Special programs
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Nights of Ramadan 2017
From May 26, 2017 until June 24, 2017
CORDOBA
See schedule of activities.
In order to celebrate the month of Ramadan, Casa Árabe is organizing a special series of events for the fourth year in a row.
Ramadan is the most important month of the year for millions of Muslims around the world. It is a time devoted to inner reflection, meeting with family and friends and sharing experiences. In our country, Muslims have one of the religious communities with the largest number of worshippers, many of whom are Spanish. Amongst them are more than 10,000 people in Cordoba and over 300,000 in Andalusia as a whole. In this year of 2017, Ramadan began on May 27 (with variations in certain countries), with the Laylat al-Qadr, or “Night of Destiny,” celebrated on the night of June 15 and the festivity marking the end of Ramadan on June 25.
The Nights of Ramadan is a festival that was created in 2006 in the neighborhood of Lavapiés in order to promote integration and cultural cooperation amongst the people co-existing in the same public space. Throughout the many editions held in Madrid and Cordoba, Nights of Ramadan has become a unique event that helps increase awareness about the Muslim world’s culture, so present in our shared history. Some are given a way to celebrate their most important festivity of the year, while others come to share and learn about the lives of their closest neighbors.
For the fourth year in a row, Casa Árabe, with the cooperation of the Municipal Government of Cordoba and the Halal Institute, has made a determined commitment to diversity and co-existence, with great emphasis placed on the role of culture for disseminating information and improving integration. Urban, traditional and contemporary events will be put on by artists young and old, who have come from other geographical regions. Music, film, exhibitions, conferences and colloquiums... there are activities for people young and old, reflecting a rich diversity in art work and thought.
From May 27 through June 25, the Nights of Ramadan will therefore become a time for getting a more in-depth awareness of the Muslim world’s culture, to acknowledge and become more familiar with others and grow mutually enriched. We invite you to discover the full schedule of activities and wish a happy Ramadan to all of the Muslims you know, just as we will be doing throughout this month of festivals and celebration: “Ramadan Mubarak.”
Schedule of activities (in Spanish)
The Nights of Ramadan is a festival that was created in 2006 in the neighborhood of Lavapiés in order to promote integration and cultural cooperation amongst the people co-existing in the same public space. Throughout the many editions held in Madrid and Cordoba, Nights of Ramadan has become a unique event that helps increase awareness about the Muslim world’s culture, so present in our shared history. Some are given a way to celebrate their most important festivity of the year, while others come to share and learn about the lives of their closest neighbors.
For the fourth year in a row, Casa Árabe, with the cooperation of the Municipal Government of Cordoba and the Halal Institute, has made a determined commitment to diversity and co-existence, with great emphasis placed on the role of culture for disseminating information and improving integration. Urban, traditional and contemporary events will be put on by artists young and old, who have come from other geographical regions. Music, film, exhibitions, conferences and colloquiums... there are activities for people young and old, reflecting a rich diversity in art work and thought.
From May 27 through June 25, the Nights of Ramadan will therefore become a time for getting a more in-depth awareness of the Muslim world’s culture, to acknowledge and become more familiar with others and grow mutually enriched. We invite you to discover the full schedule of activities and wish a happy Ramadan to all of the Muslims you know, just as we will be doing throughout this month of festivals and celebration: “Ramadan Mubarak.”
Schedule of activities (in Spanish)
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“Strawberry Fields Not Forever” by Maite Vitoria Daneris
May 26, 201710:00 p.m.CORDOBACasa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9). 10:00 p.m. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.This film screening is the first activity in Casa Árabe’s “Nights of Ramadan” program in Cordoba.Lina is an elderly peasant woman from northern Italy. Her back is curved over and she looks towards the ground. Every morning at dawn, she goes to the largest open-air market in Europe, Porta Palazzo, in the center of Turin, where she sells her vegetables and strawberries. Lina’s life is, as she says... “home, church and work.” Lina has no children, but she does have five dogs and her husband Gianni, who wants her to quit working. One day at the market, Hassan comes onto the scene, a young Moroccan immigrant who just reached Italy in search of work...
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The Sufi eneagram
June 02, 20177:00 p.m.CORDOBACasa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9). 7:00 p.m. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.Nights of Ramadan: Conference given by Abdul Karim Baudino and organized by Espacio Madre Contempla-a-cción, with the cooperation of the Halal Institute.The conference is defined as a way to work on one’s personality, in which diverse personality types are classified as a path towards self-knowledge and personal growth.
Addul Karim Baudino, a member of the Sufi order Naqshbandi, gives seminars on the Sufi all over the world.
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Mimosas
June 02, 201710:00 p.m.CORDOBACasa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9). 10:00 p.m. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.Nights of Ramadan: Casa Árabe is screening this feature film by Oliver Laxe, set in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco.A caravan crosses the Atlas Mountains of Morocco with the mission of driving a dying patriarch to the town where he was born, where he hopes to find his final resting place. The trip is filled with unknowns, but Ahmed and Saïd, two young hustlers, assure that they know the way. In another place, and perhaps another time, Shakib, a jokester who works as a taxi driver, is recruited to carry out the task of watching over the caravan and making sure that the patriarch’s widow complies with the tribe’s promise. They grow disoriented but have to surmount the snow, being chased, attacks and kidnapping. In a plot twist reminiscent of Don Quixote, Shakib makes “the mules fly” to cross the treacherous mountains, using his faith to alter the fate of the expeditioners.
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Women weaving peace
June 02, 201710:30 p.m.CORDOBARoyal Botanical Garden of Cordoba 10:30 p.m. Free entrance until the event’s capacity is reached.Nights of Ramadan: Concert given by Myriam Toukan, Yael Deckelbaum and Idan, organized by Casa Árabe and the Municipal Government of Cordoba.“Cordoba possesses deep historical roots, undoubtedly marked by the history of Al-Andalus, roots which instill the collective imaginary with a clear message of peaceful co-existence and harmony among the three cultures and religions (Muslim, Jewish and Christian), from a period filled with tolerance and cultural mixture which we “have” the historical obligation to maintain.
With a profound desire to keep this legacy alive while respecting diversity in culture and beliefs, an event will be held with the name “Women Weaving Peace,” coordinated by a dynamic group of women who encourage others to participate, as well. The event is being supported and carried out by various groups and institutions in the city. This concert, organized by the Municipal Government of Cordoba with the cooperation of Casa Árabe, will include performers who represent different cultural traditions.
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Women’s sovereignty in the Qur’an
June 06, 201710:00 p.m.CORDOBACasa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9). 10:00 p.m. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.Presentation of a work by Carmen del Río Pereda, organized by the Halal Institute.The presentation will analyze the important, defining place which the Qur’an holds in the status of women throughout the Islamic world. Through her work, published by Amuzara in 2016, Carmen del Río, adhering to the original Qur’anic text religiously, shows us that, far from being misogynist, in those spheres of life in which the experience of men and women differ, what the Qur’an does is view the woman as the basic human being, while defining males on the basis of women. By doing this, her work notably helps to do away with some of the most widespread negative stereotypes about the Qur’an and Muslims, who are often described as sexist and discriminatory against women.
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Arracada. Óleo sobre lienzo de 60×40 cm. Carmen López ReyThe contribution of women to Cordoba society in Al-Andalus
June 07, 20177:30 p.m.CORDOBACasa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9). 7:30 p.m. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.Conference given by Inmaculada Serrano Hernández, an Arabist and professor of Spanish language and literature.This conference will discuss the notable contributions made by women in various fields (social, cultural, political and economic) during the era of Al-Andalus. Using an educational style, we will get a review of a few key figures and learn about the most notable events in their lives, with the main goal of coming to appreciate them once again and keep them alive in our history.
The speaker, Inmaculada Serrano Hernández, is a professor of Spanish Language and Literature and has been an Arabist since 2007, when she began her research on the female writers of Al-Andalus. She later expanded her study to include all female figures who stand out in the history of Cordoba in general. She has given countless “gender-based tours” in Cordoba, collaborating with various entities, the most notable of which include Cordoba’s Delegation of Education and Science and the Cordoba Center for Professors.
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Kay Nielsen. The sultan and Scheherazade (1917)Storytelling: The Thousand and One Nights
June 08, 201710:00 p.m.CORDOBACasa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9). 10:00 p.m. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.Relive the magic, mystery, laughter and sensuality of an Arab night as part of the “Nights of Ramadan” program.This storytelling activity for adults will be given by Héctor Urién, a professional storyteller who has staged an innovative, original show based on the structure of Scheherazade’s tales
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Morayma. Óleo sobre lienzo de 195×143, de Carmen López Rey
Indelible Traces of Cordoba: The women of Al-Andalus
June 10, 2017From 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.CORDOBACasa Árabe headquarters (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9). From 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. You must register in advance.Information and registration at: infocordoba@casaarabe.es / 957 498 353
We are holding a new edition of this popular thematic walk organized by Casa Árabe last May, with a tour given by Inmaculada Serrano Hernández. SOLD OUT.The main objective of the tour, guided by Inmaculada Serrano Hernández, is to increase awareness about the most important women in the city’s history, as well as their social, cultural, political and economic contributions. At the same time, their biographies will be told along with the inestimable legacy they have left behind: their steps towards equality.
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Protocol and ceremony in the Arab world
June 13, 20177:30 p.m.CORDOBACasa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9). 7:30 p.m. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.Conference given by Ana González Santamaría within the framework of the “Nights of Ramadan” series of activities.The conference, organized by Casa Árabe, the Municipal Government of Cordoba and the Asociación Comunicación, Relaciones Públicas y Protocolo de Córdoba, will be given by Ana González, a specialist on protocol, economics and business in Arab countries.
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Sinouj Jazz
June 14, 201710:30 p.m.CORDOBARoyal Botanical Garden of Cordoba 10:30 p.m. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.The concert, organized by Casa Árabe with the cooperation of the Municipal Government of Cordoba, will be held at the city’s Botanical Garden.Sinouj is an Afro-Mediterranean group whose music is based on the different musical traditions of the Maghreb region and the East, with fusions of African music, funk and jazz. Using rhythms and modes from the Arab, North African and West African traditions, Sinouj combines these features with a modern vision of jazz and funk, as well as a slight touch of electronic music.
The group’s sound is characterized by combining the Eastern violin and saxophone, which are made even more powerful by an unstoppable African rhythm section and the harmonious electronic touch from the keyboards.
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The Cordoba of Ibn Hazm
June 15, 2017At 9:00 p.m.CORDOBAThe Caliph’s Castle Baths (at Plaza Campo Santo de los Mártires, s/n). At 9:00 p.m. You must sign up in advance.Register at turismo@ayuncordoba.es
Presentation of this work by Daniel Valdivieso Ramos, as part of the “Nights of Ramadan” program organized by the Municipal Government of Cordoba and Casa Árabe.The activity will include a historical re-enactment in which the historical personage Abu Muhammad ‘Ali ibn Ahmad ibn Sa’id ibn Hazm plays the main role.
This presentation is the result of intense work by Daniel Valdivieso, described in the book La Córdoba de Ibn Hazm: Crónica de Ibn Hazm sobre la Qurtuba de los Banu Umayya (The Cordoba of Ibn Hazm: Ibn Hazm’s chronicle about the Qurtuba of the Banu Umayya, published by Utopía Libros, 2016), in which a historical overview of this era of utmost splendor during the Caliphate is combined with strict scientific study by a historian, through the figure of Ibn Hazm. Though Ibn Hazm is better known as a poet (the author The Ring of the Dove), he became amongst the first men to start the renaissance of his era because of his love for arts and sciences.
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Rehearsal for the concert by Simo Baazzaoui
June 16, 20178:30 p.m.CóRDOBACasa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9). 8:30 p.m. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.The rehearsal for the concert “Flamenco and Popular Moroccan Music” by Baazzaoui will be open to the public. It is forming part of the tenth edition of the White Night of Flamenco in Cordoba.Simo Baazzaoui is presenting a musical project whose identifying trademark is Arab and Andalusian, with a series of compositions inspired by flamenco, the “aita” and Moroccan and flamenco songs.
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Bar Bahar
June 16, 201710:00 p.m.CORDOBACasa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9). 10:00 p.m. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.Casa Árabe is screening this film by Maysaloun Hamoud as part of the activities during the “Nights of Ramadan.”Leila, Nour and Salma are three Palestinian citizens of Israel who live in Tel Aviv, where they share an apartment and life experiences. Bar Bahar (Between Two Worlds) shows us the duality to which the three young women are subjected in their everyday lives, trapped between tradition and life in the big city, as well as the price they must pay for a lifestyle that most consider normal: the freedom to work, have fun and make their own choices.
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Simo Baazzaoui. Flamenco and popular Moroccan music
June 18, 20171:00 a.m. (during the night from Saturday to Sunday).CORDOBAPlaza Compás de San Francisco 1:00 a.m. (during the night from Saturday to Sunday). Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.The concert forms part of the tenth edition of the White Night of Flamenco in Cordoba.Simo Baazzaoui is a Moroccan flamenco guitarist who was born in the region of Essaouira (1980). He is considered the spokesman for a new language in which Moroccan music communicates and forms fusions with flamenco. His works of fusion “drink” from the musical legacy of Al-Andalus, from its palace music, a form of music rooted among the “people,” “cheerful” while at the same time “dramatic,” allowing us to “cry out of joy.” In this context, the idea came about to bring two forms of music and two cultures closer together, the Moroccan and the Spanish, which walk hand-in-hand in terms of their level of rhythm and their melodies. One example of this is the aita (shouting or crying), a sister to the “seguidilla,” a type of music sung in Darija which unknown to most Spaniards and on the verge of disappearing in Morocco.
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Guided tour of “Jayal: Creative imagination”
June 19, 201710:00 p.m.CORDOBACasa Árabe exhibition hall (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9). 10:00 p.m. Advanced registration required.Sign up at infocordoba@casaarabe.es
Artist Hashim Cabrera is giving a tour of the exhibition on display at Casa Árabe.Guided tour of the exhibition “Jayal: Creative Imagination,” by Hashim Cabrera.
Casa Árabe has organized this guided tour of the exhibition “Jayal: Creative Imagination, Sufism as a source of inspiration.” The tour will be given by the artist Hashim Cabrera himself, one of the finest examples of art and Sufism together. His work forms part of the exhibit.
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Abbas Ibn Firnas, the sage from Al-Andalus
June 20, 201708:00 p.m.CORDOBACasa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9) 08:00 p.m. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.Presentation of this book by Antonio R. Acedo del Olmo, organized by Casa Árabe and the Municipal Government of Cordoba.The event will include participation by the author himself, whose work revolves around the figure of Abbas Ibn Firnas, one of the most important and fascinating people to live in the ninth century, in which he spent most of his life living in Umayyad Cordoba.
A man of exceptional intelligence, a great capacity for hard work and a talented spirit reminiscent of the geniuses of the Italian Renaissance, he cultivated nearly every discipline of knowledge, both in fields of scientific and technical research and in literary and musical creation.
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Marks left behind by Al-Andalus, poetry and music to heal the soul
June 22, 201710:30 p.m.CORDOBAOld convent of Santa Clara (at Calle Rey Heredia, 22). 10:30 p.m. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.A literary evening of poetry and music hosted by Feli Moreno, Pedro Enríquez and Nizar Liemlahi.The Municipal Government of Cordoba and Casa Árabe have organized this evening of literature with poetry and music presented by Feli Moreno Romero, who will be accompanied by writer Pedro Enríquez and composer and pianist Nizar Liemlahi.
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Cooking workshop
June 23, 201712:00 p.m.CORDOBACasa Árabe headquarters (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9). 12:00 p.m. Advanced registration required.Sign up at info@institutohalal.comHilene Galán will be running this cooking workshop, organized by the Halal Institute as part of the Nights of Ramadan.The goal of this workshop is to increase awareness about the concept of Halal among kids. Moreover, it is intended to contribute to improving peaceful co-existence and respect for religious diversity. Hilene Galán is a member of the management team at the Halal Institute. With a bachelor’s degree in Tourism, she is a huge fan of creative gourmet cuisine. She teaches the Halal concept to children and adults as a positive, healthy value that goes beyond just religious practices.
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Fabulous Casablanca
June 23, 201710:00 p.m.CóRDOBACasa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9). 10:00 p.m. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.Screening of this film by Manuel Horrillo, as one of the activities held during the “Nights of Ramadan”Casablanca’s name evokes romance, the fight for freedom and magic. However, this most universal city hides many stories within, including that of a Spanish community which was vital to turning Casablanca into France’s colonial pearl.
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The lovers. Nierlsen (1917)Storytelling Festival
June 23, 201711:30 p.m.CORDOBACasa Árabe headquarters (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9). 11:30 p.m. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.Casa Árabe has cooperated with the Storytelling Festival (content intended for adults) put on by the Cordoba Oral Storytelling Center.The activity will be put on with professional storytellers and performers who will tour through many important sites throughout the city. Coordinated by Héctor Urién, a narrator of short, direct tales who has taken part in several domestic and foreign festivals, as well as co-directing the annual festival “Ávila de cuento” (“Storybook Avila”). He recently had an essay published by the “Palabras del candil” publishing firm: La narración fractal. arte y ciencia de la oralidad (Fractal storytelling: the art and science of oral tradition), in which he presents an innovative, surprising perspective on storytelling, backed by chaos theory and fractal geometry.
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Guided tour through the Cordoba of Al-Andalus
June 24, 2017From 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.CORDOBAFrom 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Advanced registration required.Register at turismo@ayuncordoba.es
Last tour organized by the Municipal Government of Cordoba and Casa Árabe as part of the “Nights of Ramadan” schedule of activities.The main objective of this thematic walk is to increase awareness about the most emblematic places in the city.
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Bab Aziz, the Sufi sage
June 30, 201710:00 p.m.CORDOBACasa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9). 10:00 p.m. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.Casa Árabe is screening this film by Nacer Khemir as part of the activities during the “Nights of Ramadan.”Two silhouettes lost in a sea of sand: the girl Ishtar and her blind old grandfather, Bab Aziz. Their destination is the big gathering of dervishes that takes place once every thirty years. But to find the place where the meeting is held, they have to keep their faith and figure out how to listen to the endless silence of the desert. The grandfather entertains his granddaughter by telling her tales, like the one about the prince who gets lost in the desert and becomes a dervish after gazing at his soul in the water. Grandfather and granddaughter meet others like themselves along the way, including Osman, who longs to see a beautiful woman again whom he once met at the bottom of a well, and Zaid, whose singing helped bring back lost beauty, as well as a prince who traded his kingdom away to attain spiritual peace. The film is based on the Sufi mystic Ebrahim Adham.
