developing them into expressions of intensive life and experience in an artistic or documentary form. Video installations are, however, more than mere playful experiments with technology, for they may take the form of artistic interpretations of ideas, discussions of topical themes and backgrounds, or investigations into mysterious territory.

Within the exhibition Ursula Wittmer will give lectures and workshops about the art scene in Switzerland, the contemporary video art scene,development and future of the video art.
The exhibition will be shown also in Amman in cooperation with The Royal Film Institute from September 26 to Ocotber 10.>...
For more information please check the website

September 23 - October 14

Two Single Rooms

Exhibition

In a hotel room in Cairo, Pascale Favre and Mahmoud Khaled collaborate in a site-specific work that reflects on their transitory experience of the metropolis. Both outsiders to Cairo, Favre (Geneva) and Khaled (Alexandria) begin their different readings of the city from the marks left in the urban environment, both public and private; marks that, in their words, often "tell more about our lives than we do."
The interplay of these "marks" with the artists' own weaves their personal diary of the city and their relationships to and within it. They chose to share their diaries with the public in a hotel room, a space that hovers between the public and the private, the transitory and the permanent.
Please ask for the room key at the reception.

September 21-24

Da motus

Performance

DAMOTUS is invited to Egypt for the first time within the Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theatre. They will perform their remarkable creation Urbanthropus, an outdoor performance, which was produced 1998, and in which they try to interact artistically with the urban sterility.

Urbanthropus is the name of the futuristic, androgynous, transient creature forever suspended between its own presence and absence. The creature incarnated by both dancers challenges the viewer?s perception with its rapid and vivid interaction with space and architecture.

When seeing them on the campus of the opera house or in Mubarak Library or in Alexandria , you could be shocked or confused, or you could merely laugh at their appearance. But this reaction is perfectly normal and predicted for this amazing performance.

The performance will take place in Cairo within the Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theatre in September 21 and 22 on the campus of the opera house. September 23 they will perform in Mubarak Library, and September 24 in Bibliotheca Alexandria.
For the exact time of the performance, please contact our office: 00202 5774100

September 16 - 29

Swissmade

Exhibition

"Swiss, Made" showcases the contribution of Switzerland to world history. With German, French, Italian, and Romansh heritage, Switzerland represents a microcosm where all diversity finds a welcoming echo, ensuring productiveness and constructive thinking.

Besides providing an informative and thorough peek into the country's cultural legacy, "Swiss, Made" puts into question the essentiality of monogenic identity, celebrating lack of definition as the very definer of contemporary Swiss culture.

In this respect the exhibition becomes of particular relevance in a multilayered environment such as Egypt. Cosmopolitan Cairo becomes the hospitable climate where the most complex of cultural input finds assimilation and acceptance.

Within this spirit of diverse output, "Swiss, Made" broadly introduces individuals and anecdotes from all cultural domains pertinent to Switzerland. From Adolphe Appia to Vincenzo Vela, the exhibition is a journey through the life of influential Swiss artists, designers, philosophers, politicians and inventors.

The exhibition includes also a performance of the Swiss troupe Da motus, and filmscreening of Duerrenmatt's novels.
Wednesday 22/9
"Happened in a Day Light"
German with Arabic subtitles. Based on the novel "The Pledge"

Sunday 26/9
"Hayennas"
French/English with Arabic Subtitles. Based on the play "The Visit of the Old Lady"

Wednesday 29/9
"Justice"
German with Arabic subtitles. Based on the novel "Justice"

Performance

Thursday 23/9
DA MOTUS!
Performing "Urbanthropus"
In the Library's Garden. At 6: 00 pm, for 45 min.

For more information, please call Pro Helvetia daily from 9:00 am ? 4:00 pm except Fridays & Saturdays. Thursdays from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm (Direct 5774100) ? 5758133 - 5758284

May 14 - 16

Away from Home

Films - Discussions

There are several meanings that can be attached to the concept of expatriation. Expatriation could be an internal feeling that some of the poor, or many of the genuine thinkers, suffer from while walking in the streets.
There could be a double expatriation. That is, the one that those who move from a country to another. In other words, the double expatriation is the image of the difference between ??here and there??.
However, the cruelest expatriation is of those who carry more than one citizenship or nationality, and as a result they keep on searching for security inside one of their homelands.

In order to have a deeper understanding of what ??expatriation?? really means for different people, Pro Helvetia-The Arts Council of Switzerland- is organizing a workshop titled ?Away from Home?. It includes three symposiums that discuss the concept of expatriation as a whole. Participants of the symposiums are number of Egyptian and Swiss writers, poets and artists: Adel El Siwi, Gamal El Gamal, Ezzat El Kamhawi, Hamdi Abou Guleil and Iman Mersal. The Swiss writer, Marco Alloni, and the Swiss filmmaker, Samir, are both invited to participate at this project too. All the discussions are moderated by the Egyptian writer Hassan Abd El Mawgoud.

Moreover, two documentary movies: ?Forget Bagdad? of Samir, ?ID-Swiss? directed by a number of talented Swiss directors, will be shown in addition to the Egyptian short film ?A good citizen from Maadi?. The films are introduced by both, the famous Swiss filmmaker Samir and the Egyptian film Critic Gamal el Gamal.
This deep workshop will take place on the 14th, 15th and 16th of May 2004 in the Association for Cultural and Scientific Renaissance, 15 Elmahrani st., Fagala, behind the Jesuit School.

May 4 - 6

Between Poetry and Music

Concerts, Klaus Huber and Rageh Daoud

Pro Helvetia, the Arts Council of Switzerland in Cairo, is preparing for organizing two musical concerts titled ?Between Poetry and Music?. However, these are not ordinary nights; they are full of surprises and extra ordinary events. This is because for the first time ever, the great; Swiss, music composer Klaus Huber will be attending these concerts in Egypt, Cairo, where many talented musicians will play several pieces of his own, in which he integrates many of the oriental musical impulses, that is why the Madih Ensemble accompany Klaus Huber in one of his pieces ?The earth truns round an ox?s hors?. One of the pieces that will be played was composed by Klaus Huber specially to suit one of Mahmoud Darweesh?s, the famous Palestinian poet, poems. However, this is not the only surprise; because also for the first time, the famous Egyptian, music composer Rageh Dawood will attend and will have his very special music played during the same nights; and this will be the first time ever for these two great composers to meet.
In addition to these unique, very special events, the music of Gamal Abd Al Reheem, and Mona Ghoneim will be played during the same concerts. These two very musical nights will take place in ??Beit Al Harrawi-Al Harrawi?s place??; on May the 4th and the 6th at 8.oo P.M, and at the Conservatoire on May 5th.

April 18- May 25

Al nas- malik

Exhibition

"El Malek" is the nickname of William Isaak Abd El Malek, painter and former leftist activist. He spent many years in an isolated prison in the desert because of his political view. In December 1990 Wageh George used a small camera (C.VHS) to document several hours of his life. From this material, he made a short 29-minute video in 1991. It was not just his political history or his work as a painter, which makes a film about him intereting. It was more his unique character which representing a certain type of old political, social and artistic life of Cairo. El Malek lived in a flat in a big, 19th-Century, Italian-style building near Tahrir square. Nobody can remember him without remembering his flat. Besides being a painter, he was also a photographer and a collector, repairer and restorer of old cameras, watches and alarm-clocks. His flat was a spectacular mixture of sight and sound. His paintings and works of other artists, Dozens of cameras, collectable objects, Ticking and ringing watches and clocks, His tools. Tea- and coffe-cups, cigarettes, full ash-trays, and the radio always set on the news. Sitting on a dusty shelf in one corner was the statue of the three monkeys, "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil." And there was El Malek, seeing, hearing, and speaking. Wageh George is performing his video project about El Malek in the Townhouse Gallery in the time between 18 ? 29 April. Beside El Malik, the king, the Swiss photographer Daniel Staehli will show his photos about the people in Cairo (El nes). It is a mutual project about el nes, el malik.

April 21- May 5

Book Design in Switzerland

Exhibition

Designing books is not an ordinary job in Switzerland. It is an art. This is because it started to flourish in Switzerland since World War II when many graphic artists contributed a lot in the fields of designing fliers, covers, and books.
In addition to the ??Bauhaus?? perspective, it is the Swiss artist Jan Tschicold (1933-1974) who contributed a lot to the art of book design, and his thoughts are still an important source of inspiration in Europe.
For this reason, and in order to introduce further knowledge about it to the Egyptian audience, Pro-Helvetia-The Arts Council of Switzerland In Cairo- will organize an exhibition in Cairo discussing ??Book Design in Switzerland??. There will be several events that will help the audience to have a deeper knowledge about the secrets of book design. For example, the Swiss artist Ho Hochuli will give a lecture on ??designing books??; which will include showing several samples of real book designs, to be shown during the lecture. Moreover, the exhibition will include about seventy books where there will be selected pages from each book to be presented separately, as each will have a special designing style.
The exhibition will take place on Mubarak?s Public Library; the 21st of April, at 7.00 P.M.

March, 28,29,30

Roundtrip to Egypt

Readings/Discussions

Klaus Merz and Peter Stamm were invited to Egypt in December 2003. In Cairo they had two closed Round-table-discussions and one panel discussion. Their impressions as well as some texts of the Arabic-Egyptian writers, Mahmoud Alwardani, Girgis Shoukry and Ibrahim Aslan are published in the literary magazine,entwuerfe, in March 2004.

The writers will meet again, this time in Switzerland, to read and to discuss together and with the public about the different conditions of the literary production in both countries, and to explore together their impressions about their first meeting in Cairo.

28.03.04 Reading/Discussion: Schlachthaus Bern
29.03.04 Reading/Discussion:Literaturhaus Zürich
30.03.04 Reading/Discussion: Multikulturellen Zentrum Union Kleinbasel

March 18,19,20

Stephan Athanas'ContempArabic Jazz Ensemble &Samiha Ben Said souk

Concerts

The Contemporary Arabic Jazz Ensemblewas founded in 1996 when composer and bassplayer Stephan Athanas visited Egypt for six months and studied Arab music.
Today it consists of musicians from Tunisia,France and Switzerland.The musicians of the CAJE live in different cultures (Tunisia,France,Switzerland) and only meet several times a year for concert tours,which makes sure,that the musical roots are interpreted with great authenticity.

SOUK stands for the encounter of different cultures and (musical)languages. Experiences and stories are exchanged and discussed.
Stephan Athanas prepairs the expedition with his musical maps (compositions) and leads the involved musicians into a musical adventure. The ContempArabic Jazz Ensemble undertakes such expeditions in geographical and musical scenes already since 1996.(concerts in Egypt,Tunisia, Greece,Switzerland,Spain,France,Czech Republic,Maroco)

Souk will be performed in Egypt in Alexandria at the Centre of Jesuites on March 18th and 19th at 8pm, and in Cairo on March 20th in the Swiss Club at 8pm.

5-25 February 2004

In a furnished Flat in Cairo

Exhibition

The domestic dwelling is the ultimate private space. In Egypt, social norms stress on the notion of the home as the sanctuary of its inhabitants. Furthermore, religious doctrine regulates access to private spaces and discourages people from discussing their private affairs with others. In such a context one can see why reality TV has not taken off and why the use of the private space as the substance for artistic work is limited. Despite this, Egyptian television provides its viewers with varied depictions of homes in the form of rigid constructed sets which tend not to alter greatly from one production to the next, leaving the viewer with a class-based categorization of domestic dwellings. It is also not uncommon in popular areas of the city and in the countryside to be invited into someone?s home with very little prior acquaintance.

The search for a furnished flat in Cairo involves peering into what on the surface appear to be private domestic spaces. Constructed from a mishmash of furniture and appliances, they do not have the unity one finds in domestic spaces of a permanent nature. The variety of the styles within one space carries a multitude of oft-conflicting meanings that are partially deprived of their significance as indicators of tastes and preferences, financial considerations and practicalities being the primary shapers of decisions in such situations.

In a furnished flat in Cairo brings together 7 artists (4 Egyptians and 3 Swiss) to share a furnished flat for one month. The transient nature of the artists'interventions in the space serves to question the preconceived ideas of the 'home' as a provider of security and a definer of identity. The space becomes a platform for the deconstruction of familial structures, domestic behaviors and the mechanisms through which one's surroundings work to reinforce identity and social status.

In a furnished flat in Cairo starts on 1 January 2004 and will be open to the public from 5-25 February 2004. The project is funded by the Arts Council of Switzerland, Prohelvetia and curated by Hala Elkoussy.

Also see the website

September 5 - November 9, 2003

Dream on

Exhibition

Dream On is a project which brings together Egyptian artist Basim Magdy and Swiss artist Marianne Rinderknecht following consecutive residencies by the two during which they began collaborating.
After exhibiting in Cairo at the Townhouse Gallery, the artists have also been invited to exhibit the work in the Sankt Elektronika exhibition at the Kunsthalle St Gallenin St. Gallen, Switzerland from 5 September to 9 November 2003.
The exhibition will comprise of murals which the artists will paint directly on to the surface of their allocated space, surrounding the audience and engulfing them in their fantasy world.
Sharing a similar interest in painting which draw on and explores their childhood experiences and memories, the current project creates a fantasy landscape based on two conflicting visions. Against the backdrop of a surreal ice cream world of pastel swirls and stars, creatures- reminiscent of characters in animated computer games- invade the paintings. What at first sight appears to be a safe dream-like playground of the mind, becomes more complex and troubling after a second glance; the potential danger becomes evident. Ice creams and war scenes fuse to create a world in which opposites co-exist in a perverse manner parallel to that of human existence.
Postponed to 2004.

Sptember 27th - October 10th

Working on the Musical Memory

Musical Encounter, workshops

The Swiss composer, Mahmoud Turkmani, is working together with his Egyptian counterpart, Ramz Sabri on a mutual project about the musical Arabic memory in the form of Mwashahat. By composing for Arabic Takht and western instruments like Cello and Contrabass, they are trying to trace the dialogue between traditional and new, between east and west to find a certain mode of harmony. The outcome is three concerts in October 2003 in Cairo and Alexandria.
Ocotber 7th at Al Gomhorreya Theatre
October 9th at Beit Al Harawi
October 10th at Jesuits centre in Alexandria

During his stay in Cairo, Turkmani will lead a workshop for Lute-playing at the Opera House for ten days.
Another workshop about his concept and about the western influences in the Arabic music beside the Oriental influences in the western music will be held by Turkmani together with the Swiss music critic, Kjell Keller, and the Egyptian conservatoire professor, Hanan Abulmagd in the time between October 7th-9th. For more information please see the website: www.mahmoudturkmani

May 25 - June 12, Cairo

Insights

Exhibition

Alessandra, Maria Mbiti and Roma Inderbitzin have spent 6 months in Shabramant villa for Swiss artists.
In her work Alessandra tries to catch the continuing movement between the imaginary and the realities, between our sensiblity, our imaginary, social and cultural habits and the things we always forget: Dreams, fragility and our power of transformation.
Marias filmsequences work with space, light and movement of time. They consist of audio-visual collages for everything she meets. It could be concrete, abstract, narrative or documentary. At the end all these sequences make a coherent filmessay.
Roma draws simple forms of vases arised from black and white spaces. Vases with visible openings, which she worked on with wax and oil. The changing spaces then let more light come through and the containers appear in transparent surroundings.
The three artists, although they seem different, they share in this exhibition the experience of their residencies in Egypt.
The exhibition takes place at Mashrabia Gallery in the time between May 25 - June 12.

May 4 - 22, Cairo

homeland

Exhibition
Christine Streuli

The Swiss-born artist, Christine Streuli , who spent two months in Cairo invited by Pro Helvetia, presents a series of abstract paintings where the subjects, always in a state of movement or displacement, appear elusive: like the memory of an image, or the left-over of a deconstructed pop icon, an abstract poetry made up of sensual memories, and traces of constructs from the social and natural worlds.

The exhibition takes place at Mashrabia Gallery in the time between 4-22 May.

In the opening day the poet Girgis Shoukry is reading some of his poems, accompanied by the music of Ahmed Al Taweela and the singing of Ahmed Al Sawi.

March 9 - April 2, 2003: Cairo

Borders and Beyond

Photo Exhibition

Borders and Beyond is a photo exhibition with 182 photos of 10 photographers from several countries and continents: England, Russia, Switzerland, Palestine, Mexico, South Africa and Denmark.
10 photographers with their reportages on 10 border points around the world record sad stories and facts in the time of globalization and intercultural collaboration. They seek to make clear that the world is devided by iron fences, but hunger knows no fences.
The world divided between North and South is today tougher and much more cruel than the former world of coloniser and colonised.

The exhibition will be shown in Cairo at the Town House Gallery from March 9, 2003 - April 2, 2003.
Films and panel discussions about the issue Borders shall take place every Wednesday and Sunday till the end of the exhibition.

March 24-29, 2003, Cairo, Alexandria, Menya

Mahattat

Musical Performance

Mahattat is a musical visual performance conceptualized by Kamelya Jubran, who will perform it together with Sarah Murcia, Paris; Werner Hasler and Michael Spahr, Bern.

Mahattat evolved from the hosting of Pro Helvetia to Kamilya Jubran, May-June 2002 in Bern on its artists-in-residence-program. This musical performance expieriences the alchemy of Arabic lyrics, Arabic music with electronic music.

Mahattat was presented in Bern, and it will be shown in Cairo, Alexandria and Menya in March 24-29, 2003.
March 24,25 8.30 pm, Townhouse Gallery, Cairo.
March 27, 9 pm, Jesuites Centre, Alexandria.
March 28, 8 pm, Jesuites Centre, Menya.
Also see Kamelya Jubran's website

March 8,11, 2003, Cairo

Musical Encounter

Thoms Jeker and Adham El Said

The Swiss musician Thomas Jeker will give together with Adham El Said two concerts at Mashrabia Gallery. Thomas plays contrabass and guitar and Adham will accompany his music with his voice. The concerts are on Saturday and Tuesday March, 8,11 at 8:00.

March 18-22, 2002: Zurich, Basel, Berne

New Writing from Egypt and Switzerland

Literature readings, music and discussions

Five young writers from Cairo, Berne and Zurich meet for public readings and discussions. A follow-up of a series of encounters which was started in February 2001 in Egypt. Organised by Pro Helvetia and Literaturhaus Basel.

March 18, 20.00: Literaturhaus Zürich: Ruth Schweikert presents Nora Amin and Iman Mirsal.
March 19, 20.00: Literaturhaus Basel: Reading with Ruth Schweikert and Nora Amin.
March 21, 20.00: Literaturhaus Basel: Poetry Reading with Girgis Shoukry, Raphael Urweider and Iman Mirsal.
March 22, 20.30: Schlachthaus Bern: Reading with Raphael Urweider, Iman Mirsal, Nora Amin and Girgis Shoukry.

April 29 - June 30, 2002

Mylène Zimmermann: residence in Cairo

Swiss ceramist selected for the International Biennale of Ceramic in Cairo

A young ceramist from La Chaux-de-Fonds (1000m. alt.) in the district of Neuchatel, a town that saw the beginnings of many artists among which Le Corbusier or Blaise Cendrars, Mylène Zimmermann (b.1974) spent two years in the South of France in an art school for ceramic, doing research in a studio there (2000 - 2001). At the beginning of the year, she was invited by the Conference of Swiss Cities for Culture to spend a 4-months' residency in the villa for artists in Shabramant (Jan 1 - April 28). After an excellent interaction with Egyptian artists and a very good insight in the country, she will go deeper in the understanding of this culture, creating pieces inspired by her experience, and she will extend her residency for another two months. Her work has been selected by the International Biennale of ceramic in Cairo, and it will be exhibited together with the works of 3 other Swiss artists from May 23 until the end of June.

May 31 - June 2, 2002

Artwork

Group exhibition by four Swiss artists and an Egyptian painter in Shabramant

Four Swiss artists residing since January 1st at the Shabramant villa for Swiss artists and the owner of the villa (also a painter) show their work-in-progress on the place it was created. This will be the second opportunity in ten years to visit this unique place and very inspiring studios with a view on the fields and greenery outside. It will also be the occasion to celebrate the tenth birthday of the villa for Swiss artists since the opening exhibition in 1991.

An opening day on May 31 will welcome visitors with refreshments and home-baked bread as well as free talks and encounters with the artists in a beautiful garden away from the city stress.

The artists are:

Hansruedi Steiner, wood sculpture & photography

Robert Cavegn, photography

Mylène Zimmermann, ceramic

Cédric Magnin, painting

Adel Hozayin, aquarelle painting

April 4, 2002, 7 pm, Al-Shaab Club, Luxor - April 7, 2002, 8 pm, Beit al-Harrawi, Cairo - April 9, 2002, 8 pm, Alexandria center of Arts

Swiss violin - Egyptian encounters

Paul Giger on tour with Egyptian musicians

Currently on a 5-weeks residency in Egypt, The Swiss violin player and composer Paul Giger will be on tour in Egypt at the beginning of April. His encounters with different Egyptian musicians created a new musical world , a mixture between Western and Eastern tradition. Paul Giger will play in Luxor with the Nile Musicians on the occasion of the opening of the Meremptah museum, and with the same troop in Cairo, in the centuries-old Beit el-Harrawi. He will then move North to Alexandria to perform with the famous qanun (oriental cithar) player Hossam Shaker in an oriental-jazz duet. This event is organized with the help of the Swiss embassy in Egypt, with the support of Novartis, UBS, Schindler, Credit Suisse, Moevenpick, and the Egyptian Cement Company, and in collaboration with Beit el-Harrawi in Cairo and the Alexandria Center of Arts. Also see Paul Giger's website

April 4, 2002, 7 pm, Al-Shaab Club, Luxor - April 7, 2002, 8 pm, Beit al-Harrawi, Cairo - April 9, 2002, 8 pm, Alexandria center of Arts

Swiss violin - Egyptian encounters

Paul Giger on tour with Egyptian musicians

Currently on a 5-weeks residency in Egypt, The Swiss violin player and composer Paul Giger will be on tour in Egypt at the beginning of April. His encounters with different Egyptian musicians created a new musical world , a mixture between Western and Eastern tradition. Paul Giger will play in Luxor with the Nile Musicians on the occasion of the opening of the Meremptah museum, and with the same troop in Cairo, in the centuries-old Beit el-Harrawi. He will then move North to Alexandria to perform with the famous qanun (oriental cithar) player Hossam Shaker in an oriental-jazz duet. This event is organized with the help of the Swiss embassy in Egypt, with the support of Novartis, UBS, Schindler, Credit Suisse, Moevenpick, and the Egyptian Cement Company, and in collaboration with Beit el-Harrawi in Cairo and the Alexandria Center of Arts. Also see Paul Giger's website
The opening is on Sunday, March 19, 2005 at 7 pm. The exhibition will continue until April 10, 2005. Open daily from 10 am - 10 pm at El Hanager Arts Center, Cairo Opera Grounds.

March 10-15, 2002 Assiut

Alpentraum

Exhibition - Beat Presser

The Alps have been good for mystifications of all sorts, as a place of danger, freedom, and romanticism. In his exhibition "The Alps - Dreams and Nightmares", the photographer Beat Presser makes us discover the landscape through his own eyes. He leads us on a poetic, critical, and sometimes amusing journey through the mountains of Switzerland. Beat Presser, born 1952 in Basel, worked as a still-photographer with the German filmmaker Werner Herzog. His works have been shown in many international exhibitions and publications.

The exhibition was shown in Cairo and Alexandria and will be presented in other countries in the region.
Organised by Pro Helvetia and the Goethe-Institute Cairo/Alexandria.

Link: www.beatpresser.com

March 10-15, 2002, Assiut

Assiut Cultural Days

Austria, Germany, Switzerland

Austria, Germany and Switzerland present 4 days of music, exhibition, films, theatre, lectures and scientific discussions. In cooperation with the Assiut University, the Embassies of Austria, Germany and Switzerland, Pro Helvetia, the Goethe-Institute, the Egyptian Organisation for Cultural Palaces, and others.

November 5 - 8, 2001, Cairo

Youth Film Festival

Goethe-Institute Cairo

After the successful start in 2000, the Minya University (Upper Egypt), the Goethe-Institute Cairo/Alexandria and Pro Helvetia organize the 2nd Youth Film Festival in October 2001. The festival is presenting the works of film students from Egypt, Switzerland and Germany. Last year's festival was held in Cairo and was the first international Youth Film Festival to be organized in Egypt.
Swiss participations: Zuppa Tartaruga (Karin Gemperle), Summertime (Anna Luif), Supernova (Bettina Oberli), Pofonok (Men Lareida), The Flood (Simon Piniel)
With the cooperation of the Goethe-Institute Cairo/Alexandria, the Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst Zürich (HGKZ), the Filmhochschule München and the Film Department of Minya University.

September 25 - November 2, 2001 in Cairo and Alexandria

Alpen Film Festival

With films from Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Slovenia and Switzerland

On the program:
Die Bergkatze, by Ernst Lubitsch, 1921. Silent Movie. Live Music by TRIOGLYZERIN.
Die Geier-Wally, by E. André Dupont, 1921. Silent Movie. Live Music by Erika Stucky&Roots of Communication.
Winterschlaefer, by Tom Tykwer, 1997.
Les Petites Fugues, by Yves Yersin, 1979.
Première de cordée, by Louis Daquin, 1943.
The Pillar, by Matjaz Fistravec.
Reise der Hoffnung, by Xavier Koller, 1990. And many others.
Venues in Cairo: Goethe-Institute, French Cultural Center, Italian Cultural Center

The detailed program is available at the Pro Helvetia office in Cairo. For details about the Alexandria program please contact the Goethe-Institute Alexandria, phone 03-4841037.

October 18-20, 2001, Cairo

Alias compagnie - Guilherme Botelho

L'odeur du voisin

Dance Performances:
October 18, 19 and 20, 2001, 8 p.m.: Al Gumhuriya Theater,Cairo.
October 16 and 17, 2001: Workshop by Guilherme Botelho.
Alias works toward a committed dance which is based on sensorial research as a source for movement. In the new creation "L'odeur du voisin" the dancers deepen their exploration of characters. In two different contexts of a restaurant and an office characters multiply and develop. When the frame tightens, another reality is created by the incessant come and go of distance and proximity, by that slight shift which tips reality into something strange but familiar.

Choreography: Guilherme Botelho and Caroline de Cornière, in collaboration with the dancers
Dance: Caroline de Cornière, Jozsef Trefeli, Kylie Walters, Mike Winter, Asier Zabaleta
Set design : Gilles Lambert
Costumes : Caroline de Cornière, Samantha François-Kapitz
Lighting design : Pascal Burgat, Jean-Marc Serre
Technical director : Pascal Burgat
Studio recording : Andrès Garcia
Music research : Guilherme Botelho and Kylie Walters
Administration : Airelle Buff
Consultant : Gabriel Décoppet
Organised by Pro Helvetia and the Cairo Opera House.

September/October 2001

Erika Stucky & Roots of Communication

On Tour in Egypt

Concerts:
September 27 and 28, 9 p.m., Cairo, Beit al Harrawi (behind al Azhar Mosque)
September 29, 8 p.m., Cairo, European Alpen Film Festival, Live music on "Die Geier-Wally", Goethe-Institute Cairo/Alexandria, 5 al Bustan St.
October 1, 7 p.m., Alexandria, Jesuit Cultural Center, 298 Port Said Street

The vocalist Erika Stucky and the experimental alphorn trio "Roots of Communication" from Switzerland mesmerize their audience with a unique blend of archaic sounds and urban jazz. Stucky grew up partly in a Swiss mountain village, partly in San Francisco and she integrates these contrasts into her musical world. The result is a program full of surprise. "Vocal-pop-jazz-alphorn-folk music" at its very best.
Organized by Pro Helvetia Cairo in cooperation with the Egyptian Cultural Development Fund.

Link: www.erikastucky.com

June/July 2001

Abduh Dagher & Ensemble (Cairo)

On Tour in Switzerland

Concerts:
June 30, 2001, 7.30 p.m., Basel, Reithalle (Festival Musik der Welt in Basel)
July 4, 2001, 7.45 p.m., Bern, Radio Studio DRS (Musik der Welt in Bern)

The Egyptian violinist Abduh Dagher is one of the great performers and composers in the field of the classical arabic music. A former musician in Umm Kulthum?s ensemble, he developed his unique style which is deeply rooted in the classical tradition and yet goes far beyond. Abduh Dagher who is also called ?Malik at Taqasim?(King of the Taqsim-Improvisation) will be performing with seven musicians from Egypt.
Abduh Dagher and his student Riad Abdel Gawad are also going to give a workshop on the ?Maqamat? at the Studio für Aussereuropäische Musik, Musik-Akademie Basel.
The tour and workshop are organized with the support of Pro Helvetia.
For further information, please contact www.musikderwelt.ch and the Musik-Akademie Basel.

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