14e Festival du cinema européen - 29 Nov à 9 Dec

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ODYLIC at Galerie Surface libre d`art

Away from the politics and the bad things that have been going on in Lebanon, galerie surface libre d'art in Jal El Dib (before Jardin de Chine restaurant to the right) is hosting an exhibition for the Lebanese professional painter Sally Khoury (check her website) The exhibition is from June 6 to June 23, 2007, Monday to Saturday from 10h to 19h.

The exhibition is wonderful, Sally's work is unique and beautiful. For all you paintings lovers and appreciators out there, it's the right place to be.

I was there tonight, and seeing it live is even more exquisite. These are some low-res pictures I took with my phone.

Part I - Art of Speech: Nasrallah

In general, when I think "Art of Speech", I directly think of Imam Ali. It was in an Arabic literature course that we studied about several poets and writers, and among them was the leader and speaker Imam Ali Bin Abi Talib.

Today I will speak about the Arabic speech giving in particular, and I believe it is a very rich language as Arabic has what is called "Al Balagha", a form of delegating the Arabic speaking and writing into a higher and superior level which few master.

The Arabic Art of Speech is practiced by few leaders nowadays, that can barely be counted on one hand. Even though I do not agree with what they say, this doesn't mean I cannot acknowledge how articulate and convincing some leaders can be.



The first "Khatib" which stands for "Speaker" in Arabic, is Sheik Hassan Nasrallah. I think he is the best one yet in our generation today. Sheik Hassan Nasrallah in particular has overcome several obstacles in giving a speech which is speaking with a lisp. Nevertheless it is said that many great speech givers spoke with a lisp but still gave powerful speeches.

Traits which Nasralla possesses are:
+ Self Control (unlike Michel Aoun, which I will prepare a specific post evaluating his speech qualities and flaws).
+ Following specific keypoints and not reading from a paper, thus not losing his trail of thoughts
+ Voice & tone, knows when he lowers is, knows when he highers it. Also depending on what he is saying he uses the appropriate tone
+ Knows his audience, for example during the July war last summer, his audience were the whole world, but the most important ones were Israel and the Lebanese people, so he knew how to encourage the Lebanese, and discourage the Israelis at the same time.
+ Looks Trustworthy and confident
+ Prepares answers to all possible questions (in case of a press conference)
+ Word playing. It is a very strong quality to be able to take someone else words against him then use them in a way that will support him
+ Reaches out to the audience's self-esteem and pride
+ And Humor where appropriate, and which he knows the audience he is trying to please will appreciate

Links:
1- 10 Suggestings in Speech giving
2- Giving a Speech
3- How to give a speech

International Women`s Day - Art Lounge March 10

Thanks to MFL I knew about this event. I like the combination of Art, discussion and chilling to music.

I believe that even though the status of the Lebanese woman has gone a long shot for the past years in Lebanon and on several basis, such as politics, high position at work, salaries, etc... Nevertheless I still think that there are still some stuff that need to be accomplished. It is still a patririarchal society, and not just in Lebanon, even in countries such as the U.S.

On that note, I need to specify that I am no feminist, but I am definitely pro-rights, human rights, prisoner rights, women rights, and children rights. More over, I don't think men and women are absolutely equal, orelse, we wouldn't have two genders. However I believe that a job should not be given to someone because she is a woman, or he is a man, but for their qualifications and personalities. Equal opportunities is the key and to never judge a person's position or job based on gender, but for how competant they are.

Talents in Lebanon – Banadoura: Various Artists

After I posted this video clip for the song "Qamlo el 7arb" for the Lebanese band "Meen", one of the band members Tony Yammine was kind enough to send me the Banadoura Compilation CD. So Thank you, it's a great addition to my collection.

What is Banadoura?

It's a CD that has a compilation of songs for several Lebanese Artists plus bonus features (videos) for those artists. Munir Khauli, The Quiminboos, Zeina Daccache, Nadim Bou Khalil, and Meen (mentioned earlier).

11 tracks, 11 moods, 11 themes, various artists, various music styles, all Lebanese.

Make sure you check the CD out. Demo here.

Check out:
Talents in Lebanon – Composer/Musician: Jalal Haddad
Talents in Lebanon – Photographer: Karen K

Rock Fest 2007 in Lebanon

Click on below to enlarge picture. For more info, please visit www.lebanesebands.com

Talents in Lebanon - Photographer: Karen K

This is the second entry of Talents in Lebanon. The first was about the composer and musician Jalal Haddad.

This entry comes in a bit late nevertheless it is only because I want to make sure that I only bring you the best.



I have been introduced to the work of the Lebanese photographer Karen K on Flickr.com consequently I have immediately been drawn to them. After browsing the work of so many photographers, I only experienced the feeling of closeness when I stumbled upon the photos Karen have taken. I couldn't take my eyes off her photostream, one after another. Each time I thought I had found the best one, I was wrong.

The interesting thing about Karen's work, is her work can feed different tastes. Everyone can find his own favorites while skimming through her library of photos.

To know more about Karen, where she lives, her interests, etc... You can view her profile here.



Furthermore, ladies and gentlement, Karen's photographs. Karen has many albums, if you are lost and don't know where to start, I recommend Karen's dearest photos.

Karen even had her share in reporting about the war in her own way.

Qamlo L 7arb by Meen (the band)

A friend of mine showed me this below video clip of the song "Qamlo L 7arb" by the Lebanese band Meen. This song is about the July 2006 war that happened in Lebanon. Click here to view the band's website and check more of their songs.

Rebirth Lebanon

Dazed & Confused Gallery
112-116 Old Street, EC1V 9BG, London



The exhibition runs from December 15th - January 10th 2007

Rebirth Lebanon is a platform where Lebanese artists react to the harsh realities of war & social complexities. In the midst of catastrophe, grief and fear have become a catalyst for hope and unity.

Featuring: Mazen Kerbaj, Laure Ghorayeb, Elyse Tabet, Karen Karam, Beirut DC, Zena El Khalil, Rachel Tabet, The Lebanon Chronicle.

To read more about this, click here.

Nafas Beirut

Espace SD and xanadu* are happy to invite you to the opening of Nafas Beirut a platform for artists bearing witness

Nafas Beirut is a platform for artists, poets, writers and filmmakers to share their work produced during or in reaction to the Israeli siege of Lebanon of Summer 2006. Believing it crucial to highlight these works, Nafas Beirut documents the emotions and experiences, and brings artists and viewers together, historicizing the moment. Nafas Beirut is a platform for these immediate responses through a multimedia exhibition and a month long series of events including, video screenings curated by various organizations and collectives, concerts, an open mike poetry jam, and a lecture on the oil spill.

The exhibition will continue until the 17th of November.

For the schedule of the events, please check [link] or [link]

Espace SD is open everyday except sundays between 3pm and 8pm.

Talents in Lebanon – Composer/Musician: Jalal Haddad

This entry is one of many of Talents in Lebanon, where I will be introducing several talented artists from Lebanon in various fields. The first entry will be about a distinguished young composer and musician Jalal Haddad. I met Jalal almost 8 years ago, and through these 8 years, every week or so, Jalal would send me a small voice clip of his music. And every single time among the dozens of times I listened to his music, my reaction would be:

Wow - Wonderful - Amazing - Impressive - Touching - Expressive - Hollywoody - Captivating

When you listen to Jalal’s music, where there are no lyrics, you can write your own lyrics to the music. You can immediately visualize the story that Jalal is trying to tell. He has this remarkable method of translating his thoughts and vision into music, hence we translate back his music to thoughts and vision and definitely enjoy it.

Jalal Haddad is a young promising talented gifted superb musician and composer.

To listen to some of his music, you can visit: http://www.myspace.com/jalalhaddad.
I would recommend starting with "Lebanese and surreal".

Quoted from his webpage:

"Jalal Haddad is not your average school boy with an extensive background in forced-piano-lessons and a rock star revolution at the prime of his adolescence. With passion for music since the age of 5, the sound he serves today, that of a Modernized and Beirutised Classical musician, pimping across Broadway to make a living, is a blend of classical, jazz, blues, choir, folk, military and a lot more, never letting genres come between him and his virtual world that he tries so hard to convey to us mortals."