THIRD TRADITIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL OF GOURNA (LOUXOR)
MARCH 24-31, 2001
Created in 1998, under the generic theme "Traditional Music from Upper Egypt", the association "Gourna.on.Line" organised its first festival in Gourna (Louxor) April 10-17, 1999. The Second Festival of Traditional Music from Upper Egypt, that took place April 3-8, 2000, has been enjoying a growing success, both among the local officials and the pomulation as among the participants of Gourna.on.Line. The number of travelers had doubled. The workshops with the invited musicians - in French/English and Arabic, directed by Frédéric Lagrange, and preceeding each concert, have brought to the audience composed of Egyptians and foreign travelers an indispensable introduction to a full appreciation of the concerts.

They have also allowed the musicians to express themselves about their traditions, their knowledge and even their virtuosity.

Today, we start preparing the third edition of our Festival. We consider that the time has come to define the foundations of a viable, long term project, integrated in an interactive dynamic of encounter and exchange.
The sacred and popular music of Upper Egypt
Ten percent of the Egyptians - men and women - live their piety in the attachment to the Muslim mystic, sufism. The micro-society of the sufi brotherhoods, the tariqas, applies itself to a meticulous respect of the calendar that celebrates the Saints. In quest of the ecstasy, it crosses all Egypt to honor them. Indifferent to the strict orthodoxy, intimate with the Great Mystics, sensitive to an esoteric faith, this other Islam unfolds itself in the Muleds...

In the heart of the Muled, there is the dhikr, the unceasing repetition of prayers, of praises in order to purify the soul and enable it to receive the divine presence. From each assembly - hadra - a song emerges, the inshâd, the song of Absolute Love. And from its sensual sap grows the mystery. The bodies balance, then shake frenetically. Grief, violence, obliteration, joy - the interior pilgrimage culminates in the ecstasy of the union with God. When the voice of the munshîd makes a miraculous fusion with the violent fervor of the hadra, the hands join, halting syllables rise, jerky movements intersperse. The transe supervenes...
Text © Leila Kilani, Gourna on line Association.

 

 

Présidente
Vice Président
Coordination
Presse Egypte
Administration

 

 

Chantal Crousel
Mohamed Berrada
Leila Kilani
Yahya Ibrahim
Grégoire Maisonneuve

Membres of honor
Abderrachmane Al Abnoudy
Jean Jacques Aillagon
Moustapha El Gindy
Sonallah Ibrahim
François Larché
Christian Leblanc
Anne Wade Minkowski
Leila Shahid

Gourna on line, Association loi 1901- Non Profit Organization / 40, rue Quincampoix 75004 Paris
tel 00 33 1 42 77 38 87 fax 00 33 1 42 77 59 00 email : gourna@free.fr http://gourna.free.fr