Tips from the culture desk: Archives, happiness and Dina El Wedidi

If you're in Cairo this week, there's a film event, a potentially good theater play, a historical exhibition and an open-air concert that we recommend. And it's the last chance for young Egyptian visual artists to apply to participate in Medrar's Roznama competition and show.

Simulating the archival: 3 shorts & sohour — Sunday

This week the Contemporary Image Collective is screening three exciting Egyptian shorts that use archival audio recordings to produce personal visual narratives, then offering a sohour meal.

It Was Related to Me (18 min, 2011) is the first film by Network of Arab Arthouse Screens head Mohammad Shawky Hassan, who’s since made And On A Different Note (2015) and Compos Mentis (ongoing). It’s an early example of how he collages archival audio material, 35mm film, VHS and photography.

A Stroll Down Sunflower Lane (14 min, 2016) is a new film by Mayye Zayed, co-founder of Rufy’s studios in Alexandria. It creates a visual memory of her late grandfather using actors, Super 8, 35mm cameras, and audio cassette tapes recorded by members of her family during her childhood.

Apt. 5 (8 min, 2014) is by artist and writer Sama Waly. It includes Super 8 footage of her family’s old apartment in Mounira and audio cassette tapes from of her father talking about how the neighborhood has changed.

9:30pm, June 26, CIC, 22 Abdel Khalek Sarwat St, downtown Cairo. Free. Facebook event here.

The Magic Recipe for Happiness — Tuesday and Wednesday

Produced by the Ministry of Culture through the Hanager Art Center, The Magic Recipe for Happiness is directed by actor and director Shady al-Daly. Debuted in April 2016 after a two-month improvisation workshop, the play (in Arabic) explores the meaning of happiness, and the difficulties of achieving it. Daly’s successful previous theater works, such as Helm Blasteek (A Plastic Dream, 2014) and Operette al-Darafil (Dolphin’s Oparetta, 2011), make us curious to see his latest offering.

9:30 pm, June 28 and 29 at Hanager Theater in the Cairo Opera House grounds. 

Dina El Wedidi — Wednesday

This week the Cairo Opera House’s Ramadan nights features Dina El Wedidi. Having started her career with the Warsha Theater troupe before studying music under the supervision of musicians such as Grammy-award winning Fathi Salama and Brazilian singer Gilberto Gil, the singer-songwriter has become a major figure in Cairo’s music scene. She's also part of the Nile Project, which brings together musicians from the Nile Basin, and her music consciously reflects local musical heritage.

9:30 pm, June 29 at the Open Air Theater of the Cairo Opera House. Tickets LE50.

1956: Regards Croisés — until July 4

Organized by the Centre d'Études et de Documentation Économiques, Juridiques et sociales (CEDEJ) in collaboration with Beit al-Sennari and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, this exhibition of Arabic and French archival material related to the 1956 Tripartite Aggression or Suez Crisis may well be fascinating. Titled Regards Croisés (Different Perspectives), it will tour to Alexandria, Port Said and Paris.

10am to 10pm, Beit al-Sinnari, Sayeda Zeinab (opposite Sayeda Zeinab Mosque, off Port Said Street) until July 4. Free. Facebook event here. 

Roznama 5 call for artists — until June 30

This is the last week for Egyptian visual artists under 30 to apply to participate in Medrar's fifth annual Roznama competition and exhibition, to be held in September 2016. Seeking to highlight outstanding works of contemporary art in all media, Roznama offers several awards including a solo exhibition, a three-month residency in Paris and cash prizes from various institutions and individuals. See here for details.