Amman’s summer is turning out to be packed with good festivals, live music, and diverse cultural activities.
Al Balad Music Festival kicks off this week with a six-day “Music Souq” that brings to Amman an array of bands and artists from across the Middle East. Rim Banna, Turab Group, Tamer Abu Ghazaleh from Palestine, Tareq Al Jundi, Ahat Group from Jordan, Maryam Saleh, Dina Wedidi from Egypt, Tania Saleh from Lebanon, Amal Methlouthi from Tunisia and LaBess from Algeria, will be performing in the beautiful outdoor Odeon theater next to the Roman Amphitheater downtown. (Tuesday – Sunday, 8:00 pm)
The Jerash festival also starts this week and continues until July 6th with concerts, poetry readings, theatre, folklore and more. On Wednesday, the ballet Scheherazade will be performed by 40 dancers from the National Center for Culture and Arts. The ballet will include four performances, One Thousand and One Nights, Aladdin and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, to the music of Rimsky Korsakov. (Wednesday 8:30 pm at the North Theater)
Mazin Ahmad’s solo exhibition entitled “Beyond” opens at Dar Al Anda on Sunday (6:30 pm). Ahmad is an Iraqi artist based in Sydney who has explored different art mediums, including ceramics, mixed media, sculpting, painting, and installation art. He has completed a number of public art works and installations around Sydney since he moved to Australia in 2002. Ahmad graduated from the Baghdad Academy of Fine Arts in 1990.
Darat al-Funun is hosting Rheim Alkadhi’s exhibition “Here is my life, which I devote to learning about you,” until the end of August. Alkadhi took part in Darat al-Funun’s artists residency program this past year. The outcomes of her residency are currently on display at the Print Studios. The focus of her project is human exchanges specific to the city of Amman. As part of her work, she frequently visited souks and marketplaces in Amman, taking note of the displays on the ground and on blankets, and then attempted to recreate similar events in her exhibition, injecting narratives and anecdotes into each chosen object on display.
Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation is screening the Chinese film “Close to the Sun”, which tells the story of a French artist who chooses to spend the remaining days of her life in a village nestled in the deep mountains of Guizhou, after being diagnosed with an incurable disease. (Tuesday at 6:30 pm)
The Palestinian film “Lamma Shoftak” (When I Saw You) by Annemarie Jacir will be screened at the Rainbow Theater starting this Wednesday. The film is set against the backdrop of the 1967 war during which thousands of Palestinians fled to Jordan, living in temporary refugee camps. Tarek, 11, lives his with his mother Ghyadaa and longs to be reunited with this father, he sets on a journey of adventure, hope and struggle. (Wednesday – Saturday, multiple screenings daily)
For details on these events and more, check out 7iber’s calendar.