Tips from the culture desk: 2016 ends with cinematic releases and non-stop music

This week is all about the music as 2016 comes to an end. Below you can find several concerts (and even a new year’s eve bash with loads of live acts), and there are also plenty of opportunities to escape the cold outdoors by catching a film or visiting one of the ongoing exhibitions.

Discursiveness, which combines the work of Cairo-based artist Dia Hamed and Brussels-based artists Yannick Jacquet and Fred Penelle continues at Medrar. Catch this playful light-projection show any time before January 19.

There's also Gypsum Gallery’s I'm not obliged to do this and The Trap, which is essentially two exhibitions in one, showing work by Cairo-based Taha Belal and Istanbul-based Gozde Ilkin. Embroidered floral tableaus by Ilkin are displayed alongside Belal’s peculiar mixed-media sculptures. Also, take a walk through the 27th Youth Salon at the Palace of the Arts in the Cairo Opera Grounds.

A Day for Women release in cinemas — all week

Kamla Abu Zekry’s A Day for Women, which premiered at the BFI London Film Festival and showed at the Cairo International Film Festival as part of the international competition, enters its second week in Cairo cinemas. Starring Nelly Karim, Ilham Shahin, Farouk al-Fishawy and Nahed al-Sibae (who won an award at CIFF for her role), the film follows the social, personal, and psychological effects of the allocation of a women's-only pool day at a local youth center in a conservative Egyptian neighborhood. This is Abo Zekry’s fifth feature and we're curious to see what she's created this time around. Her last film, Wahed Sefr (One Nil, 2009), received critical acclaim, as did her Ramadan television series Zaat (2013) and Segn el-Nesa (Women’s Prison, 2014). 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho-RFdmeMGI

Showing at several local cinemas

Animation night — Sunday

Zawya is hosting the 17th Annual Animation Show of Shows, a collection of 11 innovative short films from around the world. A pleasant, unconventional way to spend Christmas evening.

 7.30pm-10pm, December 24, Zawya, behind Cinema Odeon, downtown Cairo.

Keep the Music Playing — all week

Like most people and spaces, ROOM Art Space and Cafe has struggled due to the current economic situation and especially since the floating of Egypt’s currency. In an effort to save the space from closure, its team have launched a crowdfunding campaign to sell memberships that give special discounts for concerts and beverages. ROOM has organized various concerts under the slogan Keep the Music Playing. Concerts include Shady Ahmed (December 24) and The Cadillacs (December 30). Next week Yousra El Hawary play on the January 3, and Sherif El Shazli and Cheva on January 6.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bkbIBOOb7w

Concerts at 8.30pm at 10 Etihad al-Mohameyeen Street, Garden City, Cairo. Tickets LE50 for non-members, free for members pending reservation. More information on the event page.

Reggang — Wednesday

Continuing  their series of live musical performances, this week Zigzag presents a show by Reggang, a music ensemble (or gang) who, as the name suggests, have a passion for reggae. If you’re looking to get warmed up for new year, this will likely be a chill, undemanding pre-new-years party. Expect to hear some remixes as well as renditions of popular classics.

10 pm, December 28, LE50 cover at the door, Zigzag, 6 Qasr al-Nil Street, Downtown. More information available here.

Makouk Vol.2: All-Stars Night — Saturday/new year’s eve

If you’re tired of house music and looking to spend new year’s eve this Saturday with some live music, Makouk All-Stars Night  will feature a selection of Cairo’s most exciting artists. Organized by Al-Kawkab and spearheaded by visual jockey Tefa, the night includes acts by Alexandria’s Telepoetic, Cairo alternative band Hawas, and shaabi superstar Abdelbaset Hamouda along with keyboard sensation Islam Chipsy, not to mention performances by Jordanian hiphop artists Amer al-Taher and Kazz Olmam, as well as a Coldplay tribute by Egyptian pop/rock band Strawberry Swings. DJ Hicham Chabana (aka Cairo Shakers) also spins some tracks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7GzMTaEiI0

7 pm, December 31 at the Swiss Club, 17 Gehad Street, off Sudan Street, Imbaba, Giza. Tickets, at a hefty LE300 (including a beer or two soft drinks), can be bought here.