It is often through the prism of clichés, of fantasies that we talk about the place of women in Arab societies. There are still some speeches borrowed from these fabulations that greatly ignore the history of these peoples. Today, many Arab women sing, and/or are actresses like Nancy Ajram, Myriam Fares or Razan Jammal. But where do they come from? What wakes did they follow? Let's go back to the 1920s. It is through Art that the Arab woman has found the path of her expression, of her influence.
Laïla Mourad, Sabah, Souad Hosni, Faten Hamama, Hind Rostom, Oum Kalthoum, Asmahan, Fayrouz, Warda, Dalida, Tahiyya, Carioca, Samia, Gamal….Coming from the bourgeoisie, orphans, exiles, Muslims, Christians or Jews, they reach the upper echelons of society and transform traditional art by transporting male rooms to the point of ecstasy, both on screen and on stage.
It was in the twentieth century that Egypt became a place of fusion, of artistic abundance. Lebanon and Syria are also transported to this "golden age". Let's see which women spoke, sang until they became famous.
Oum Kalthoum: A Diva honored during the exhibition at the Arab World Institute
In the field of singing, we have of course the iconic Oum Kalthoum. Born in a small village near the Nile, she began chanting the Koran. She disguises herself as a boy and accompanies her father on singing. Men are impressed by his voice. She is an ambitious and brilliant woman, she emancipates herself from her family, and surrounds herself with musicians and intellectuals: a diva is born. She released her first record in 1926 "En kont asameh" (if I forgive you). She sings of desire, love, pain and abandonment. Modest themes that we did not sing before….She performs on Radio Cairo every Thursday. The Arab world is listening. During his performances, his songs last more than 1 hour and the audience is bewitched. She became politically involved with President Gamal Abde Nasser and became the ambassador of pan-Arabism. This woman embodies the story of a little girl from the countryside who rises by her talent and her will by becoming the most famous singer in the Arab world.
Fairouz: a Contemporary Diva
Fairouz, born in 1934, is Lebanese. She is the contemporary diva and her fame is worth that of Oum Kalthoum. It exalts love and freedom. She embodies and sings Lebanon's lost golden age. His tours are worldwide. She sings in Beirut, Paris, Las Vegas. She gives only rare interviews and says: "If you look at my face when I sing, you will see that I am not there. I think art is like prayer." The seriousness of his art accentuates his mystical image.
Some titles you'll enjoy:
- "saba wu massa", "li beirut" Feiruz,
- "Madam Teheb Betenker Leih" Um kalthoum
- "Batwanes beek" Warda
Other prestigious Divas
In the field of theater we observe Mounira Mahdiyya. Egyptian, she was the first Muslim woman to set foot on the stage of a play. She played the role of Marc Antoine in the play Saladin in 1927. She made the front cover of the newspaper "Al Masrah" in her costume.
As an actress and committed woman: Ashaman, or Amal al-Atrache is a sublime Syrian-Lebanese woman. She has an exceptional voice and is gifted with an extraordinary vocal improvisation. She is successful, but her virtuoso brothers, impose marriage on her. Born on a boat, she has in her this desire for freedom, she is a rebellious woman, against the current of her time. She joined the Allies during the Second World War. Actress, she torune in "Love and Vengeance".
As for Women of Letters and Press: May Ziadé creates and holds an intellectual and political salon. She lets men in. This masculine entry into the private and intimate sphere upsets traditional codes. They exchanged in French and Arabic and these languages allowed them to spread their ideas in the 1920s.
It is a very limited panel, very succinct portraits, but so many others were the embodiment of the golden age of Egypt, Lebanon… or pan-Arabism. Today, their Art is reused to revive this time.
The Divas exhibition ended on September 26, 2021 at the Arab World Institute.
