Cultural Events in Sana’a [Archives:1998/16/Culture]

Uncommon Musical Evening

Organized by the Yemen Union of Writers, an evening of art was presented by the outstanding Yemeni singer and musician Jaber Ali Ahmed on Wednesday 15 April. The event was attended by a large audience of Yemenis and expatriates. The words of the songs presented by Jaber Ali Ahmed were taken from poems by Yemeni poets such as Abduallha Al-Baradooni, Yahya Awadh Abdulaziz Al-Maqaleh, Amna Yousuf, Abdulhadi Khidhr and Abdullah Ba-Kalaba.
The music for the songs – all new and never recorded or broadcast before – was composed by the artist himself. “I like to know my audience’s opinion about these songs, which are quite new in their form,” said Jaber Ali Ahmed.
This evening is one of a series of such weekly events.
Tunisian Poet Celebrated
A lecture was delivered on Tuesday 14 April at Al-Afif Cultural Foundations by Dr. Mohammed Al-Taher Al-Sobaitli, a professor of history at the College of Education, Sanaa University. The topic of the lecture was the patriotic Tunisian poet Abu Al-Qassem Al-Shabi, who roused the nationalistic fervor of generations of Arabs through his many great poems. He, however, did not write patriotic poems only, but also love odes which inflamed the passions of many a young lover.
The Yemeni and Arab audience responded enthusiastically to the lecture and the recited verses of some of Al-Shabi’s most famous poems.
African Night

A night of Sudanese music was organized last Saturday at Halaqa and is being followed by an exhibition of artwork originating from both sides of the continent. The dancing was largely ceremonial with highly coloured costumes; depicting a bride being given away to her groom and their guests dancing for them. The art work includes tribal masks, statuettes, oil and water color paintings, tapestries etc. Much of the wood sculptures come from Western Africa, including an amazingly one piece sculpted table supported by a seated king from the Congo (Kinhasa), and other statuettes from Benin and Togo. Artists such as Shihab el Din, a Sudanese artist, will have photos on exhibit which originate from his work as a photo journalist. Khalid, another Sudanese, is exhibiting his sculpted leather pieces. There are also paintings from Tanzania. The exhibition should continue until the 25th.
Yemen Times
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