Tips from the culture desk: Visual art season starts with Roznama

We are still lucky on the film front this week, and Lebanese singer Tania Saleh is gracing us with her presence for three nights, but we’re especially excited that the visual art season is kicking off after the summer break, thanks to Medrar.

Cairo film screenings — ongoing

Zawya’s fascinating ACID Film Week continues at Zawya, Cimathèque and the French Institute with a selection from the filmmaker-curated Cannes program of the same name. There are also some Q&As with the filmmakers. Zawya is also continuing to screen Like a Matchstick four times daily. As Rowan El Shimi wrote in our three-take review, "If you’re looking for a good laugh, have a bit of nostalgia for classic Egyptian cinema, and want to see the last and only film Hussein al-Imam wrote, starred in and directed, Like a Matchstick is a must-see."

And due to popular demand, Zawya is re-screening its last three Sunday Screening titles throughout the coming week, including Palestinian filmmaker Muayad Alayan’s absurdist semi-comedy Love, Theft and Other Entanglements (Sunday at 7:30 pm), Palestinian director Mais Darwazah’s My Love Awaits Me By The Sea (Monday at 7:30 pm) and German-made Arab music doc Yallah! Underground (Tuesday at 7:30 pm — see our interview with the director and two of the musicians here).

Darb 1718 continues its German Film Night Series on Sunday at 8 pm with Taste the Waste, a 2016 documentary about food waste which lets us know, among other things, that the amount of food wasted each year in the European Union could fill 3 million trucks stretched around the equator. The event is free, but register beforehand.

Tania Saleh Alexandria and Cairo tour — Saturday, Sunday + Tuesday

Lebanese singer, songwriter and visual artist Tania Saleh has been on the region’s independent music circuit since 1990, mixing folk, alternative rock, bossa nova and jazz. With four albums under her belt, Saleh performs all over the world, has collaborated with Lebanese icon Ziad Rahbani, and created two film scores for Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki.

Bibliotheca Alexandrina on September 3, at Cairo’s El Geneina Theater on September 4, and at the Cairo Jazz Club on September 6.

Roznama 5 — opens Sunday

Roznama, Medrar for Contemporary Art’s annual visual art competition and exhibition, is back, this year with first-time partners Mashrabia Gallery and SOMA Art, and 36 participating artists all under the age of 30. The idea is to encourage artworks that are different from the classical forms taught at state art academies and traditionally shown at the annual Youth Salon, though it does include painting, sculpture and photography.

Artists Khaled Hafez, Osama Dawod and Mohamed Abdelkarim make up the jury. Awards range from a solo exhibition at Medrar and a three-month residency at Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, to cash prizes offered by various Cairo art institutions and individuals. It’s a good chance to familiarize yourself with the works of some of Egypt’s emerging artists.

Opens at 7 pm on September 4, continues until October 5. 7 Gamal al-Din Abou al-Mahasen Street, Garden City, Cairo. Daily from 3–9 pm, except Fridays. See Facebook event here.