Thread by @NYUADArtsCenter

If you want to preserve your country and your culture, you must protect your language.

Dubai based Egyptian chanter @ZigZagGhanim visits Maya Kesrouany’s @nyuabudhabi Arabic literature class in advance of his performance at #Hekayah tonight.

Language is sacred, but not just because it’s the language of religion, but also because of the role it plays in human identity. Language is a living being.

When languages encounter other languages, they change and morph. @ZigZagGhanim’s music mixes classical language and modern forms (like house music) - question: is that encounter “fusion”?

Lucky students didn’t realize they were going to start their day with an intimate performance by @ZigZagGhanim

Discussion of how @ZigZagGhanim focuses on how he learns all the intricate grammatical and poetic rules of Arabic. He intentionally chooses to sing in Classical Arabic vs MSA, languages of the people, in order to save the language. Question: who is excluded by this?

“We should be holding the stick from the middle.”

If we get stuck in one or the other, we’re not going to move forward.

What does this mean in relation to the UAE as a crossroads, growing at an exponential rate?

Audiences said to ZigZag, they have no idea what he is singing, because he’s using Classical Arabic. Yet, he was honored by the UN for the same reason.

The UN appreciated the fact that he’s contributing to saving the language, even though there are audiences who don’t understand. He shares a concern that there is language being used now that make no sense.

ZigZag uses music as a companion to language. Here’s a funk track with language that Prof. Maya Kesrouany notes is very difficult Arabic. But the accessibility of the music brings the emotion across even to non-Arabic speakers.

Question about role of performance. @ZigZagGhanim talks about how the movement needs to be purposeful - a key to an imagined future.

ZigZag sees his mission as ordained for him. He feels like his purpose is to imagine a future, and to promote and remember an inclusive and loving vision of Islam.

He discussed how even the rulers of the UAE write poetry. Tonight at #Hekayah, @ZigZagGhanim will sing a song using the text of a poem by HH @HHShkMohd bin Rashed. This is probably not how you imagined the music sounding.

His physical appearance also represents his youth. This is a conscious choice to love his beliefs and not see them in conflict with being part of his generation.

Give me the basics and I will learn the details. ZigZag talks about moving to the UAE from Egypt, and is now learning English. Prof Maya Kesrouany talks about how this also applies to learning Arabic where the dialects are almost like unique languages.