show episodes
 
Quartertones is a music podcast which hosts current Arab musicians from different geographies who play contemporary and modern music, including pop, rock, hip-hop, electronic, classical, among other genres. The guests are invited to talk about their work and play their music – whether live or recorded – in three segments. The audience gets a chance to listen to work from across the region and genres that is defining the scene in the region, and understand the music that these musicians and m ...
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Formerly afikra's Book Club, this podcast series calls on anyone who is interested in literature from the Arab world to spend time reading along with the entire afikra community and discover some of the best books and writers that came out of the region. We interview Arab authors about books they’ve written in Arabic or English (and sometimes French), and non-Arab authors who have written extensively about the region, delving into their literary journey until present day. We also invite book ...
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Formerly afikra’s Movie Night podcast, this series dives into the performing arts, from stage to the small and big screens. We zoom in on the work of some of the most noteworthy Arab actors, directors, scriptwriters, cinematographers, stage designers, producers, and crew who have worked on some of the best productions from the region – old and new. We ask questions about the industry, the writing and production processes, the behind the scenes, and genres behind some of the Arab world’s best ...
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show series
 
Khalil EPI is a composer and multi-instrumentalist, and an essential figure in the electronic and contemporary effort in reinterpreting traditional and popular North African music, he has been collaborating for years with artists such as N3rdistan, Frigya, Dhamma, Deena Abdelwahed, and Arabstazy. He is also the manager of French-Tunisian label Shou…
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***** About Khatt Chronicles ***** Khatt Chronicles podcast features remarkable designers, illustrators, and researchers from the Arab World. We host engaging conversations about their practice, vision, and aspirations. In line with the rest of the Khatt foundation projects, focuses on new developments with Arab typography and design. By Arab, we m…
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Mahmoud Radaideh is a Jordanian songwriter, guitarist, music producer and vocalist, and the frontman and founder of Jordanian rock band JadaL. Connect with Mahmoud 👉https://www.instagram.com/mahmoud_radaideh JadaL is a Jordanian Arabic Rock Band formed in 2003 by Mahmoud Radaideh. To date, the band has released four albums. Their most recent album …
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Ronnie Malley is a Palestinian-American multi-instrumentalist musician on oud, guitar, keys, and percussion, a music producer, theater maker, and educator. He is also executive director of Intercultural Music Production. Malley’s professional work and academic research focuses on cultures and various musical styles from the Middle East, North Afric…
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The four enter into a conversation that goes beyond describing the content of their books, addressing the challenges of undertaking design in a geographical context where material and archives are hard to find, where relying on oral history and primary accounts is key, and where distribution of printed matter is complicated. They each elaborate on …
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Fadi Tabbal is a Lebanese musician, producer and sound engineer often referred to as "the hardest-working man in Lebanon's alternative music scene." He established Tunefork Studios in 2006 and has produced and recorded some of the most renowned Lebanese and international acts in the contemporary music scene in Lebanon today. Connect with Fadi 👉 htt…
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Sami Hermez is an anthropologist who teaches at Northwestern University in Qatar. He is the author of "War Is Coming: Between Past and Future Violence in Lebanon" published in 2017. His work in and out of the classroom reflects a strong commitment to freedom, justice, and equality, as his own family's history of migration spans the Levant, with roo…
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Laith Hasan, better known as The Synaptik, is a Celebrated Palestinian-Jordanian rapper and hip-hop artist with shows selling out worldwide. He started writing music since he was 17 and living in Jordan and finally moved to Palestine where he currently resides. His albums include Al Qamar Wal Moheet, Ma Qabl Al Tawafan, and Om Al Mawjat. Connect wi…
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Ely Dagher is a Lebanese director, screenwriter and artist known for his Palme D'Or awarded short film Waves '98 and his first feature film The Sea Ahead which had its premiere at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. Connect with Ely 👉 https://www.instagram.com/elydagher/ Theme music: Peninsular, Tarek Yamani 🔊 https://spoti.fi/47I59ns Hosted by: Mikey M…
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They zoomed in on some of Wissam's unique projects, from his calligraphic script Al-Wissam to his Calligraforms artworks and logotype designs. They explore Wissam's process of developing a new calligraphic script and the difference between that and his process of type design. They discuss the overlaps between calligraphy, type design and graphic de…
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Kareem Roustom is a Syrian-American composer whose genre-crossing collaborations include music commissioned by conductor Daniel Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, the Kronos Quartet, arrangements for pop icons Shakira and Tina Turner, as well as a recent collaboration with acclaimed British choreographer Shobana Jeyasingh. A musically …
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This episode was recorded on March 27th, 2024. Zahra Hankir is a Lebanese-British journalist, editor and author. She was awarded a Jack R. Howard Fellowship to attend the Columbia Journalism School and holds degrees in politics and Middle Eastern studies. Her first book "Our Women on the Ground" was a bestseller and won the Susan Koppelman award fo…
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Farah Kaddour is a Beirut-based musician and researcher. She holds a master’s degree in Musicology from the Antonine University. She works mainly in the field of folk and classical Arabic music, and attempts to rediscover and experiment with the sound of the Buzq by shedding light on the intersection between the identity of its sound, and the ident…
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DAM is a Palestinian hip-hop group founded in 1999 by brothers Tamer and Suheil Nafar. Maysa Daw joined in 2015. Connect with DAM 👉 https://www.instagram.com/dampalestine/?hl=en Connect with Tamer 👉 https://www.instagram.com/tamer_nafar/?hl=en Connect with Maysa 👉 https://www.instagram.com/maysadaw/?hl=en Sole DXB is an annual footwear, music, art,…
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The Khatt Chronicles podcast is back in a third season! Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès moderates a conversation between the hosts of Season 3. The discussion addressed the several topics and themes that are planned for this season. Huda begins by briefly introducing the hosts – Roshanak Keyghobadi, Yasmine Nachabe Taan, Yara Khoury Nammour, and Fawzi R…
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Aflam Sudan's inaugural edition is being held in Nairobi between April 12th and 19th (2024). The co-founders of the festival, Rafa Renas and Brahim "Snoopy" Ahmad, join us on Kawalis to talk about the power of cinema – portraying Sudan through an artist lens that goes beyond images of war and conflict – and give us a brief history of Sudanese cinem…
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At Sole DXB in December 2023, Oddisee joined afikra on stage for a live episode of Quartertones. Using his music as an entryway, this conversation journeys from D.C. to NYC all the way to Sudan. We learn about Oddisee's musical influences and how he blends soundscapes from iconic musical eras and his own heritage. With each musical interlude, we di…
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In this episode of Kawalis, documentary filmmaker Carol Mansour joins us at the afikra studio in Beirut to talk about her latest work Aida Returns which launched this March 18th in 44 venues around the world. The documentary film follows the director's mother, Aida, who left Yafa in 1948 to settle in Beirut, then in Montreal. Suffering from advance…
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In this episode of Quartertones, musician, architect and urban researcher Mayssa Jallad joins us in the afikra studio in Beirut to talk about her latest, deeply researched work “Marjaa: Battle of the Hotels”. The album brings together her passion for music and her background in urban research and architectural history. She recounts her interest in …
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Yara Khoury Nammour interviews Lara Balaa, Lebanese editorial designer and PhD Candidate at Rutgers School of Communication and Information. They discuss Balaa's journey into becoming a graphic designer, and her fascination with connecting graphic design to storytelling, strategy and communication. Balaa shares her experience of teaching design his…
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In this episode of the Quartertones podcast, we sat down with Rayess Bek (aka Wael Kodeih) to talk about his varied and vibrant musical career. As we traverse his music projects, personas and styles from over the years, the conversation explores the Lebanese music composer, producer, and performer's relationship with Lebanon, hip hop, history, war …
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On this episode of Quartertones, up-and-coming musician Ghaliaa discusses her love for music, career to date, and finding inspiration in non-fiction. She talks about her childhood, how she came to be so multi-instrumental, and who her Arabic music inspirations are. Ghaliaa also reflects on the influence of TikTok and other social media on the music…
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In this episode of Quartertone, Karim Nagi takes us on a journey into the world of Arabic percussion and rhythm. He talks about his experience as a musician and how the arts – and percussion in particular – have helped him embrace and grow into his own Arab identity. He shares his advice for musicians who are just embarking on their own journeys, a…
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We partnered with Habibi Festival for a six-night celebration of ancient + contemporary sounds from Lebanon, Tunisia, Syria, Morocco, Palestine, Algeria and more! It all took place from October 1-7 at Joe's Pub in NYC. Each night we taped live conversations with the artists on stage. This special Quartertones episode is the last of six featuring a …
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A captivating conversation with theater director and playwright Laila Soliman about theater, cultural discourse and decolonization across the Arab world. Using three of her major works – Zigzag, La Grande Maison and her first opera Woman at Point Zero – as reference, we discuss western-centric art education, dismantle the concept of “alternative na…
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We partnered with Habibi Festival for a six-night celebration of ancient + contemporary sounds from Lebanon, Tunisia, Syria, Morocco, Palestine, Algeria and more! It all took place from October 1-7 at Joe's Pub in NYC. Each night we taped live conversations with the artists on stage. This special Quartertones episode is the fifth of six, featuring …
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Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès interviews Dubai-based Lebanese graphic and type designer @laraassouad. Together they discuss her journey into type design and her other passions and side practices such as book-binding, leather accessories, and pottery. The conversation focuses on Lara's trendsetting work in developing modular Arabic scripts that go beyo…
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We partnered with Habibi Festival for a six-night celebration of ancient + contemporary sounds from Lebanon, Tunisia, Syria, Morocco, Palestine, Algeria and more! It all took place from October 1-7 at Joe's Pub in NYC. Each night we taped live conversations with the artists on stage. This special Quartertones episode is the fourth of six, featuring…
  continue reading
 
We partnered with Habibi Festival for a six-night celebration of ancient + contemporary sounds from Lebanon, Tunisia, Syria, Morocco, Palestine, Algeria and more! It all took place from October 1-7 at Joe's Pub in NYC. Each night we taped live conversations with the artists on stage. This special Quartertones episode is the third of six, featuring …
  continue reading
 
Goodbye Julia — which played in Cannes’ section Un Certain Regard and won the Freedom Prize — is a poignant reflection on Sudanese society. The film is Kordofani's first feature. He sat down with us to discuss his journey from aviation engineer to film director and screenwriter, achieving the critical balance between "good" and "bad" while portrayi…
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We partnered with Habibi Festival for a six-night celebration of ancient + contemporary sounds from Lebanon, Tunisia, Syria, Morocco, Palestine, Algeria and more! It all took place from October 1-7 at Joe's Pub in NYC. Each night we taped live conversations with the artists on stage. This special Quartertones episode is the second of six, featuring…
  continue reading
 
We partnered with Habibi Festival for a six-night celebration of ancient + contemporary sounds from Lebanon, Tunisia, Syria, Morocco, Palestine, Algeria and more! It all took place from October 1-7 at Joe's Pub in NYC. Each night we taped live conversations with the artists on stage. This special Quartertones episode is one in six, and features a c…
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Yasmine Nachabe Taan interviews Beirut-born Lebanese graphic designer @RanaSalam, "Queen of Arab Pop", founder of Rana Salam Studio in Beirut, Lebanon. Together they unpack her journey as a designer, what inspires her, what she is passionate about, and how she translates that into a unique visual language. They also discuss her Arab Pop (Shaabi) st…
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Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès interviews UAE-based design studio MOBIUS and its founders, graphic designers Hala Al-Ani, Hadeyeh Badri and Riem Hassan. They candidly share their backgrounds and path: a friendship that brought them together and that evolved into a solid professional relationship and design studio. The conversation unpacks the fine poin…
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Farha – the internationally acclaimed film that brought the Nakba to screens around the world – depicts the heartwrenching events of 1948 through the eyes of a 14-year old girl. In her debut film, director Darin Salam creates an intense, feminine story that captures the emotions and human experience of the Nakba in a raw yet approachable way. In th…
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Yasmine Nachabe Taan interviews Egyptian comics artist and designer Mohamed Shennawy – co-founder of TokTok comics magazine and founder of Al-Fann Al-Sabi’ (the 9th Art), a comics publishing and events company. They talk about his personal journey as an artist and his migration – first to Brussels, then to Barbados – and how this is translated in h…
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Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès interviews Lebanese type designer Kristyan Sarkis and founder of TPTQ Arabic font foundry in Amsterdam. Kristyan shares his education and journey into becoming a type designer. He states: "I learned how to connect with my own cultural design heritage at the Type and Media masters program, at the Royal Academy of art in Th…
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With a vast discography featuring both emerging artists and some of the biggest names in Arabic music, Sleiman Damien is completely tapped into the region’s pop genre. We asked him what he thinks of the phrase “Arab pop fusion”, which metrics actually matter to him, and why he thinks legacy superstars have more sticking power in today’s fickle indu…
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P-Thugg, one half of music duo Chromeo, shares the secrets to a successful and long-term musical collaboration. On set with us in Beirut, he talks about the experiences that led to his discovering funk and hip hop, growing up between Lebanon and Canada and his changing relationship with the former, and what it’s like attending the VMAs. He tells us…
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Yasmine Nachabe Taan interviews Lebanese-British researcher and designer Lina Hakim about her professional journey into research on material culture, technology, crafts and play. Lina discusses with Yasmine modes of teaching and how to empower students to define their practice as designers. They delve into Lina's book "Dia Al-Azzawi. Taking a Stand…
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DJ Nooriyah’s iconic Boiler room set with her Baba on the oud, growing up between Saudi, Japan and London, and her beloved CDJ 2000s Pioneer decks. We sat down with Nooriyah Qais to talk about everything DJing, her guide to safeguarding yourself in the club industry, and how she transforms a sample into an infectious dance track. We also touch on t…
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Writing Between Two Moons: An Arab-American coming of age story set in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn during the “War on Terror”. Author Aisha Abdel Gawad sheds light on her experience writing the novel while balancing her work as a high-school teacher, capturing Bay Ridge’s unique community in her book, and her creative process. Together, Mikey and Aisha ref…
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Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès interviews Jordanian Eyen graphic design studio’s founders and designers Omar Al-Zo’bi and Yousef Abedrabbo. In this conversation Omar and Yousef candidly speak about their journey to becoming Eyen Design and their motivations and attitude towards design practice and education, particularly in Jordan. They discuss the imp…
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The early days of Palestinian hip-hop group DAM, growing up in Lydda, and working with artists across the region and from the diaspora: Suhel Nafar joins us on QuarterTones to discuss his colorful and accomplished musical career to date. We talk about his family’s ‘Bootleg Jackson 5’ group, Palestinian hip hop and his departure from DAM. Suhel Nafa…
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Michelle Keserwany joined us on Movie Night to talk about her and her sister Noel’s short film Les Chenilles. We dive into the 3.5 day filmmaking process, the inspiration behind it and the colonial impact of the silk industry. Michelle also shares her journey into film, why she doesn’t completely consider herself a musician, and her top films of no…
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Yara Khoury Nammour interviews Lebanese graphic designer and educator Maya Saikali about how she marries her interest in socially engaged practice and commercial design work. Maya explains since she was a design student, first in Beirut (Lebanon) and then in Eindhoven (The Netherlands), she was always interested in raising social awareness through …
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Akher Zapheer’s front-man and longest standing member, Basem Sayej, talks to us about Amman as his muse and a misunderstood city, the Arab rock scene, and his favorite places to perform round the world. We listen to three of Akher Zapheer’s songs from across their albums and get an insight into how Basem approaches song-writing. Finally, Basem shar…
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In this episode of Quartertones, Thanks Joey takes us on a journey through hip hop, Brooklyn music, and his Syrian grandfather’s old records. We talk about working with Omar Offendum and Narcy, his music making process, and what inspired his Lahme song. He gives us a sneak preview of unreleased tracks, tours us round his sampler, and reflects on in…
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Award-winning director Philippe Aractingi joined us on set for this special episode of Movie Night. We talked about his journey into filmmaking, why he considers himself a ‘storyteller’, and why he shifts between genres: musical comedies to war films, and most recently into theatre. We also reflect on the notable absence of an ‘Arab Cinema Scene’ o…
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In this episode of Book Club, Malika Gharib joins us to share her musings on what it means to be an artist, the symbiotic relationship between journalism and comics, as well as what the 'American Dream' truly means. She reflects on growing up as a first-generation Filipino Egyptian, her changing relationship with her heritage, and how she uses her …
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