Events

Ahmed Bassiouny - Egyptian Independent Artists Music & Film Festival

April 16, 2011
From 4 p.m.
 Darb 1718 Egyptian Contemporary Art and Culture Center, Cairo, Egypt

The 25th January 2011 has been marked in history as the start of the unforeseen ‘Egyptian Revolution’ ending in triumphantly terminating a repressive regime providing hope of new beginnings to millions. However with great prevail came great sorrow and many families counted their losses following the aggressive portion of the peaceful revolt.
One of the unsung heroes of the Egyptian Revolution was Ahmed Bassiouny who died on January 28 while defending his rights to a better living. Bassiouny was a sound, visual artist, musician and teachers assistant at the Faculty of Art Education, Painting and Drawing Department, Helwan University.
According to many Bassiouny was one of the most important artists of the new generation of young contemporary Egyptian artists. His early large scale expressionistic paintings won him the first prize in painting in the 2001 ‘Salon of Youth’. Then his work took a turn towards a more experimental direction involving new media and multimedia installations between the years of 2001 and 2005. Bassiouny grew more interested in the study of digital interactive media and by that he became one of the very few people in the contemporary Egyptian art movement working in that field.

The Ahmed Bassiouny- Egypt Independent Artists music and film festival will be held on Saturday 16th April at Darb 17 18 Egyptian Contemporary Art and Culture Center. The festival will be organized annually in honour of Bassiouny’s unfortunate death and in commemoration of his artistic talents (sound, new media and visual arts) and to support and encourage other independent artist of this generation who continue to follow in his footsteps.
Ahmed Bassiouny- EIA Music and Film Festivalwill be the first Festival in Egypt to gather independent Egyptian artists (Musicians, Photographers, and Filmmakers) together to showcase their talents. The festival, which focuses on Independent Artists and aims to promote the idea of uniting and encouraging positive change in Egypt art scene, will feature solo musicians, bands and showcasing of short films alongside a gallery featuring the works of photographers and visual artists.
All the Artists participating in Ahmed Bassiouny EIA Music and Film Festival will perform their original compositions to demonstrate that Egypt Independent Artists are part of the great revolution through innovation and expression.
Ahmed Bassiouny- EIA Music and Film Festival aims to provide Cairo with a signature event that further enhances Egypt's reputation as a national leader in the promotion and support of independent music. A new breed of art, new breed of artists for a new promising Egypt!


Ahmed Bassiouny- EIA Music & Film Festival Line Up:

Solo Artists:
-Rami Abadir (Experimental)
www.reverbnation.com/ramiabadir
-PolyMorph (Vintage Electronic)
www.myspace.com/poly_morp
-Machine Eat Man (Egyptronica)
www.machineeatman.com

Bands:
-Cairokee (Arabic Rock)
http://www.cairokee.com/
-Feed Me (Electronic Rock)
www.myspace.com/feedmeband
-SimpleXity (Progressive Rock)
www.simplextyband.com

Film Makers:
-Ahmed Khalifa (The first English language Egyptian movie)
www.wingrave-film.com
-Mohammed Taymour (Independent Filmmaker)
-Mahmoud Hamdi (Cultural Activist, Manager of Karma Ibn Hanye Culture Center) www.mahmoudhamdi.com
-Mohamed Soliman (National Geographic short movies director)