(Photo: Fragment from promotional material)
Egyptian band Eskendrella will participate in the upcoming edition of Palestine International Festival for Music and Dance (PIF), with one concert scheduled for 1 August at the Ramallah Cultural Palace, and a second concert on 4 August at the Jenin Secondary School for Boys.
This year’s edition of PIF will run between 27 July and 8 August and will feature concerts by an array of established musicians and bands, including the British-Palestinian band 47SOUL, Sweden-based Tarabband, as well as Tunisian musician Ghalia Benali.
Founded in 2005 by oud master and singer Hazem Shaheen, Eskendrella started playing in underground venues in Egypt before they became widely recognised, “shifting between revivals of the nation's classic tunes and ventures into new compositions,” according to their Facebook page.
Some of Eskendrella’s inspirations include famous Egyptian musicians Sayyed Darwish and Sheikh Imam as well as colloquial poets Salah Jaheen, Fouad Haddad, Ahmed Fouad Negm and Amin Haddad.
The Palestine International Festival for Music and Dance was founded in 1993 to help overcome the cultural siege imposed by Israel over Palestine, inviting artists from around the world to visit the occupied territories and offer music and dance.
The festival, which is organised by the Popular Art Centre, has hosted a huge array of international and local musicians and dance groups, including artists from Spain, Italy, Greece, Chile, Egypt, France, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq, the UK and Turkey.
PIF "attracted large numbers from various villages and cities in the West Bank and also from within the Green Line, thus strengthening interaction and ties between Palestinians from different regions," according to the festival's Facebook page.
The festival came to a halt between 2000 and 2005 due to the “strenuous political and economic situation.”
However, as of 2005, the festival came back stronger, expanding to host its events in cities and refugee camps across the West Bank.
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