Tips from the culture desk: Get ready! There’s a lot going on

There’s a wide variety of arts events this week, and some of them are happening straight away. If you’re in Cairo, catch the remainder of Zawya’s run of Raafat al-Mihi films and Mahatat’s public theater tour (also making an appearance in Mansoura), watch a program of strong short films at ROOM (or at Wekalet Behna), and then attend the opening of a long-awaited and very topical show at the Contemporary Image Collective. Take a break maybe, then head later in the week to an special night of local musicians playing local covers of 1990s pop.

On the road to Raafat al-Mihi — through Tuesday

There’s still time to see four films in Zawya’s retrospective of films by the fantastic Raafat al-Mihi, who died in July at the age of 74. We’re especially looking forward to watching Fish, Milk, Tamarind (1988, Saturday) and Little Love, Much Violence (1995, Tuesday), both highlights of his career (both also have English subtitles). Mihi was a pioneer of Egyptian surrealism who achieved a prominent popular place for some unusually crazy stories like Misters (1987) and Madams and Misses (1989), the most controversial gender-related films in Egypt’s cinema history and among the most-screened comedies on national TV. Best of all, all films are screened in 35mm, and there will be discussion about Mihi’s oeuvre after each one.

Program here. Screenings start at 7.30 pm, tickets LE25. Zawya is behind Cinema Odeon, 4 Abdel Hamid Said St, off Talaat Harb St., downtown Cairo.

Mahatat tours Mansoura and Cairo with Masl theater troupe — until Monday

Mahatat for Contemporary Arts, which organizes workshops and arts events in public spaces around the country, is back this season with their fourth edition of Art in Transit. This time, it’s a tour with the young Masl theater troupe under the title Sayes Omourak (Be Flexible) that combines acting, music, storytelling and live drawing. The tour went to Port Said on Thursday and Damietta on Friday, and is now heading to Mansoura and Cairo.

Earlier this year, Mahatat hosted two other tours in the same set of cities: one featuring classical music from balconies by Teatro for independent theater (a video of which went viral on Facebook) and one with clown troupe Outa Hamra.

While Mahatat’s shows tend to target passersby, their times and locations are always announced and their shows are generally short and dynamic. It's a nice opportunity to be outside and catch a spontaneous moment in which strangers unexpectedly come together.

Photo: Masl in Damietta, courtesy Mahatat. On October 24 the show's in Mansoura, at 2 pm at the university fence and 4pm at Gedeila Market. On October 26, in Cairo: Rhoda Street in Manial at 2 pm and at Artellewa at 6 pm.

Cinephelia Filmmakers to Watch — Sunday, Thursday

Five bold, award-winning shorts from the Middle East, Africa and South Asia screen at Cairo's Room on Sunday and at Alexandria's Wekalet Behna on Thursday under the title Cinephilia FTW Series, a touring screening program organized by New York-based Darine Hotait’s Cinephilia Productions.

The main characters in Orman/The Jungle (2014) by Onur Saylak and Dogu Yasar Akal are Syrian refugees in Turkey (see trailer here). Sahar by Alexander Farah (Afghanistan/Canada) is a drama about a girl who goes missing after her her obedient younger brother refuses to let her in when she returns late one night. Mounia Akl’s Christine (2014, see trailer here) concerns the relationship between two nuns in an isolated Lebanese convent. Ayce Kartal’s Tornistan (2013, teaser here and image below) is a smart animation about police violence and the media response during the Gezi Park sit-in at Istanbul’s Taksim Square in 2013.

It’s also another chance to see Omar Al Zohairy’s much-acclaimed The Aftermath of the Inauguration of the Public Toilet at Kilometer 375 (2014, teaser here), a dark Chekhov-inspired comedy about the results of a sneeze at a government ceremony.

Room Art Space, 10 Etehaad al-Mohameen al-Arab, Garden City, Cairo, entry 10LE. Wekalet Behna, Kenisa al-Maroniya, Manshiya. Free entry, register there from 3 to 10 pm or by telephone : 034859479. Total running time: 1 hour 15 minutes.

Greetings to those who asked about me — opening Sunday

It’s been a long time waiting for a new exhibition at the Contemporary Image Collective, but Greetings to those who asked about me, the first curated by CIC’s current artistic director Andrea Thal, looks like it might well be be worth it.

Broadly prison-themed, so undoubtedly topical, it includes artworks mostly made in collaboration with people who have experienced imprisonment. From abroad, the show brings in Palestinian multimedia and performance artist Bisan Abu Eisheh (who lives between Palestine and London), Lebanese photographer George Awde (who lived in Cairo for some time), Italian public and participatory artist Beatrice Catanzaro (who works a lot in Palestine), US-based Venezuelan video, film and installation artist Javier Téllez, and UK-born multimedia artist of Ugandan origin Emma Wolukau-Wanambwa.

Last but definitely not least, there are also two Egyptians involved: The prolific documentary filmmaker Hossam Aly (1945-1999), and Rafeeq Abdel Rahman, a former EIPR criminal law researcher with theater experience who contributes what the press release calls “oral narrations.”

The show hopes to provide a critical analysis of the ways political systems use forced isolation as a means to establish norms and control dissent. As well as literal prisons, it deals with predetermined life trajectories in war and conflict, mental institutions, the colonial history of the modern prison, and the forced division of entire cities, showing attempts to respond to the problematics of speaking about people who cannot be present. Messages of various forms exchanged between the inside and outside are a recurrent theme.

Opens October 25 at 7 pm, then daily from 12 to 9 pm, except Fridays, until December 3. Screenings and a reading group take place later in the exhibition.

From Imagined Measures by George Awde, photography, 2012

Awadaak: 90s covers by several musicians - Thursday

For part of the fundraising campaign for Aida Elkashef’s upcoming feature documentary The Day I Ate the Fish (discussed indepth here), popular indie musicians are coming together to perform a covers of some of Egypt’s most popular 1990s hits.

To celebrate what may be the last generation of Egyptians that grew up with an unavoidable pop influence (before satellite television and the internet), Maryam Saleh, Maii Waleed, Ahmed Safi, Shadi El Hosseiny, Noor Noor, and Mohamad Raafat will take to the stage, with a particular focus on songs with strong female lyrics. Their collaborative performance will be followed by a set by Mada’s very own copy-editor/resident DJ Habiba Effat.

Awadaak is on Thursday October 29 at After Eight, 6 Kasr al-Nil Street, downtown Cairo. Tickets cost 80LE and are available at Dokki's Vibe for Developing Arts, from 4 pm till 2 am, or from downtown's Eish & Malh.