São Paulo – Music professionals interested in a residency program in Egypt can apply until June 25. The initiative is from The Nomad Curator project, carried out by a Brazilian, the educator and curator Sheila Zago, and aims to promote curatorship, research and development of art projects throughout the world.
Sheila lives in Cairo, the Egyptian capital, where the residency will take place from July to August. Entries are open to musicians and related professionals, such as DJs and producers, from anywhere in the world, not only from Brazil or Egypt. The topic to be covered in the residency is a dialogue between Brazilian and Egyptian music. Sheila Zago explains that entrants must submit proposals related to a research of their interest but focused on this topic.
Sheila explains that eligible projects could include conceptual work based on Brazilian and Egyptian music from sound designers, an Egyptian-style beat by a percussionist or a set list by a DJ. The Nomad Curator projects usually result in an artistic exhibition, performance or installation, and a DJ can get a set list promoted internationally.
The residency will last from four to eight weeks, depending on each musician’s proposal. Up to two applicants will be selected. In addition to the activities required by each research, there will be a general program including meetings with local musicians and attendance to concerts and performances. “This is so people can achieve an overall understanding of local music, or even ghetto music, which is more popular, very close to Brazilian funk in of beat and concept,” explains Sheila.
Sheila will curate the project, working together and ing the musicians in the program. She will also get participants in touch with people in the local music scene, and is open to their seeking other curators as well. Depending on the proposals’s contents, there will be other curators involved anyway, according to Sheila.
She has already put out a call for entries to a residency and curatorship program in Egypt via The Nomad Curator, which focused on arts in general. This project is ongoing, and a photographer and a sculptor have been selected. “This (the music program) has been an area of personal interest for a long time. Brazilian music connects with people from different countries, it’s far-reaching, and now the idea is for us to understand the connections between Brazilian and Egyptian music, beginning with Egypt and migrating to other countries in a second phase,” she explains.
Sheila Zago says that no distinction is made on the basis of nationality, and that local artists can apply, or Brazilians can participate from afar. “I would love to have more Brazilians the project, especially Brazilians living in the region. In addition to having a clearer social-cultural understanding of the region, they are closer to us,” she says, mentioning Brazilians living in Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and surrounding areas.
The current edition of The Nomad Curator has no sponsor and, thus, selected musicians will have to cover their own expenses, including travel and accommodation in Egypt. Sheila Zago’s curatorship, plus all the provision of local s, will be free of charge. The selected artist will have a studio available to them. The meetings and the creative and research work will take place at The Nomad Curator headquarters. If the work proposal includes work in other city in Egypt, the possibilities will be assessed in tandem by the curator and the musician, according to Sheila.
Sheila Zago has been living in Egypt since February of this year. With a degree in Social Communication and over ten years’ experience as a movie producer and art director, she is a student, researcher, curator and developer of art and social work projects across the world. She has lived in nearly ten countries, including Arab ones such as Qatar, UAE, Lebanon and Syria. Sheila is also the founder of the Conexus art collective, which aims to unite people through art and education.
The Nomad Curator has the of Conexus, the Wooloo platform and The Human Hotel.
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The Nomad Curator
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Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
