THE VIEW FROM FEZ: Fez Festival of Sufi Culture

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Fez Festival of Sufi Culture - Day Five

Moneim Adwan from Gaza with his group at Batha

Today's concert at the Batha museum was one of the best to date. It was presented by Moneim Adwan from Gaza. The title of the concert was very appropriate to the setting - Les Jardins de L'ame - or gardens of the soul.

The audience were totally captivated

Faouzi Skalli introduced the afternoon's performance with a detailed explanation of the states of altered consciousness experienced by Sufi adepts. This was a rare exposition of esoteric practices which would normally be reserved for initiates. Faouzi was obviously speaking from deep personal experience and this, combined with his eloquence and charismatic personality, made a profound impression on his listeners, who were spell-bound. It's probably fair to say that everyone present was totally engaged with his discourse.

Faouzi Skali was inspiring.

He elaborated on heightened states of awareness where relative world concerns dissolve, and where the devotee is present in the presence of the divine. There was a moment of wry humour when Faouzi said that this ecstatic state is known amongst Sufis as ivresse (intoxication), a strange word, he said, in a Muslim context.

Moneim Adwan

The "conversation" between violin and oud was superb

Moneim Adwan was born in 1970 at Rafah in Gaza. He started singing as a child, mainly popular and religious songs.

At 17, he began to play the oud and few years later, he left his country to go to Tripoli (Libya) where he got a Masters in Musicology at the University of Arts, with teachers Fateh el-Ramiz (singing) and Abdallah Sebaï (Oud).

After spending time in Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan and Iraq, he worked for 6 years performing at different events for the Palestinian government, the Ministry of Education, in the theatre and cinema. He composed the opening music for Bethlehem in January 2000. Since 1999, he has recorded 3 CDs in France : Chicha (with the musician Michel Montanaro and the music of Provence), Nawah (with the singer Françoise Atlan and her Sephardi songs), Motayem "ecstatic with love" (with the group Pêcheurs de Perles, music from Iraq).

In June 2004, he sang at the Fès Festival of World Sacred Music.

Spotted in the audience was the exceptional Moroccan singer Anass who trained for some years in Syria and Turkey.His recent international performances have taken him all over Europe including Poland where he has been a huge hit.

On previous days we have mentioned the international media, so it would be remiss of us not to feature our favourite Moroccan photographer (pictured below).