London’s Syrian Arts and Culture Festival (SACF) proudly presents an enchanting evening celebrating Aleppo, its music and musicians, past and present.
For generations, music lovers throughout the region held that “the musician for whom Aleppo claps is a musician who will receive the applause of the Arabs.” Situated at the crossroads between Turkey and the Arab world, and between the Silk Road and the Mediterranean Sea, Aleppo established itself as a preeminent centre of Tarab, the musical ecstasy associated with cultural refinement. The violence and mass displacement of the past decade has placed many of these traditions at risk of being forgotten.
Over the course of this evening, presenters and performers will shed light on efforts to remember and withstand erasure, and the many ways in which creative acts of expression can help hold out against the tests of time and reinvigorate the living richness and beauty of these traditions. Featuring a short film screening, panel conversation and live music performance, the evening sets out to offer a heartfelt encounter with a people and place steeped in the love of musical ecstasy: Tarab.
This event is co-produced by Zamakan and Marsm in partnership with Grand Junction and is supported using public funding by Arts Council England.