Photo by: Kroma Projekts
Unfamiliar started in 2016 with a focus on highlighting female DJs and electronic musicians through curation, art direction and a distinct collective energy that aims to create a community out of its audience and artists.
Founded by Zeina Ezz, a Cairo-based DJ and producer who has performed everywhere from Berlin to Montreal and Armenia to Saudi Arabia, each Unfamaliar event showcases women (live acts and DJs) leading the way in electronic music across the globe. The female-focused curation within Unfamiliar’s events helps to address the gross discrepancy between men and women working in the global electronic music scene.
While the debate of gendered quotas in programming continues from East to West, Unfamiliar takes that leap to empower women through sound and action. With this effort, the brand is helping to show what it means to bring female energy into dance music spaces, making DJ culture more available to gender minorities.
In the time between 2016-2022, Unfamiliar threw 18 parties in Cairo and Berlin, with a summer residency in Club der Visionaere, presenting artists like Laurine, Vlada, Vera, and Isabella, as well as sets from Egyptian artists Nada el Shazly, DINA, Habiba and Unfamiliar resident Zeina.
Unfamiliar just announced its return to the Cairo dance music scene, with its upcoming event on Thursday, December 8th, in partnership with Flames, to “expand the community and celebrate the feminine”.
For this edition, Unfamiliar is showcasing Berlin-based, Partisan label boss Anthea, along with Zeina and Yellow Tape co-founder Mira, in a garden-venue space by the Nile.
“Mira brings an intelligent, warm and purposeful sound. A hidden gem in the city, she’s set to bust out some proper tunes for her Unfamiliar debut”, Zeina explained to SceneNoise about her upcoming curation.
“Also known as The Panth, Anthea brings fierce energy to the decks, a master programmer, she spends the night layering groove on groove with utmost precision. Smiling and dancing throughout, she embodies the true spirit of the rave!”
As for Zeina, she needs little to no introduction to the Cairo dance music scene. The Unfamiliar resident "occupies the space where house and techno meet, where boundless, liminal spaces and long mixes form a poetic patchwork of sound”.
The Cairo-based event organiser Flames’ kicked off their musical journey in 2020 and have brought home some of the most diverse parties in the scene, hosting a mix of selectors, rappers and experimentalists in the past year. Their showcases have included the full spectrum of sub-genres in the Cairo scene, intending to keep a diverse underground alive.
Join Unfamiliar for an inviting and intimate night with a solid lineup from start to finish, Thursday, Dec 8, starting at 7 pm - 2 am
For more information, head to Unfamiliar’s page here.
