“Cafi Chanta” means something like singing café. In her country of birth, Tunisia, explains Munich-based music enthusiast and curator Maleke Msallem, this denotes a myth-shrouded tradition in which more or less famous musicians sing and play together all night long, something they now do with their own “Cafi Chanta” project also wants to bring to Munich: “We need a protected space where we can not only celebrate the cultural heritage of the North African-Arab world – but also the lively diversity of the post-migrant society”.
A place of bridge building and cross-genre art. For the next edition of their “Cafi Chanta”, Msallem invites you to das import export, Munich’s currently most cosmopolitan and likeable music club. Together with co-curator Chedi Bakkari, she has put together a wide-ranging program: on Friday, August 25, several DJs, such as Hiba Salameh, will play urban Arab pop and electro influenced by the Middle East, partly open air, partly on stage. A troupe of flamenco dancers modernizes the classic Arab-Iberian genre.
But the biggest sensation is the main act: Ghalia Benali, a 54-year-old Tunisian music legend and loud New York Times “Creator of her own myths” has announced herself with her trio. In the Arab world, the singer often plays in stadiums and large halls – here she will celebrate Oum Khaltoum’s legacy in an intimate club context. She, the most famous singer in the Middle East, serves as Ghalia’s “honorary grandmother”, her songs mean everything to her.
And yet the Tunisian, who was born and studied in Belgium, never let herself be pinned down: she had her first appearances in 1993 with jazz musicians. Later she recorded the album “Al Palna” together with Indian sitar and tabla players and toured India. She always dances between cultures: when Ghalia takes on Ghazal, this traditional spiritual love poem from Arabia, then on the one hand there is a passionate Sufi prayer. And on the other hand a declaration of freedom. Because everything is possible in their fusion: Ghalia, for example, records the dance and music of the Roma she visited in Rajasthan. Or, like recently, she has her Sufi chants accompanied by electronic sounds.
Only one thing is certain: your performance will disappoint many Arabian clichés – for the better, of course. “It’s not for nothing that Arabic is the language of chemistry,” Ghalia, who grew up francophone, once explained: “You can see and hear the magic, because the words are always complex and expressive. Through singing, I open up a space of dreams for myself”.
Ghalia Benali, Fri., Aug. 25, Import Export, Schwere-Reiter-Strasse 2h, www.import-export.cc