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Fête de l’Olivier
22.09.2023 @ 20 h 00 min - 23.09.2023 @ 23 h 30 min
Fête de l’Olivier
Organized by the ICAM, the Fête de l’Olivier Festival is a place for all kinds of encounters and tolerance. A celebration that brings together diversity, the cultures of the Arab world and an objective look at the contemporary world and its evolution. Culture seeking enlightenment and lifelong education, where intercultural exchanges and human contacts prevail. Particularly those between Switzerland and the Arab world.
An insatiable desire to promote both established and emerging artists. Discover art in all its forms. Singular and multiple art, mixing genres and languages. The art, which better than anyone else, breaks the codes and revives the traditions. A representation of our culture: modern, anchored in traditions. Interconnected.
Manal Samaan
Syrian singer Manal Samaan has been performing solo with composer Ziad Rahbani since 2009. When she graduated from the Higher Institute of Music in Damascus in 2008, Manal could not yet have imagined the impact her voice would have. That of expressing, at home and abroad, the suffering and adversity facing her people. In “Your Presence Never Left”, recently released alongside “Zakrni Fik” and “La Crèche”, she addresses the issue of detainees in Syria.
Manal Samaan speaks to her own, to others, to all others, to awaken spirits and touch souls. Following the release of her album “Byzantine Hymns” in 2009, she collaborated with artists such as Wadih el Safi and took part in numerous festivals around the world: the Cairo Jazz Festival, Mono Drama in Dubai, Jazz du Monde and the Fête de l’Olivier in Geneva. But above all, Manal Samaan gives concerts . She has performed all around the world, in Syria, Lebanon, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Armenia, Russia, Australia, Germany, France and Switzerland.
For the Fête de l’Olivier program, she wants to offer the public a rich tapestry of varied melodies. A collection of human songs and evocative love ballads, mingled with the enchanting rhythms of Moshahat and the cultural depth of Alepien Qudud. A journey to the revolutionary tunes of Sheikh Imam, then to those of Sayed Darwish and Abd al-Wahhab. The legacy of the Rahbani brothers will also be celebrated, as will the soulful compositions of Philemon Wahbe and Dhiyab Mashhour, and the songs of contemporary genius Ziad Rahbani. A program that promises an unforgettable musical experience.
Manal Samaan’s well-thought-out choice of music adds a human dimension to the evening. To plunge into the depths of the human soul, to speak of feelings, dreams, suffering and injustice. Meticulously crafted, the program echoes the hardships and adversity endured by the Syrian community. A source of immense sadness for Manal Samaan, whose music expresses the anguish of a community. Its dreams too.
Rayess Bek
Author, composer and performer, Rayess Bek defines himself as a free electron of the Lebanese rap scene. He has become a leading figure, at the avant-garde of hip-hop and urban music. He owes his reputation to the power of his words. The first to rap in Arabic, he has been denouncing the omnipresence of corruption and violence since his early days.
When Rayess Bek launched his musical career, Wael Koudaih (real name) was only 18, but had already experienced two wars in Lebanon. The first in 1982, when he was just three years old, forced his family to leave for France. Then in 1996, back in the Middle East, he experienced the “Grapes of Wrath” of a particularly deadly raid on the city of Cana. All these trials and tribulations prompted him to become involved, and to tell the story of a complex land through his words, which combine rage and humor.
Censored in all Arab countries except his own, his albums are exchanged, downloaded and, finally, performed on stage internationally. But from 2012 onwards, Rayess Bek turned to a more performative musical form with “Good Bye Schlondorff”, which was broadcast at the Centre Pompidou and Berlin’s HKW, among other venues.
More recently, in collaboration with video artist Randa Mirza, he brought “Love and Revenge” to life: a concert between sound and image. An invitation to an uninhibited journey, resurrecting old hits and film extracts from the standards of Arab popular song. The idea is always the same: to combine tradition and modernity, transforming scars into symphonies.
