D-CAF's Arab Arts Focus Program Back in Cairo from November 2 to 5

 

 

 

 

18 shows presented by talented Arab artists hailing from 16 different countries showcased in front of more than 60 international delegates of producers and directors of international festivals.

 

The Arab Arts Focus (AAF) is back for its eighth edition in the heart of Cairo, part of the eleventh D-CAF - Downtown Contemporary Arts Festival.

 

From November 2 to 5, the festival's last four days will be abuzz with over 18 events featuring Arab artists. They'll be joined by a global gathering of festival directors and programmers invited by D-CAF to champion and showcase Arab talent.

 

This year's forum gathers artists from Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and more. They showcase their performances to contemporary art experts, share experiences, and gain access to marketing and production opportunities while receiving global exposure.

 

D-CAF’s Founder and Artistic Director, Ahmed El Attar, described the Arab Arts Focus saying “ This year, D-CAF launched the 8th edition of the  Arab Arts Focus (AAF) with a large group of distinguished performances by Arab artists from around the world, which developed through D-CAF during previous editions, which increased the interest of Arab artists in participating in it. In this edition, we have received around 150 proposals to participate in the Arab Arts Focus (AAF), creating a greater connection with Arab artists, which is one of the most important goals of the  Arab Arts Focus (AAF).”

 

He added: “The project also aims to embrace new experiences and debut them in Egypt, and among the most important of them in this edition are the show “The Lucky Children” by Omar Ghayatt, which was shown less than a month ago in Switzerland; “The Post-Decolonial Artist is Waterproofed" by Younes Atbane, and “205 Questions About Dance" by Islam Nabishi, and “Bird” by Soufiane Oussi. This gives the AAF a special status in presenting new performances and increases the interest of the public, programmers, and artists from all different countries.”

 

The Arab Arts Focus program (AAF) eighth edition's program offers a diverse lineup of performances, including 6 contemporary dance performances including Ali Chahrour’s Iza Hawa (Lebanon) and Cosmos by Ashtar Muallem (Palestine), as well as 5 theatrical shows, including Ahmed El Attar’s The Discreet Charm of the Pillars of Society (Egypt/Sweden), virtual reality exhibition titled 'How Am I Here?' by Mey Seifan (Syria) and a musical night featuring artists from Sudan, Egypt, Syria, and the Czech Republic.

 

As part of the Arab Arts Focus program (AAF), D-CAF will host two open discussion sessions titled 'Festivals and Audiences in the Arab World.' These sessions will explore the map of festivals in the MENA region, available resources, and various aspects related to festivals and their targeted audience.

 

The AAF program concludes its activities by hosting a translation seminar. The discussion will explore key topics in Arab theatre translation, such as the spaces between the text written in Modern Standard Arabic and its spoken version in local dialects, the relevance of original theatre texts to an Arab audience, and the process of translating Arabic text to other languages. The seminar marks the launch of Orient Productions’ new publishing and distribution house, Contemporary Theatre House for Publishing and Distribution. The publishing house will launch its first project, Theatre in Translation, aiming to translate eighteen contemporary European plays from different countries over the course of three years. The chosen texts were all written from 2010 onward and have been published and/or performed in their country of origin. As a part of the Theater in Translation project, the seminar concludes with a showcase of the play Every Brilliant Thing, written by Duncan Macmillan (UK) translated and directed by Ahmed El Attar and performed by Nanda Muhammad.