THE CONGRESS

In 1932, King Fuad I. commissioned the first Congress of Arab Music in Cairo. Delegates from Europe and the Arab world descended on Cairo with a mission to modernise Arab music and to elevate it into a respected art form on the level of Western classical music. However, several leading composers and innovators within Arab music were not invited. In his play “The Congress”, which is presented in Frankfurt in a staged reading, the writer Maan Abu Taleb imagines five prominent musicians meeting on the occasion of this historic event including the divas Mounira El Mahdeya and Umm Kulthum. While some of them attempt to prevent the congress from taking place, others see it as their chance to become world stars at long last.

Feeling Dubbing - Monira Al Qadiri

Co-written with Monira Al Qadira