Singer Souad Massi to hold concert at Mawazine festival in Morocco this year
Updated 24 April 2018
CAIRO: Algerian Singer Souad Massi will hold a concert at the annual Mawazine Music Festival in Morocco.
The Moroccan audience are awaiting to be thrilled to attend the concert by the talented musician who has been away from the festival since four years.
Masai began her career as a singer, composer and songwriter in the 1990s.
She will be joining famous Arab singers such as Kathem El-Saher, Nancy Ajram, Mohamad Hamaki and Wael Jassar.
She was named the EQUAL Arabia ambassador for July, coinciding with the release of her new album, “Nancy 11.” EQUAL Arabia is a program that aims to amplify the work of women creators by giving them international recognition.
With a career spanning more than two decades, Ajram is known for hits such as “Ah W Noss,” “Ya Tabtab” and “Badna Nwalee El Jaw.” She has released several chart-topping albums, blending traditional Arabic melodies with modern pop, and has built a wide fan base across the region and internationally.
Saudi Theater and Performing Arts Commission participates in Avignon Festival in France
Updated 19 July 2025
Rahaf Jambi
RIYADH: The Saudi Theater and Performing Arts Commission is taking part in the 79th edition of the prestigious Avignon Festival in France this month. This year’s festival shines a spotlight on the Arabic language, making it a fitting platform for showcasing the richness of Saudi cultural expressions.
The commission’s participation features four traditional performing art forms — Al-Khatwa, Khabiti, Liwa, and the Ardha of Wadi Al-Dawasir — alongside the theatrical production “Tawq.” Through its presence the commission aims to elevate Saudi performing arts while introducing contemporary Saudi theater to international audiences and fostering cultural exchange.
The play “Tawq,” which is directed by Fahad Al-Dossari, boasts a talented cast, including Ahmed Al-Zekrallah, Fatima Al-Jishi, Maryam Hussein, Abdulaziz Al-Zayani, Khaled Al-Huwaidi, and Shahab Al-Shahab. The performance promises to be a highlight of the festival, offering a glimpse into the evolving narrative of Saudi theater.
The play ‘Tawq’ is directed by Fahad Al-Dossari. (Supplied)
Al-Dossari told Arab News: “For me, any theatrical work is an integrated work, meaning that the harmony between all the elements and their quality is what creates this theatrical state, whether at the level of the idea, the directorial vision, the performance, or the scenography. This is what constitutes the strength of the theatrical performance.”
He stressed the significance of participating in the Avignon Festival, describing it as a “window to the world.”
Al-Dossari believes that the language of theater transcends borders, serving as a universal medium for conveying messages, ideas, and cultural narratives, and added: “This is what we seek in this important participation.”
The Star Program has played a vital role in enabling creative individuals in the theater sector to transform their ideas into reality. Al-Dossari noted the diversity of concepts and visions that have emerged, highlighting creativity in all aspects, from decor and costumes to music and acting performances.
He expressed gratitude to the authority for its unwavering commitment to fostering development and creativity within the sector.
As the Saudi Theater and Performing Arts Commission makes a mark at the Avignon Festival, it stands as a testament to the dynamic cultural landscape of Saudi Arabia and its dedication to sharing its artistic heritage with the world.
Huda Beauty supports Palestine with Saint Levant collab
Updated 19 July 2025
Arab News
DUBAI: Huda Kattan, the US-Iraqi founder of Huda Beauty, this week launched a new collaboration with US-based Palestinian singer Saint Levant to support Palestine.
The partnership introduces a new shade of the brand’s popular Faux Filler Lip Oil, with proceeds going to organizations that support Palestinian agriculture and cultural preservation.
Named “Kalamantina,” the shade references Saint Levant’s song of the same name, released earlier this year. The lip oil also features a clementine scent.
“This is for the homeland,” Kattan wrote on the brand’s Instagram page, alongside orange and Palestinian flag emojis. “In honor of this collaboration, Huda Beauty will make a donation to organizations supporting Palestinian agriculture and cultural preservation.”
Both Kattan and Saint Levant, born Marwan Abdelhamid in Jerusalem, have been hinting at this week’s launch through a series of Instagram posts.
In the clips, they danced to Saint Levant’s track “Kalamantina” and posed together next to a vintage car filled with clementines. In another shot, they held clementines labeled with fruit stickers that read, “Grown by Huda n’ Saint Levant.”
In the video, the music sensation wore a necklace featuring a map of Palestine, paired with a white tank top and denim jeans.
Meanwhile, Kattan appeared in a white off-the-shoulder lace dress with long, flared sleeves and a fitted silhouette. She completed the look with silver hoop earrings, oversized white sunglasses and a white headscarf, a nostalgic, vintage-inspired ensemble that matched the retro car and clementine-filled set.
Both Saint Levant and Kattan have been outspoken in their support for Palestine and have used their platforms to raise awareness about the war in Gaza.
Saint Levant, whose mother is French Algerian and father is Palestinian Serbian, performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California in 2024. During his set, he addressed the war, saying: “Coachella, my name is Saint Levant and I was born in Jerusalem and raised in Gaza … as I hope all of you are aware, the people of Gaza have been undergoing a brutal, brutal genocide. And the people of Palestine have been undergoing a brutal occupation for the past 75 years.”
Kattan, meanwhile, has regularly shared footage and updates from Gaza on her social media accounts to amplify awareness. In 2023, she announced a $1 million donation to two humanitarian organizations working in the region: Human Appeal and Doctors Without Borders.
Massive Attack, Brian Eno launch syndicate to defend artists criticizing Gaza war
Artists accuse pro-Israel groups of censorship, harassment
UK Lawyers for Israel wants to cancel careers, artists argue
Updated 18 July 2025
Arab News
DUBAI: British band Massive Attack, British singer and songwriter Brian Eno, Irish post-punk band Fontaines DC and hip-hop trio Kneecap have launched a syndicate to defend artists criticizing Israel’s alleged genocidal war on Gaza.
The group says these artists have been targeted by “aggressive, vexatious campaigns” orchestrated by pro-Israel groups.
In a statement shared on Instagram on Thursday, the musicians expressed concern for emerging artists who they believe are at risk of being “threatened into silence or career cancellation” by groups such as UK Lawyers for Israel.
“We’re aware of the scale of aggressive, vexatious campaigns operated by UKLFI and of multiple individual incidences of intimidation within the music industry itself, designed solely to censor and silence artists from speaking their hearts and minds,” the statement said.
“Having withstood these campaigns of attempted censorship, we won’t stand by and allow other artists — particularly those at earlier stages of their careers or in other positions of professional vulnerability — to be threatened into silence or career cancellation.”
The syndicate was announced amid mounting tensions involving the UKLFI.
The group filed a police report against Bob Vylan after the band chanted “death to the IDF (Israel Defense Forces)” during their Glastonbury set, an incident now under police investigation.
The UKLFI also filed a complaint with the BBC for broadcasting the performance, and several of the band’s upcoming shows have since been cancelled.
Mo Chara of Kneecap was also referred to authorities by the UKLFI and later charged with a terrorism offence, accused of displaying a Hezbollah flag during a live performance.
Following the report, Kneecap had several concerts cancelled.
Need a summertime streaming binge? Here’s what you should have seen so far in 2025
Updated 18 July 2025
Arab News
‘Adolescence’
This harrowing drama, created by actor Stephen Graham (who also stars) and writer Jack Thorne and directed by Philip Barantini, will surely clean up at the next round of major awards. The story of 13-year-old Jamie Miller, accused of the murder of a schoolmate, and his family was practically flawless in every aspect, from the excellent ensemble cast (including breakout star Owen Cooper, who plays Jamie) to the extraordinary technical skill (each of its four episodes was shot in a single take). “The balletic production processes that must have been involved are simply staggering, but they suck the audience in and refuse to let them go, demanding we share in every uncomfortable second,” our reviewer wrote. “‘Adolescence’ may be one of the most upsetting shows released this year — at times, it’s excruciating — but it is also a remarkable work of art.”
‘Severance’ S2
The wonderfully weird world of Apple’s sci-fi comedy-drama was expanded far beyond the walls of the Lumon offices in season two, as Mark S (Adam Scott) and his team of data refiners dealt with the fallout from their successful, if brief, escape from their ‘severed’ floor — where work and out-of-work memories and personalities are controlled and delineated by a chip embedded in their brains — and alert the outside world to the cruelties of their working conditions. Season two had that same blend of surreal silliness and nightmarish anxiety that made the show so popular — as our reviewer said: “Creator Dan Erickson and director Ben Stiller waste no time in rediscovering the subtle blend of tangible oddness and sinister dystopian creepiness that made the first season such an uncomfortable joy.” “Severance” remains smart, thought-provoking, entertaining, and utterly absorbing.
‘Mo’ S2
The second season of Mo Amer’s semi-autobiographical comedy drama — in which he plays Mo Najjar, a Kuwait-born Palestinian refugee living in Houston, Texas, with his mother Yusra (the superb Farah Bsieso), and his older brother Sameer (Omar Elba), who’ve been waiting more than two decades to have their asylum case heard — proved that the success of season one was no fluke. Amer, our reviewer wrote, continued to explore “incredibly complex and divisive topics — family, religion, imbalance of power, exile, mental health, parenthood, multiculturalism and much more — with an artful lightness of touch, without ever taking them lightly.” The finale — in which the family finally head to Palestine for the first time in more than 20 years — was a triumph of storytelling.
‘Black Mirror’ S7
Charlie Brooker’s near-future-set sci-fi anthology series — which has, since its inception, proven frighteningly prophetic — continued to explore familiar themes in its seventh season, most especially the terrifying potential technology has to reshape our existence. But it did so with a slightly softer touch that suggests Brooker’s cynicism is mellowing just a little — and it was the richer for it. It doesn’t hurt that some fine actors continue to line up to feature in the show — this season saw Rashida Jones, Awkwafina, Peter Capaldi, Paul Giamatti, Emma Corrin, Issa Rae, Patsy Ferran and many more on the roster. And, of course, there was that sequel — the first in the show’s history — to a “Black Mirror” classic: season four’s “USS Callister.”
‘Andor’ S2
It seems a shame that what was by far the strongest of the many TV spinoffs from “Star Wars” was just two seasons long, but maybe that limitation was the reason why it was the strongest: it cut out the indulgent exposition. We already knew what was coming — at least, if you’d seen “Rogue One” you did, and if you hadn’t seen it then why on earth were you watching a “Star Wars” spinoff? Its story of a population rising up against the erosion of their rights was both convincing and timely. “With ‘Andor,’ (creator Tony) Gilroy and (star Diego) Luna have truly set the gold standard for what future “Star Wars” can be,” our reviewer wrote. “Not just a space opera, but real stories of transformation and beauty.”
‘The Studio’
Apple’s star-studded comedy about a newly appointed Hollywood studio head (Matt Remick, played by Seth Grogan), who believes himself to be a supporter of great art, but quickly discovers that he’ll have to park his principles and chase the money, was as sharp a satire as you could wish to see. “Even though “The Studio” is a TV show about the movie business, it still manages to skewer both industries,” our reviewer wrote. “At every turn, Remick is confronted by the inherent silliness of the movie business, and we get to watch it in a series of episodic, bingeable installments, each bursting with cameos and a satirical swipe at everything from celebrity culture to pretentious auteurs.”
