A Night in Tahrir Square

[Winged isis]

I thought some of you lucky ones living in Egypt might be interested in this...


A Night in Tahrir Square
Friday 22 July 2011 7.30pm Barbican Hall, London
Featuring El Tanbura, Azza Balbaa, Mustafa Said & Ramy Essam Tickets £12.50 / £15 / £20 / £25

Between January 25th and February 11th, Cairo's Tahrir Square turned into a cross between Woodstock and a giant soapbox. Music and poetry played a crucial role in breaking the ice and melting the fear of tyrannical decades.

The Barbican Hall in London celebrates people power in the Arab world with an exceptional line-up of artists, all of whom helped to create the soundtrack to Egypt's revolution.
Box Office » +44 (0) 20 7638 8891 » www.barbican.org.uk

“A Night at Tahrir Square” at Barbican Hall 22 July 2011. Part of Shubbak: A Window on Contemporary Arab Culture. Presented by the Mayor of London. Sponsored by HSBC
Shubbak LogoLogo for Mayor of London
A photograph of Azza Balbaa A photograph of Ramy Said A photograph of Rammy Essam
El Tanbura
are a collective of veteran Egyptian master musicians, singers, fishermen and philosophers. For over twenty years the group have been custodians to some of Egypt's oldest folk music, devotional Sufi songs and resistance anthems from their home in Port Said – the Mediterranean gateway to the Suez Canal.

Returning to the UK for the first time in 2 years, El Tanbura's set at the Barbican will include new songs for the Revolution, first performed in Tahrir Square.
“Home-made entertainment with global appeal”The Telegraph
“An Egyptian Buena Vista Social Club”The Independent
Mustafa Said
is an Egyptian singer, musicologist, composer and a virtuoso Oud player who has devoted his career to classical Arabic repertoire while exploring new forms and new sounds. His performances in Tahrir Square were showcased by BBC Arabic TV during the Revolution.
Azza Balbaa
was born in the Egyptian city of Alexandria. Her career began in the 1970s when she joined student associations campaigning for Human Rights. Twice arrested and imprisoned for “committing an act of singing” Azza became well known as a performer of the revolutionary songs of Sheikh Imam and the poet Ahmed Negam. Through her work with Amnesty International she has supported Egypt's prisoners of conscience, which led to an award from Francois Mitterrand and the French Socialist Party.

Although her music was by banned by the authorities in Egypt after the release of her seminal album “The Illusion trip” in the 1980's, Azza has continued to perform across the world. A new generation have rediscovered her music following the 25th January Revolution. A Night at Tahrir Square will be her debut performance in the UK.
“An evocative voice for the revolution”Al-Ahram
Ramy Essam
is a self-taught singer-songwriter who lived in Tahrir Square throughout the landmark events of early 2011. Although Ramy was arrested and brutally tortured at the hands of the authorities he has continued to speak out against tyranny and corruption; travelling, all over Egypt and spreading his contemporary protest songs.
“The Billy Bragg of Tahrir Square”The Observer


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