Project: “Ottoman Arabic Classical Music, from Aleppo to Cairo”
During the first phase of the project (January 2023, UK), Mr Ibrahim Muslimani participated in two-panel discussions and two concerts at King’s College and the University of Oxford, in collaboration with King’s College, London, and other partners such as the Middle East Center (St Antony’s College), Ertegun House and Oxford Maqam in this collaborative project funded by the British Council in Turkey.
The collaboration, funded through the British Council’s Creative Collaboration programme, explores the connections and differences between Aleppo and the Muwashahat tradition in twentieth-century Cairo. Featuring Ibrahim Muslimani of Nawa Band (Gaziantep, Turkey) and Oxford Maqam, the UK’s most prominent classical Arabic band. The project advances the creativity, cultural dialogue, and academic research of musical groups in Turkey and the United Kingdom by examining cultural connections in the Ottoman Arab world through history and geography.
Collaborations included a panel discussion (Contexts and Frameworks for Ottoman-Arab Cooperation), two concerts (Ottoman-Arab Classical Music, from Aleppo to Cairo) and workshops in London and Oxford.
In the second phase of the project (Turkey), Professor Martin Stokes, from King’s College, will travel with Maqam Oxford to Gaziantep to participate in a panel discussion, concert and workshop series with the Nefes Foundation for Arts & Culture in partnership with Gaziantep University, to complete the project and continue the process of cooperation and exchange.
Date: November 2022 – October 2023
Participants: 8
Beneficiaries: 350
