Found in Translation is a unique concept,
aiming to conjoin two artistic mediums by giving musical life to texts. This is
a collaboration launched by Cairo Jazz Club, who wanted to take poetry and
literature and give it to musicians to produce something. They teamed up with
Mada Masr, who chooses the text to be used. According to Alex Rizk of CJC,
"the main concept is to take written words and translate them into musical
compositions. The aim of the project is to bring together different artists,
take them out of their comfort zones and give them a new challenge. By giving
them a written piece that is foreign to them, we hope to provide a new space
for creation and reinvention."
For the third installment, the editors have
chosen a text from Egyptian surrealist author Georges Henein’s manifesto Vive
l’art degenere, which was signed by 31 artists in 1938. This manifesto
was a response in opposition to the elitism of some cultural institutions that
considered art abhorrent and distasteful (mutheer ila al-ishmi’zaz), and
documents the creation of a surrealist counter-culture. Also included are
excerpts from the poetry of French-Egyptian surrealist poet Joyce Mansour, which
speak brusquely on the topics of love and pain.
This time around, the text will be
interpreted by an ensemble composed of singer/songwriter Youssra El Hawary, Nancy Mounir, and Yasmine El Baramawy. Apart from being familiar with
these artists’ individual styles, we have no way of knowing how this ensemble’s
interpretation of these surrealist texts will materialize. Venture to Cairo
Jazz Club this Tuesday, March 20th to see how these unique local
artists bring sonic life to niche texts of Cairo’s leading surreal writers. Do’souqa
will be opening up the evening.
For more information on the event, go here.
