Samira Said to perform in D-CAF's opening concert

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Tue, 20 Feb 2018 - 12:26 GMT

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Tue, 20 Feb 2018 - 12:26 GMT

Samira Said will perform in the opening concert of the seventh edition of D-CAF that will be held on March 9, 2018 at Al-Azhar Park – D-CAF press office

Samira Said will perform in the opening concert of the seventh edition of D-CAF that will be held on March 9, 2018 at Al-Azhar Park – D-CAF press office

CAIRO – 20 February 2018: Renowned Moroccan singer Samira Said will perform in the opening concert of the seventh edition of D-CAF (Downtown Contemporary Arts Festival) that will be held on March 9, 2018, at Al-Azhar Park.

This concert will celebrate the International Women's Day. This is the first time D-CAF hosts such a shining star from the MENA region. This concert is expected to be the biggest reveal D-CAF has ever made since the festival's first edition.

The festival's artistic director and performing arts curator, Ahmed el Attar recounted that the festival management chose Said because her music experience is quite similar to D-CAF’s experience, as both present splendid and distinguished performances to the contemporary art scene.

Attar added that said successfully managed to take a different route; she is considered the only singer that challenged everyone including herself, and changed her style more than once. Her latest album contained several songs that are different in style and lyrics from the songs being presented now on the music scene; in addition, she always manages to collaborate with international artists, proving that she is always open to creativity and change, just like D-CAF.

Who is Samira Said?
Saeed was born in Rabat, Morocco, in 1958; she started singing when she was only nine years old. She was discovered through participating in “Mawaheb”, the famous Moroccan talent show, broadcasted at the time on the Royal Moroccan TV network.

Although she has recorded some songs in Moroccan, such as "Kifash Tlakina" (How we Met), "Fayetli Sheftek Shi Marra" (I've Seen You Once), "Sarkouh" (They Stole Him), and "Al Behhara" (The Sailors), most of her songs are in the Egyptian dialect such as "Mahaslesh Haga" (Nothing Happened), "Ayza Aeesh" (I Want to Live) and "Hawa Hawa" (Air Air), among others.

Said’s songs reflect various topics that discuss women's issues. She has a wide fan-base from different ages and from all over the MENA region. Said’s musical repertoire includes about 46 music albums, and more than 500 songs. She received praise from the late great Egyptian singer Abdel Halim Hafez, and composer Baligh Hamdi. She's been living in Egypt for years. Said has collaborated with many international artists; she successfully reintroduced, and evolved the Arab music scene in early 2000s when she collaborated with Cheb Mami in “Youm Wara Youm” (Day after Day) which was considered a new wave in music back then.

Said was the first singer from the MENA region to be chosen by the international Eurovision Song Contest to perform her song “Bitaqat Hub” (Love Card). Samira won many international awards, including the World Music Award, and the BBC Music Award.

The D-CAF's opening concert will feature a diverse and outstanding all-female line up of talented and rising local, regional, and international musicians from different genres; Dutch band Pink Oculus who blend Hip-hop, Soul, Jazz, Electro and pop into a genre-transcending music, and French Elbi who has created a distinct and authentic musical identity, merging RnB/soul, afro and house music, among other Egyptian female singers and bands.

The seventh edition of (D-CAF) will take place from March 8 – 29, 2018.

The festival’s seventh edition will present a group of unique, new and vivid shows. D-CAF events which occur every year in downtown will feature artists from Egypt, the Middle East and various other countries from across the world, performing different artistic work including plays, films, visual arts and music.

“D-CAF's Art and Disability” program in this year’s edition will host several performances, events and workshops. Also, the “Performing Arts program” this year includes 14 shows from theatre performances to dance collaborations.

Moreover, Actress Clémentine Baert will enthrall the audience with her theatre piece "So, Is it There?"

D-CAF once again presents the latest edition of “Arab Arts Focus” program; after its major success in “Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2017”. AAF comes back to Cairo with more than 15 new performances, featuring talents from six Arab countries; Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Iraq, Palestine, and Tunisia.

Furthermore, “Before the Revolution” play, directed by Ahmed el-Attar, will be featured in Egypt for the first time after touring Europe over the past four months. This play promises a unique performance, with actor Ramsi Lehner and actress Nanda Mohammad.

D-CAF's most unique program, “Urban Visions” will present six public space dance pieces on Cairo's streets. The Australian show, “Trolleys”, will feature five exceptional dancers and physical theatre artists, using supermarket trolleys. D-CAF's Urban Visions program will also contain four more dance performances.

This festival’s newest program is the “New Media Arts” which will offer seven stunning alternative, experimental and interactive performances with projections, music, and light installations. The Hungarian “Noise Box by Glowing bulbs” comes to downtown along with different other stunning performances.

D-CAF's “Visual Arts” program has been revamped into a mentorship, in Collaboration with “Medrar” program. This year the program will be slightly different, introducing the “Meet the Artist” Open Studio.

The “Film and Literature” program this year explores the link between text and image-based storytelling, through a series of award-winning international films that have been adapted from books. Through a master class and a round-table discussion, the audience will get a behind the scenes look into how graphic novels get to the big screen.

Meanwhile, the festival's “Special Events” program offers a series of theoretical and practical workshops for professional and amateur artists.



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