Musical Night Celebrates Designation of Lebanon’s Tripoli as Arab Culture Capital
(AWP) - A musical evening crowned the celebration of the Lebanese city of Tripoli as the Culture Capital of the Arab World with performances by the Arab Heritage Music Group, whose conductor described his art as part of the “cultural engagement of our time.”
The Lebanese ensemble offered the audience at the Cultural Association Theatre an evening of singing to mark the accomplishment, coinciding with Arab Music Day, and was sponsored by the Arab Music Academy, the Cultural Association, and the House of Music.
For an hour, the audience, including the Lebanese Minister of Culture, enjoyed listening to pieces befitting the splendour of the musical occasion, reaffirming the choice of Tripoli, with its deep-rooted artistic roots, as the capital of Arab culture.
Lebanon’s Minister of Culture, Mohammad Wissam al-Mortada, told AWP, “This is a beautiful occasion in Tripoli – more than beautiful. The country and the region are going through difficult times but despite that, we are determined to stand firm, confront and resist.”
He explained, “Music for us, especially the music we listen to today, is evidence of our steadfastness, our Arabism, our Eastern roots, and our continued presence on this land.”
The musical group conductor, Hayaf Yassine, said that Arab musicians “have to become more and more rooted in our cultural identity and preserve it, especially in the age of globalisation, which always tries to uproot us from our cultural space.”