Opening Season Concludes With Arab Electro-Pop Concert Love And Revenge In May

The first season of Louvre Abu Dhabi’s public programmes concludes with a concert of popular Arab throwback music with a modern twist by Lebanese hip-hop enthusiast Rayess Bek and visual artist La Mirza in Love and Revenge on 2-3 May 2018 at 8pm n the museum’s Auditorium Plaza.

Through a musical evening to be watched, Love and Revenge is a tribute to the popular kitschy idols of the Arab world passionate in its dramas and melodramas. Presenting success stories of the Middle East music scene: those of the Iraki Kadhem Saher, the Egyptian Souad Hosni, or the Lebanese Sabah, the audience will encounter few renowned faces, from the golden era of the Cairo’s Studios Misr. They will get immersed into the musical comedies inspired by Hollywood, made fabulous by the queens of dance such as Samia Gamal or Tahia Carioca, and by singing idols such as Leila Mourad, Farid El Attrache, his sister Asmahan or the young Oum Kalthoum.

Love quarrels, attempts of redemption, dramas of abusive marriages and tragic destinies are constantly embodied in these films. However, the boldness, sincerity and fantasy imbedded in Egyptian cinema save it from the realm of the ridicule. It oozes a definite grace even in its strangest moments, like the one revealed in the Egyptio-viennese waltz-the highlight of Gharam wa Intiqam (meaning “Love and Revenge”), the 1944 movie from which the title of the evening is inspired.

Rayess Bek’s remixes Arab popular songs while La Mirza’s puts into movement extracts of Cairo golden age studiosjoined by the bass of Julien Perraudeau and the electric oud of Mehdi Haddab.

As part of the ongoing public programme of Louvre Abu Dhabi’s second special exhibition Globes: Visions of the World(23 March – 2 June 2018), Stories of an Arabian Navigator with Dr Hamad Bin Seray, Professor of History and Archaeology at UAE University, will be held on 25 April at 7pm to discuss Ibn Majid, his books and discoveries. Known as ‘The Lion of the Sea’, 15^th-century Arabian navigator, cartographer, author and poet he is one of history’s most famous seafarers. Ibn Majid’s books, charts and maps guided sailors from the Arabian Peninsula to Africa and India for centuries.

For more information on tours, workshops and for tickets to the upcoming public programme, visitwww.louvreabudhabi.ae. For talks, entry is part of your general admission ticket.