Art Time Residencies: Music

2020 Elektronmusikstudion (EMS), Stockholm

Mophradat supported the participation of two musicians in the ten-day residency at Elektronmusikstudion (EMS) in Stockholm in spring 2020. The musicians were selected from over 30 applications from across the region by EMS following advice on the program to Mophradat from Kamila Metwaly (curator and musician, Cairo/Berlin).

The selected musicians were:

Rehab Hazgui (Tunisia, b. 1986) is a transdisciplinary designer, composer, and improviser of electronic music. She composes and plays, designs and builds analog synthesizers, and uses them with other handmade audio devices to explore the endless movement of sound, repetition, and the use of silence. Through immersive live improvisation, Rehab interacts with her synthesizers, guiding their development and growth into pieces that unfold in the present moment.

Shakeeb Abu Hamdan (Lebanon, b. 1982) is an artist and musician living in Beirut. He has been actively involved in the UK’s DIY and experimental music scenes, playing in various experimental rock/weird punk bands and running Ouse, a recording studio and label. Recent recordings and performances focus on the use of drums, found metal pieces, bells, and cymbals, which he amplifies with surface transducers, microphones, pitch and modulation effects, cheap looping megaphones, and other lo-tech electronics.

During their stay in Stockholm, the residents had the opportunity to spend focused time working on a specific project, creating new compositions, or exploring and researching new ideas at EMS. Founded in 1964, EMS is the center for Swedish electroacoustic music and sound art and is run as an independent part of Musikverket (the Swedish Performing Arts Agency). EMS offers professional studios for the production of electroacoustic music and sound art. Its aim is to support the artistic development of electroacoustic music and its integration within other artistic areas.

 

2019 Le Confort Moderne, Poitiers

Muqata’a and ZULI completed a one-week residency (January 28 to February 4, 2019) at Le Confort Moderne, working together for the first time to create a live set of experimental hip-hop beats using multiple samples. They were chosen from a pool of 40 applicants with the advisory support of Maha ElNabawi (music journalist, Egypt) and Maryam Saleh (musician, Egypt).

Muqata’a (Palestine, b. 1986) is a producer and MC based in Ramallah. He creates sounds using sampled material, field recordings, and electronic devices, the results ranging between harsh beats, ambient tones, and glitch. He was co-founder of the Ramallah Underground Collective (2002–09) and is co-founder and member of audiovisual group Tashweesh.

ZULI (Egypt, b.1984) is a multi-instrumentalist, producer, and sound artist from Cairo. From 2013 to 2015, together with Asem Tag ($$$TAG$$$), he co-headed VENT, an alternative music venue and club in Cairo, before transforming the project into a namesake club night and festival. In 2018, ZULI released his EPTrigger Finger on Haunter Records, as well as his debut LPTerminal on UIQ. Every second Tuesday of the month, ZULI hosts his own show on NTS Radio.

Le Confort Moderne has been exploring independent music and contemporary art production for 32 years, gaining international recognition for its concerts, exhibitions, encounters, and artistic innovation. Having re-opened in December 2017 after a major renovation, it occupies 8,500 square meters, and now has a concert hall with capacity for 800 people and state-of-the-art light and sound equipment, a music club, a warehouse exhibition space, and a smaller gallery. Its facilities also include a restaurant, bar, record store, fanzine library, rehearsal studios, public garden, offices, storage, and an artist residency program. With its dedicated technical and curatorial staff, Le Confort Moderne continues mapping out a generous international program through partnerships and open calls.

The residency is offered for musicians to spend time focusing on working and creating. A public performance was programmed Saturday, February 2, 2019.