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Lebanon's Oakenfest 2025 Announce First Wave Line-Up July 25th-27th

Lebanon's Oakenfest 2025 Announce First Wave Line-Up July 25th-27th

CairoScene26-06-2025
Lebanon's Oakenfest 2025 Announce First Wave Line-Up July 25th-27th
Oakenfest comes to Lebanon from July 25th to the 27th, featuring Bu Nasser, Boshoco, 3yooni, Joy Moughanni and Tarabeat.
The 2025 edition of Lebanon's Oakenfest is on the horizon. Known for its intimate, eco-conscious setting and genre-defying curation, the three-day camping and music festival will return to the oak forests of Lehfed from July 25th to the 27th, bringing with it a fresh wave of artists who reflect the region's evolving soundscape.
This year's first wave of performers is led by Bu Nasser, a defining voice in Lebanon's hip-hop underground. A poet, writer, and rapper whose work has echoed across streets and protests, his journey began with Touffar's 2009 release Ashab El Ard. Since then, Bu Nasser has carved a solo path rooted in inquiry, resistance, and community, weaving revolutionary sound with sharp, layered lyricism.
On the electronic front, Boshoco brings a percussive, emotionally charged energy shaped by his upbringing in Aleppo. Drawing from the city's centuries-old blend of cultures, Boshoco's DJ sets and productions fuse breakbeat, indie electronica, and soulful techno into mixes that carry both emotional depth and dancefloor momentum.
3yooni, whose debut album 'Baghdad' is already making quiet waves, blends synth-forward electronic sound with dreamy Iraqi vocals and deeply poetic lyricism. His work navigates themes of identity, language, and orientalism, balancing rage with grace, rhythm with resistance.
Joy Moughanni - producer, songwriter, engineer, and Tunetork Studios partner - is another key name in Beirut's alternative scene. Formerly of projects like Pomme Rouge and Gizzmo, Joy's solo work leans ambient and textured, the product of years of sonic mentorship under the likes of Fadi Tabbal.
Rounding out the first announcement is Tarabeat, an ambitious electro-tarab project that draws on maqamat, classical rhythms, and traditional instruments. Inspired by Sufi, folk, and regional Tarab traditions, the result is a bold, energetic sound that travels between past and present with rhythmic precision.
Tickets for Oakenfest 2025 are now available.
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Newly opened Alchemist7 gallery exhibits Iraqi artist Sinan Hussein's work - Visual Art - Arts & Culture
Newly opened Alchemist7 gallery exhibits Iraqi artist Sinan Hussein's work - Visual Art - Arts & Culture

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time26-07-2025

  • Al-Ahram Weekly

Newly opened Alchemist7 gallery exhibits Iraqi artist Sinan Hussein's work - Visual Art - Arts & Culture

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Suez's New 1-of-1 Khayamiyya Drop is an Ode to Egyptian Craftsmanship
Suez's New 1-of-1 Khayamiyya Drop is an Ode to Egyptian Craftsmanship

CairoScene

time23-07-2025

  • CairoScene

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Suez's New 1-of-1 Khayamiyya Drop is an Ode to Egyptian Craftsmanship Ever since the launch of London-based Egyptian-Iraqi label Suez in 2021, the brand has been playing with characteristically Iraqi and Egyptian patterns. It started with their keffiyeh sets and bucket hats, after which they dabbled with Egyptian tentmakers' khayamiyya. In past collections, the patterns were sourced from Arab sellers, often from their countries of origin, while production remained London-based - but this capsule collection was brought to fruition entirely in Egypt. For the past six months, Serag El Meleigy has been working closely with Egyptian artisans on creating eight one-of-one khayamiyya pieces locally. 'It feels like a new exciting chapter for Suez - we're getting to celebrate Egyptian textiles and craft,' El Meleigy tells SceneStyled, 'We've explored workshops all over Cairo. All these places are little wonderlands to explore, whether that be the Khayamiya or steel workshops, or the pearl workshops that make the pearl boxes and chessboards.' The khayamiyya jackets, all wildly different from each other, are each made from 2.5m by 1m khayamiyya wall hanging. The centre of the geometric shape is made into the pattern for the back while peripheral material is used for the sleeves, and the space in between is filled with whatever fabric best suits each individual khayamiyya, be that cotton drill or leather. The khayamiyya is handmade by local Egyptian craftsmen, and then carefully assembled into a garment by El Meleigy. Each individual jacket is, as a result, completely unique. 'Whenever I visit, I see about 30 new patterns that I'd like to incorporate or reference. And then there are so many possibilities when it comes to how you incorporate the khayamiyya, whether that's placement, the style of garment or fabrication. All of this will take years to explore fully and it is something I can't wait to delve further in.' Primarily a celebration of Egyptian craft, Suez's khayamiyya collection is born out of an intimate relationship with the artisans themselves, including artisan Esaam Ali, as well as Ahmed Hasher, and his father Ashraf Hashem. Even the documentation process of this capsule collection was done locally through a collaboration with Egyptian photographer Ebrahim Bahaa, whose work El Meleigy still regards with loyal regularity. The collection was intimately photographed in the building where El Meleigy's family lives. El Meleigy hopes to continue working with Egyptian artisans on future projects, too. 'We have been put in touch with some other artisans, whom we cannot wait to work with - natural dyers in Alexandria, hand stitchers in Siwa, patchworkers in Manshiyat Naser. A lot of hands have been extended to help us on this journey.'

We Tried The Only Iraqi Restaurant in Dokki
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CairoScene

time12-07-2025

  • CairoScene

We Tried The Only Iraqi Restaurant in Dokki

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