WESTERN FRONT – Concert by Nadah El Shazly

Description:

A concert by Nadah El Shazly at Western Front, for which she performed selections from her debut album, Ahwar (2017), alongside other works. El Shazly melds improvised textures, noise, electronica, and the influence of early Egyptian recordings with her own haunting vocals, in a complexly layered reinvention of Egyptian classical music from the 19th century. “Ahwar” translates from Arabic to “marshlands.” The album was developed over two years, during which El Shazly divided her time between Montréal, Canada and Cairo, Egypt.

Curated by Aram Bajakian.

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Nadah El Shazly stands in a dark room behind a table covered by a laptop and electronics resembling preamps or sound mixers. She types on the laptop beneath a red spotlight.

Nadah El Shazly holds a microphone up to her masked mouth while closing her eyes. She is lit by red light. Only pure darkness backgrounds her gesture.

Nadah El Shazly holds a microphone angled near her masked mouth behind a technology covered table. She stands in the middle of the darkened Grand Luxe Hall under a cool spotlight while the walls to her side are lit red.

Nadah El Shazly gently holds a microphone fixed to a stand up to her masked mouth, appearing to vocalize into it. The scene is lit entirely in a cool red, turning shadows into a near pure black.

Nadah El Shazly looks out into the distance with lips barely parted while holding a microphone up to her mouth. She is lit by pink lighting in a darkened room, where nothing but darkness backgrounds her gesture.

Nadah El Shazly types on a laptop under a purple light in a darkened Grand Luxe Hall. To her side, red light is projected against a wall.

Backgrounded by red and lit by saturated pink, Nadah El Shazly holds a microphone secured to a stand tightly, bringing it close to her masked mouth. Her arms are tense and eyelids gently closed.

Backgrounded by pure shadow, Nadah El Shazly leans in towards a microphone affixed to a stand, vocalizing with her eyes closed and lips barely parted.

Nadah El Shazly leans in towards a laptop screen with a microphone to her side. Warm orange rim lighting defines the edges of her hair, the tops of her shoulders, and the sides of her arms. This warmth also hits the lower planes of her face.

Nadah El Shazly vocalizes intently into a microphone under cool red lighting. A single white spotlight hangs above her head but its light does not change her saturated figure.

Related People

Aram Bajakian (Curator)

Related Events

2021

Don’t Let Me Be Lost to You: Early 20th Century Near Eastern Musics in New York City

Captions:

Concert by Nadah El Shazly, set 1, audio documentation, Oct 15, 2021. 43 min. 10 sec.
Concert by Nadah El Shazly, set 2, audio documentation, Oct 15, 2021. 42 min. 32 sec.
Nadah El Shazly at Western Front, photo documentation, Oct 15, 2021. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Nadah El Shazly at Western Front, photo documentation, Oct 15, 2021. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Nadah El Shazly at Western Front, photo documentation, Oct 15, 2021. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Nadah El Shazly at Western Front, photo documentation, Oct 15, 2021. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Nadah El Shazly at Western Front, photo documentation, Oct 15, 2021. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Nadah El Shazly at Western Front, photo documentation, Oct 15, 2021. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Nadah El Shazly at Western Front, photo documentation, Oct 15, 2021. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Nadah El Shazly at Western Front, photo documentation, Oct 15, 2021. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Nadah El Shazly at Western Front, photo documentation, Oct 15, 2021. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Nadah El Shazly at Western Front, photo documentation, Oct 15, 2021. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.

Western Front is a non-profit artist-run centre in Vancouver.

We acknowledge the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations as traditional owners of the land upon which Western Front stands.