ARABESQUE: Arts of the Arab World festival was launched on Monday the 23rd of February at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC. The festival is the first of its kind as the program includes music, theater, dance and visual arts, cinema and literature. ARABESQUE presents performances and arts from all twenty two Arab countries.
Al Mawred Al Thaqafy is the artistic advisor and regional coordinator for the Arab artists participating in ARABESQUE festival, notably the great Marcel Khalife and Al Mayadine Ensemble, Fathy Salama and Sharkiat,Chabab Al Andalous Rabat Orchestra with Mohammed Bajeddoub, , Kinan Azmeh in addition to Farida from Iraq, and Maalouma Bint Al Midah from Mauritania, Ahmad Fathy from Yemen and Salma El Asal from Sudan.
Al Mawred also coordinated the participation of theatre and dance performances from the Arab world in the festival, most notably the play Fifty (Khamsoun) by Fadhel Jaibi, Jalila Bakkar, Richard III, an Arab Tragedy by Sulayman Al-Bassam and the contemporary dance performance The Smala B.B.by Khalid Benghrib, and others.
The Literary Series consisted of several lectures and discussions featuring writers, poets and critics from 13 Arab countries. Among the literary pannels are, “Women Writing Men, Men Writing Women,” a lecture by Hoda Barakat and Sonallah Ibrahim, “A Literary Celebration” by Ahdaf Soueif and “Literature and the Real Arab World” a pannel by Adania Shibli, Radwa Ashour and Ahmed Al-Faqih and moderated by poet Khaled Mattawa who also participated in programming the Literary Series.
The opening celebration of ARABESQUE included Al-Farah Choir from Syria, Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra and concluded with Marcel Khalifa’s song “Jawaz Safar” by the poet Mahmoud Darwish. A number of the most important cultural figures in the United States, members of the U.S. Congress and the new administration in addition to the ambassadors of the Arab States attended the opening ceremony of the festival.
ARABESQUE: Arts of the Arab World ran through mid-March and attracted wide public and media attention
