Artistic Cairo

Lest you think Cairo is all dust and donkeys, I'm posting some pictures of Cairo's cultural side. Over the past few weeks, I've been to a hip hop show, a gallery opening, a concert of classical Arab music, and a Sufi dance performance. (And I tried to go film screening of shorts on life in Cairo, but stayed too long at the bar beforehand and missed all the movies...)

To my surprise, the hip hop artist was pretty good--although he performed entirely in Arabic, so I don't actually know what he was saying. Also, it was probably the only show I've been to in which the drink selection consisted of tea and coffee.

There's a neat art gallery downtown that changes out its work every few months. I went to see the opening of a photo exhibit on Ashoura (Shi'a holy day
commemorating the murder of Muhammad's grandson at Karbala). It is a day of mourning, parades and pilgrimages and, in some places, fairly violent self-flagellation (knives, chains, etc.)--which is what was depicted in the exhibit. The photos themselves were amazing, though not exactly the kind of art you'd want hanging in your living room.

The Sufi performance had wonderful drumming and, of course, a lot of whirling. Seeing as this is traditionally a spiritual exercise, I thought it might be a bit voyeuristic to watch such a performance, but (for better or worse) it didn't feel that way. The dancers were true to their art and it was breathtaking, albeit dizzying, to watch.

On Sunday, I also went to see a performance of classical Arabic music, which was quite a different experience than going to the symphony at home. The melodies are different and the instruments also include an oud (fat guitar), a qanun (something like a zither), and various bamboo flutes. [The picture above is entitled either "Not the NSO" or "Big Man, Small Instrument; Small Man, Big Instrument."]