HOMAGE TO SYRIA

Sunday, January 17, 2016 • 3:30pm-5:30pm a.Muse Gallery • 614 Alabama Street • San Francisco, CA

Ashraf Kateb presents musical selections from classical and Arab composers

Violin: Ashraf Kateb, Piano: TBA

Dia Succari (1938-2010) Sultane de Damas Hommage à Rimski-Korsakoff

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakow (1844-1908) Arabisches Lied aus “Scheherazade”

Dia Succari (1938-2010) Homage à Kreisler

Fritz Kreisler (1875 - 1962) La Gitana

Dia Succari (1938-2010) Homage à Sarasate

Pablo de Sarasate (1844-1908) Danse Andaluza

Boghos Gelalian (1927-2011) Preludio e Moto Perpetuo

Mustapha Aicha Rahmani (1944-2008) 3 Andalusian Dances

Ashraf Kateb (b. 1969-) Intima Inspiration

Ashraf Kateb is a Syrian-German violinist, composer, and conductor. His work is driven by a passion for promoting musical culture and conserving Arabic music heritage.

Kateb was born in Aleppo, Syria, and studied violin at music academies in Aleppo, Moscow, and Cracow. He has lived in Berlin since 1992. Ashraf Kateb has participated in many international festivals, and was the only Arab musician in the Philharmonia of the Nations. He has performed with many music celebrities, including Leonard Bernstein, Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Mistislav Rostropovitch, and others. He continues a decades-long collaboration with sopranos Anna Maria Kaufmann and Deborah Sasson.

Since 1997, he has been promoting a pioneering international project titled Arabic Music and the World. He collected and performed the works of leading Arab composers, endeavoring to share with the world the works of creative Arab musicians.

Kateb released his first CD, Gesture accompanied by Syrian-German Pianist Gaswan Zerikly in 2001. Gesture enjoyed international acclaim and presents the violin and piano works of seven Arab composers from Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Morocco.

In October 2010, Kateb released and published his new CD Dia Succari, composer from my Aleppo funded by the city of Aleppo and other NGO’s. He recorded the complete works for violin and piano of Syrian composer Dia Succari, accompanied by 22 pianists from 21 different nations.

Kateb is currently working on several new projects, including Boghos Gelalian, an Oriental Symphony, a musical tribute to Syrian-Armenian-Lebanese composer Boghos Gelalian. Unsilenced - paper and glass art by Ali Kaaf, featuring Larynx

Ali Kaaf grew up in , studied at the University of the Arts in Berlin (master class Rebecca Horn and Marwan), and lives and works in Berlin. During the last decade, Ali Kaaf participated in more than 25 exhibitions in the US, Italy, Bosnia, Switzerland, Lebanon, France, and Germany. Ali Kaaf’s work was featured in ten solo-shows, including such prestigious venues such as the Kala Art Institute Berkeley, Yellowstone Art Museum, Galleria Marie-Laure Fleisch, Galerie Sakamoto Berlin, ArteEast Gallery NY, und Darat Al-Fanun in . The works of Ali Kaaf are represented in various important international collections.

Blue Larynx: blown glass, 47 x 12 x 26 inches - Mukilteo, Washington 2014 Ali Kaaf, Visual Artist

Larynx was conceived in Berlin, inspired by the popular uprising in Kaaf’s native Syria, and brought to life at Mongrain Glass Studio in Mukilteo, WA. The result is a stunning and powerful glasswork that brings together Kaaf’s penchant for organic processes of art formation, and a poignant narrative of universal political struggle.

During the production process, Kaaf poured water onto the burning glass in order to incite a violent, albeit organic, breakage pattern in the interior. The exterior remains calm and elegant; the interior is aggressive and destructive.

Untitled: pigment on paper, 2006 Ali Kaaf, Visual Artist

“Ali Kaaf points to what is missing, but as intensity, as an exact delimitation. The landscape he summons up before our eyes is a landscape of ruins. At the same time, however, it is also a landscape of rebellion, a site whose substance revives immediately and whose energy lives on in spite of the rifts, as if a bird with broken wings were to rise up and fly. [...].” Doris von Drathen

Proceeds from the sale of these pieces will facilitate international Syrian cultural exchanges.

An exhibit of Ali Kaaf’s work will be presented at the InSpace studio in the Pacific Felt Factory from January 15 to February 28. Kaaf’s Unsilenced is the first in a series of exhibits dedicated to human rights. Follow InSpace Curatorial on Facebook to see our upcoming exhibits that pay homage to Syria.

See also www.almyracommunications.com/inspace. Intima

This fusion of visual art, dance, and music investigates themes of self-discovery, conflict, loss, and resolution.

The cultural history of Syria, ranging from the Gilgamesh epic to the current, tragic war, inspired Tayeb Al-Hafez to bring these artists together.

Intima brings together several artists of Syrian descent along with collaborators from various cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Gregory Dawson, a choreographer from San Francisco, and Ali Kaaf, a visual artist based in Berlin, worked together to create art that combines Kaaf’s large-scale visual installations with the dance troupe’s dramatic blend of classical ballet and contemporary movement. The principal concepts that drive this multimedia project originated with Kaaf, and evolved as the creative team brought them to life.

“During my typical choreographic process, I create movement and then explore what kind of musical soundscape will support what I have created. Intima breaks this mold. It is a highly collaborative effort. Musician Ashraf Kateb and visual artist Ali Kaaf share my concern for the political and social struggles of Syria, and my dedication to employing art in ways that illumi- nate our shared humanity. The energy, the very root from which we draw our artistic fervor, is dark and rich. That energy is reinforced by our diverse cultural backgrounds.” Gregory Dawson, Choreographer

Proceeds from this InSpace event will help to fund an international tour of Intima.

Acknowledgements We would like to thank the following: Lori Shantzis, a.Muse Gallery Hanna Regev, InSpace Curatorial Pacific Felt Factory Special thanks to Hana Ayaso for providing savory Syrian refreshments.

Tayeb Al-Hafez Tayeb Al-Hafez, MD, FACP, is a writer, director, producer, president and founder of Al’Myra Communications. A practicing physician, he is a strong advocate for securing human rights worldwide.

Al-Hafez immigrated to the United States in 1992 after completion of medical school. He is currently based in San Francisco. Al-Hafez focuses on multimedia and communication as essential components of success. He is committed to human betterment through his projects. He founded Global Health Equity Foundation in 2007 with Advocacy as a core strategy of the foundations’s integrative methodology. GHEF hosts successful Community Based Media Projects internationally, based on the success of Let’s Talk a suicide prevention project in Montana.

Homage to Syria in an InSpace presentation. InSpace Curatorial nurtures and develops traveling art exhibits of contemporary visual and performance art. InSpace presentations are sponsored by Al’Myra Communications, an organization committed to interdisciplinary storytelling through socially responsible means. Working with diverse professionals in an array of artistic fields, Al’Myra brings awareness to topical thoughts and events through such mediums as dance, photography, film, architecture, and the visual arts.

For more information or to make a donation contact: Tayeb Al-Hafez | 415.845.6040 | [email protected] Hanna Regev | 415.425.1295 | [email protected]