About us
“While ensuring the free flow of ideas by word and image, care should be exercised that all cultures can express themselves and make themselves known. Freedom of expression, media pluralism, multilingualism, equal access to art and to scientific and technological knowledge, including in digital form, and the possibility for all cultures to have access to the means of expression and dissemination are the guarantees of cultural diversity.”
(Article 6 of the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity).
When we speak of “Oriental music”, we therefore mean music in all its traditional and contemporary forms that renders references to the musical heritage of the region (the region including the Middle East and North Africa, as well as in Turkey, and countries of the Greater Central Asia region with Oriental music traditions). We are mainly focusing on music that lacks market promotion and that is hardly or not available in regular stores.
Irab was founded in Beirut in order to address the striking lack of availability and awareness regarding the rich musical heritage and contemporary production of Oriental music. Since 2003, we work to enhance the promotion, production, and distribution of Oriental music, to support contemporary local artists in their visibility, and to engage the public. With “Oriental music” we mean music in all its traditional and contemporary forms that renders references to the musical heritage of the region. We are mainly focusing on music that lacks market promotion and that is hardly or not available in regular stores.
Oriental music (and poetry, which is an essential source of music lyrics) are the two main cultural expressions in the region. Through making aware the importance of safeguarding and promoting Oriental music both in its heritage and its dynamic development, we seek to strengthen a positive and integral element of identities in the region and thus to counter feelings of inferiority and fear vis-à-vis globalization and cultural domination. Grounding our work on a democratic and human rights oriented perspective, we believe that pluralism and freedom of expression can only be achieved if our societies encourage access to diverse cultural resources.
Irab is an officially registered non-profit association, and has until now completed a number of activities, including the organization of concerts and musical listening salons, the collection of recordings, the distribution and re-production of CDs, and participation in local and international conferences. Having worked until now mainly on volunteer basis, we are currently in a phase of consolidating the association in a premise in Hamra, Beirut.
Completed Activities
Collection of recordings:
Irab has collected 10,000 hours of music, including very rare musical pieces
Festivals:
- Musiqa 1 Festival, Wednesday 5 till Sunday 23 April 2006
- Marwan Abado, 2 concerts
- Rima Khceich, 2 concerts
- Hassan Al Haffar, 2 concerts
Concerts:
- Palestinian musicians Ahmad Al-Khatib (lute) and Nasser Salameh (percussion), October 2005, Madina Theatre Beirut,
in cooperation with Heinrich Boell Foundation, Middle East Office, Beirut (www.boell-meo.org) and Freemuse – International Forum on Music Censorship, Copenhagen (www.freemuse.org)
- Lebanese musician Toufiq Farroukh and Orchestra (Arabic jazz), Saint Joseph Theater Beirut and Grand Hills Broumanna, December 2004
- Iraqi musician Nasir Shamma (lute), Saint Joseph Theater Beirut, May 2004
- Palestinian singer Marwan Abado, Al-Madina Theatre Beirut, January 2004
- Lebanese singer Rima Khcheich, Madina Theatre Beirut, November 2003
- Nasir Shamma, Russian Cultural Center Beirut,
in cooperation with CD-Thèke, June 2003
Consultancies:
- Consultancy to the Danish NGO Freemuse – International Forum on Music Censorship, exploration visit to Lebanon in spring 2005 for the Conference “Freedom of Expression in Music”
- Consultancy to Freemuse – International Forum on Music Censorship, and Heinrich Boell Foundation, Middle East Office, for the Conference “Freedom of Expression in Music”, held 6-8 October 2005 in Beirut
(see for conference: http://www.freemuse.org/sw9757.asp)
Among the participants: Lebanese musician Marcel Khleife, Salman Ahmad of the Pakistani band “Junoon”, Lebanese pianist Joelle Khoury, Lebanese/French rapper Clotaire K., Moroccon festival organizers Amine Hamman and Réda Zine, USAmerican Hip Hop journalist Davey D., Iranian singer Mahsa Vahdat, Shireen Dabbah of Yabous Production Jerusalem, Syrian film director Muhammad Malas, founder of Saqi Books May Ghoussoub, Bayraini singer Khaled Al-Shaykh, USAmerican historian Mark Levine etc.
Music Listening Salons:
- Salon on Al-Sayyed Darwish, with the participation of singer Rima Khcheich, Zico House Beirut, May 2005
Distribution of CDs:
- Issam Al-Haj Ali (Lebanon) “Hija” 2005-
- Charbel Rohana (Lebanon) “Sorat” 2005-
- Charbel Rohana (Lebanon) “Vice Versa” 2004-
- Miryad (Lebanon / USA) „Sukun“ 2004-
- Yuri Honing Trio (Netherlands) & Rima Khcheich (Lebanon) “Orient Express” 2003-
Re-Production of CDs:
- Marwan Abado “Circles” 2005
- Nasir Shamma “Halat Wajd / Meditation” 2006
- Nasir Shamma “Rahil Al-Qamar / Fading Moon” 2004
Participation in Conferences:
- participation in Sharjah Biennale 2005, conference on the problems and potentials of Arab music festivals, organized by Yabous Productions (Jerusalem), presentation of Irab’s work
- participation in forum in cultural diversity, organized by Attac Lebanon, Zico-house Beirut, intervention on globalization and local music production
General Work Plan and Activities Planned for 2006
The objectives mentioned above will be achieved through following planned activities:
- Building a Music Library
The music library which will be built up in Irab’s newly established office in Hamra, Beirut, will include music recordings (prioritizing Oriental music that has not been archived yet), as well as books, magazines and studies that provide information on music and musicians. It will later also include a section on children’s music, which is not a developed sector in Oriental music. Irab seeks to undertake research in existing music libraries (mainly in Egypt) and private collections ,at a later and more established stage, Irab will also seek to record music which is only orally transmitted (such as on weddings or other feasts and rituals, by non-professional musicians, etc).
The music library will serve as an important resource for musicians and composers, students and researchers in music, ethnomusicology, and in Oriental culture, educators, film and theatre makers, festival- and concert-managers, music critics and journalists, cultural associations and the general public. After its consolidation, it is envisaged to establish cooperations with educational institutions, libraries and civil society associations to use the music library for educative purposes.
There is no comprehensive Oriental music library in the Arab world or internationally (apart from 2 musical museums on Umm Kulthoum and Abdel-Wahab in Egypt, an audiovisual library on popular Palestinian music in Ramallah, private collections, and some collections at Western ethno-musicological institutions).
Since its foundation, Irab is experiencing an overwhelming demand by individuals and institutions for recordings that are not obtainable in regular shops. At first, people will be asked to listen to the recordings in the library.
Music will be archived according to title of song, name of artist, name of composer, kind of music, and country.
- Hosting an Annual Contemporary Oriental Music Festival in Beirut
The festival will provide a framework to present contemporary Oriental music artists to the public. It will prioritize contemporary music which is hardly known and distributed, and artists that otherwise would not find exposure in Beirut which has become a vivid and importance place for creative production and exchange.
Beirut today hosts concerts, but no festival focusing on contemporary Oriental music. In general, most music festivals in Lebanon take place outside of Beirut and are rather elite- or tourism-oriented, with high entry fees. Musicians face problems to find suitable venues to present their music and therefore many have stopped to play in Beirut.
Each festival will host maximum six performances. Entrance fees will be kept low, just in order to partially cover expenses.
One concrete output will be the recording of a CD with a compilation of live-recordings of the performances.
- Carrying out further “Musical Listening Salons” (voluntary work)
The salons aim at increasing awareness and knowledge on Oriental musical tradition and at presenting music in its historical, social and political context. The money raised with first salons, of which one was held already, will be used to undertake travel to Egypt in order to research a private music collection in Minya, Said. The salons are carried out in cooperation with musicians, music researchers and educators.