I didn’t go!

Marcel Khalife - originally uploaded by Mahnaz Ganji

And I’m kicking myself for not getting tickets ahead of time. I am really angry with myself, this was a golden opportunity that I was waiting for for some time now to attend Marcel Khalife’s performance and the last two nights were apparently magical especially that this time Marcel was in collaboration with Bahraini poet Qassim Haddad with an interpretation of Majnoon Layla.

Bahraini poet Qassim Haddad

The performance was so good that the Islamists are up in arms against it threatening to question the minister of information and sms messages have been doing the rounds against the Spring of Culture generally. And when these things happen, you know that you missed a major cultural event, as culture is the very farthest thing from those peoples’ minds.

I envy all of those who attended, but applaud them for showing “the others” that we – unlike them – do appreciate culture and want more of it.

Comments

  1. Pingback: BahBlog

  2. allergic_to_everything

    For God’s sake, enough with the I’m-different-so-I-must-be-better-than-everyone-else complex.

    sheesh…

  3. LuLu

    Honestly I’m not surprised. The show was very beautiful and sensual in an artistic way. I didn’t expect people like Mohammed Khaled to get it..

    I’m not passing any value judgement on whether it is right or wrong to watch this show, but I’d say no one is forced to watch it and if someone got uncomfortable, they could have left. :ninja:

  4. diva

    It was really excellent! impressive by world standards… yes.. a bit risque for bahrain–but then again it was an illustration of the poetry–which was quite risque itself….

    I can understand why the islamists will go up in arms about it…. but again, they don’t have to see it. It’s art. And if we need to make art fit into certain boundaries imposed by certain people, then it’s no longer an expression of art, poetry or anything. Then it’s best not to waste time.

  5. can we talk

    are there 2 different lulu’s on this site? the one posting lately (eg #2 above) seems to be a different one from the one with the newsy blog??

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    mahmood

    yes it looks like it CWT, how about they choose numbers for themselves? And I have no idea why this one’s URL leads to a bible study site! Weird. Unless it’s a high form of spam I am not aware of, but it seems unlikely.

    LuLu, care to explain please?

    And yes, I agree with you that if Mohammed Khalid or anyone else who doesn’t appreciate culture or view it as against Islamic teachings, don’t watch. You are not responsible to send everyone to your Heaven, so leave people be and let them immerse themselves in their own culture without your intervention. Thanks very much.

  7. can we talk

    i don’t understand. what was wrong with the show, according to our esteemed representative MK who it seemed did not even attend the show?

    the alwaqt link provided mentioned him posting in eilaf but i couldn’t find it.

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  9. Ian

    Hang on, since when did actually going to a show mean that idiots couldn’t pass judgement on it. Just look back a few years when some moron complained about a catwalk show in Marina Mall. It was displaying pyjamas and nightwear. Said idiot (who didn’t actually watch the show) was up in arms and indignant that it was showing off the body, when in fact the bodies in question were covered.
    How many of the twerps who rioted over Nancy Ajram, the first time she was here, had ever seen one of her shows live? Probably none.
    It seems that some sectors will object to something second-hand, just on hearsay, rather than look for themselves.
    A blinkered view if ever I heard of one.

  10. LuLu

    Yep same newsy LuLu here.. flying across the atlantic for my spring break and lucky enough to have it coincide with the Spring of culture 🙂

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    mahmood

    Ah, the confusion is that you missed the “S” in blogSpot in the URL on entering your comment…

    Welcome home and hope that you enjoy the SoC.

  12. nurox

    Too bad you couldn’t make it Mahmood, it was a brilliant show, I won’t rub it in further, as I know it’ll probably drive you mad. On the other hand there’s still alot more events worth checking out 🙂

  13. can we talk

    Lulu, for some reason clicking your name goes to a bible site instead of to your own blog (this has been going on for a few days)

    Ian, how stupid of me. sorry

  14. Sadek

    What was the issue with Marcel Khalifa’s evening ? And why are the bearded ones excited ? Missed out as I was travelling.

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  16. zaydoun

    Hey at least the show went on DESPITE the objections. In Kuwait they could’ve easily shut it down! :angry:

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    mahmood

    It seems that the whole Gulf is on a Freedoms attack isn’t it? What is it, they pine so much to the 7th century that they want to force us all to return to the desert in Cadillacs this time as we have the oil and we might as well use it, but forget about everything else happening in the modern world?

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