On the Importance of Being an Arab

This performance is based on the events of the life of director/performer Ahmed El Attar. He is both the material and the one presenting that material. In sequences based upon his personal archives – love letters, school and university grades, programmes of the performances he has attended, work documents and letters etc. – a character is drawn who shares his views on his own perceptions of himself and on how the outside world perceives him.
His individuality and the fact that he is a member of an ethnic group (Arab) are put into the light of today’s society and the imposed emphasis on ethnicity. A single intense rhythmic soundtrack accompanies the performance from beginning to end. In its emphasis on the use of electronics, driving and insistent loops and riffs, and emotional synth workouts, the music, composed by Hassan Khan, is based on contemporary Cairene Shaabi forms.