 |
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, May-June 2009, pages 61-62 Music & Arts Poets Suheir Hammad and Nathalie Handal, Musician Marcel Khalifé Light Up the Kennedy Center
SUHEIR HAMMAD lit up the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage on March 7 with “An Evening of Breaking Poems.” After a rousing introduction by dapper hype-man and beaming father Muhammad Hammad, as Jay-Z’s “Brooklyn (We Go Hard)” played in the background, “the olive tree of Brooklyn” took the stage and dazzled the standing-room-only audience. Hammad read favorites like “Mike Check” and “Exotic,” as well as selections from her new collection breaking poems (available from the AET Book Club). In breaking poems, Hammad explained, she “wanted to write…the way I think. The poems are published in the chronological order in which they were written so you can see all the weaknesses, the leaps taken, where I failed, where I didn’t, and you’ll be introduced to Arabic differently.” Hammad invited New Orleanians in the audience to the stage for her reading of “A Prayer Band,” inspired by the work of Louisiana Poet Laureate Brenda Marie Osbey. She also read powerful new poems written during Israel’s “Operation Cast Lead.” These poems, each titled after cities in the Gaza Strip, gave words to fresh wounds borne from witnessing horrific images of Israel’s bombing and invasion. Clearly aware of the historic importance of the performance at the nationally funded center for the arts, Hammad’s performance was dedicated to writer Ralph Wiley. She reminisced about how she and Wiley used to “drive by [the Kennedy Center] listening to Tupac and he would say, ‘One day you gonna be up there, Palestine.’” For more on Suheir Hammad, visit <www.suheirhammad.com>. Marcel Khalifé and his Al Mayadine Ensemble returned to the Kennedy Center March 7 as the festival’s top-billed performer. The evening performance in the Eisenhower Theatre was titled “And We Love Life...A Salute to Mahmoud Darwish.” Although Khalifé had previously performed at the Kennedy Center, the historic nature of his participation in its “Arabesque” festival was evident as the ensemble’s core, sons Rami and Bashar and upright bassist Peter Herbert, were joined by 11 top artists, including clarinetist Kinan Azmi and long-time Khalifé vocalist Oumaima Khalil. The greater Al Mayadine Ensemble treated the audience to the full orchestral sound of Khalifé classics like “Walking Tall” and “Arabic Coffeepot.” Khalil also joined Khalifé for a moving performance of “Ya Asfoor,” which he dedicated to “Arab prisoners in Israeli jails, Arab prisoners in Arab jails, and all prisoners of conscience.” The audience was mesmerized by a memorable “Rita,” and a jazz-infused “Passport” received a mid-performance standing ovation. For more information about Marcel Khalifé and Al Mayadine Ensemble, visit <www.marcelkhalife.com>.
Unofficial Palestinian cultural ambassador Nathalie Handal also dedicated her March 11 performance on the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage to the late Mahmoud Darwish. The multimedia performance was titled “The Poetry, Theatre and Film of Nathalie Handal.” Handal’s reading mixed favorites from her published collections (available from the AET Book Club) and new poems addressing the siege of her hometown, Bethlehem, the experience of the Palestinian Diaspora, and the possibilities for peace and coexistence. The 30-minute reading was followed by the premiere of “Lions Gate: Museum of Stone.” The film, directed by Lovisa Inserra, is the first of seven short film adaptations, each with a different director, of Handal’s serial poem “Seven Gates.” The performance concluded with a theatrical piece, titled “Hakawatiyeh,” written by Handal and starring Lameece Issaq as a comic storyteller from Bethlehem. For more information about Nathalie Handal and her many projects, visit <www.nathaliehandal.com>. —Matt Horton |
||||||||||
