Every year, Nawaat—one of Tunisia’s rare independent media outlets, which publishes both a webzine and paper magazine—hosts its festival in the capital. The original theme chosen for this year’s edition was feminism, however, current events in Palestine pushed Nawaat’s editing team to expand the scope of the event in tribute to the spirit of resistance.
On the closing evening of the Goethe Institut’s Geniale Dilletanten in Tunis (January 20-28), the expo’s downtown venue was packed for a DJ set by Habibi Funk. Berlin-based Jannis Stürtz, co-founder of Jakarta Records, began younger music project Habibi Funk which revives long-forgotten or little-known songs of the 70’s and 80’s from Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Sudan and Lebanon. As he gets set up for the evening mix, the man behind Habibi Funk experience talks to Nawaat about the travel, research, elbow-rubbing and ethical considerations that feed the project.
Eighteen miles from the Algerian border on Tunisia’s north-western coast are the rocky shores of Tabarka. Heading into town from the east, voluminous pink and white oleander border the highway. Storks stand statue-like atop their nests, perched at the top of electrical towers. A massive bronze saxophone occupies the turn-about just outside of town. Here, and pasted onto the big contrabass which sits at the harbor downtown, are sky-blue posters announcing Tabarka’s jazz festival, which takes place this year July 22 through 29. As historical as the festival is, will its come-back this year succeed in promoting Tabarka as an attractive and competitive tourist destination?
Rappers Demi Portion, Ichon and the band 3ème Œil came from France to celebrate the World Music Day in Tunis and have shared the stage with their Tunisian counterparts, Vipa, Massi and Belhassen of the band Empire. Organized by the Tunisian collective Debo and the French Institute of Tunisia (IFT), the concert Erkiz Hip Hop, presented at the Bourguiba Avenue on June 21st, intends to reconcile the rap of both shores of the Mediterranean and gather a curious public at the crossroads of the hip-hop culture and mezoued. The first of its kind in Tunisia.
Anis Mrabti, (aka Volcanis le Roi), a 27 year old Tunisian Rapper has been arrested on Wednesday january 25, 2012 around 2 pm at his home in El Mourouj neighborhood in Tunis. According to his parents, 6 allegedly plain-clothes police officers broke into the house without showing their police badges or any warrant and asked the young Anis, who was at that time behind his computer, if he was the rapper behind the song “Shay Ma Tbaddel” (Nothing has Changed). When he confirmed, they took him and confiscated his computer and MP3 players without giving any further details to Anis’ parents who were choked by this brutal arrest.
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