SUFI NIGHT

SUFI NIGHT

15:00 - Les mille et une voix film by Mahmoud Ben Mahmoud
16:45 - Mahmoud Ben Mahmoud - talk
17:30 - Dr. Bakary Sambe - lecture
19:00 - Ömer Tuğrul İnançer - talk
20:00 - Istanbul Historical Turkish Music Ensemble - ritual
21:10 - Baye Fall - ritual
21:45 - Papa Djimbira Sow & Nourou Salam - concert

Every year, Moussem and BOZAR present an evening dedicated to the rich and diverse tradition of Sufism, the spiritual branch of Islam.

Papa Djimbira Sow
concert

Papa Djimbira Sow was born in a Fula family in Kébémer, north-west Senegal. For generations, this family is keeping the tradition of the Khadres alive, a term used in Senegal to denote the fraternity of the Qadiriya. Founded in Baghdad in the 12th century, the Qadiriya found its way to Senegal 600 years later, and it played an important role in the introduction of Islam to Sub-Saharan Africa. From an early age on, Papa Djimbira Sow was initiated into songs and poems typical of this fraternity: hymns for the prophet, or qasidas, and poems written by important figures from the Senegalese fraternity, such as El-Hadji Malick Sy or Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba. He brings his invocations and hymns like the cries of a griot, supported by two choir singers and three percussionists.

 

Istanbul Historical Turkish Music Ensemble: Dawrān (Circle of Remembrance)
concert 

Since 1991 this ensemble has been studying and playing religious Sufi music. The first part of this ceremony symbolises the time before creation, where man was together with the creator in the realm of spirits. The second part is dedicated to the human adventure on earth. A slowly rotating circle is formed in which the movements that bring matter to life echo, from subatomic particles to galaxies.

Ömer Tuğrul İnançer, acclaimed specialist of traditional Turkish music, will introduce the audience to the ceremony by the ensemble. 

 

Kourel Baye Fall : Zikroulah
ritual 

 In Senegal, Baye Fall is a branch of the Mourides brotherhood. Zikroulah is an age-old practice of incantations and prayers in song on a circumambulation. The audience is invited to join in.

 

Dr. Bakary Sambe Islam et soufisme au Sénégal, le modèle a-t-il encore de l’avenir?
Lecture - FR

Dr. Bakary Sambe heads the Timbuktu Institute - African Center for Peace Studies (Dakar) and is assistant-professor at the Center for the Study of Religions (CER - Gaston Berger University of Saint-Louis, Senegal). He is the founder of the Observatory of Religious Radicalism and Conflict in Africa (ORCRA). During this lecture, he will address past and future of Senegalese Sufism, professed today by about 95% of the population.

Read the article by Dr Bakary Sambe on Islam in sub-Saharan africa.

Les Mille et une voix - Mahmoud Ben Mahmoud
documentary + discussion with the director

From Tunis to Caïro, from Rajasthan to Istanbul and Dakar, this documentary takes you to the sources of islamic music. The focus is on Sufism's mystic musical universe.

SUFI NIGHT

15:00 - Les mille et une voix film by Mahmoud Ben Mahmoud
16:45 - Mahmoud Ben Mahmoud - talk
17:30 - Dr. Bakary Sambe - lecture
19:00 - Ömer Tuğrul İnançer - talk
20:00 - Istanbul Historical Turkish Music Ensemble - ritual
21:10 - Baye Fall - ritual
21:45 - Papa Djimbira Sow & Nourou Salam - concert

Every year, Moussem and BOZAR present an evening dedicated to the rich and diverse tradition of Sufism, the spiritual branch of Islam.

Papa Djimbira Sow
concert

Papa Djimbira Sow was born in a Fula family in Kébémer, north-west Senegal. For generations, this family is keeping the tradition of the Khadres alive, a term used in Senegal to denote the fraternity of the Qadiriya. Founded in Baghdad in the 12th century, the Qadiriya found its way to Senegal 600 years later, and it played an important role in the introduction of Islam to Sub-Saharan Africa. From an early age on, Papa Djimbira Sow was initiated into songs and poems typical of this fraternity: hymns for the prophet, or qasidas, and poems written by important figures from the Senegalese fraternity, such as El-Hadji Malick Sy or Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba. He brings his invocations and hymns like the cries of a griot, supported by two choir singers and three percussionists.

 

Istanbul Historical Turkish Music Ensemble: Dawrān (Circle of Remembrance)
concert 

Since 1991 this ensemble has been studying and playing religious Sufi music. The first part of this ceremony symbolises the time before creation, where man was together with the creator in the realm of spirits. The second part is dedicated to the human adventure on earth. A slowly rotating circle is formed in which the movements that bring matter to life echo, from subatomic particles to galaxies.

Ömer Tuğrul İnançer, acclaimed specialist of traditional Turkish music, will introduce the audience to the ceremony by the ensemble. 

 

Kourel Baye Fall : Zikroulah
ritual 

 In Senegal, Baye Fall is a branch of the Mourides brotherhood. Zikroulah is an age-old practice of incantations and prayers in song on a circumambulation. The audience is invited to join in.

 

Dr. Bakary Sambe Islam et soufisme au Sénégal, le modèle a-t-il encore de l’avenir?
Lecture - FR

Dr. Bakary Sambe heads the Timbuktu Institute - African Center for Peace Studies (Dakar) and is assistant-professor at the Center for the Study of Religions (CER - Gaston Berger University of Saint-Louis, Senegal). He is the founder of the Observatory of Religious Radicalism and Conflict in Africa (ORCRA). During this lecture, he will address past and future of Senegalese Sufism, professed today by about 95% of the population.

Read the article by Dr Bakary Sambe on Islam in sub-Saharan africa.

Les Mille et une voix - Mahmoud Ben Mahmoud
documentary + discussion with the director

From Tunis to Caïro, from Rajasthan to Istanbul and Dakar, this documentary takes you to the sources of islamic music. The focus is on Sufism's mystic musical universe.

music / debate / performance / moussem co-production