Flex your culture bone this month as the Downtown Contemporary Arts Festival (D-CAF) returns with a packed schedule of international acts. Expect three weeks of workshops, music, dance, performances, panel discussions, and installations that will be coloring downtown Cairo in a festival that any resident should not miss.

WHAT IS D-CAF- Born from The Arab Arts Focus (AAF) with the belief that “arts and culture act as a vehicle for positive social impact” this annual event has been going on since 2012, and is the largest international arts festival in the country.

IT AIN’T CANNES- The festival aims to challenge traditional audience-performer relationships, break disciplinary boundaries, and offer new perspectives on the world. By consistently producing and programming the festival, D-CAF aims to create exchanges between local audiences, artists, and international professionals, and contribute to the local arts and culture scene.

IT’S ALL ABOUT WUST EL BALAD- The festival takes place in various unconventional spaces, including historic buildings in downtown Cairo, to highlight the area’s cultural significance. D-CAF also focuses on promoting accessibility to the arts, reaching diverse audiences, and providing opportunities for Egyptian artists to collaborate with international counterparts.

PRO TIPS-

#1-DON’T DRIVE… orat least carpool to avoid any hassle in your journey. We strongly suggest that you Uber, or use the metro.

#2- POST-EVENT RECOMMENDS- You will likely get peckish, so we recommend some downtown favorites. For quick grub go to the historic Café Riche ; for one of the best pizza’s in the city visit CaiRoma. Fancy a more sit-down situation, go for Eish + Malh. Le Grillon is another legacy restaurant, and if you expect to pack a crowd, visit the Greek Club or Carol.

DISCLAIMER- The festival is packed with performances to choose from, below is just a list of our recommendations. To get the full program, visit this link to see their full guide.

DATES- Everyday until Monday, 6 November with Weekdays from 5-10pm and Weekends from 12-1am.

FEES- Most events have no charge but some events require registration prior to attending.

EVENTS:

PERFORMING ARTS-

Theater + Dance:

#1-The Discreet Charm of the Pillars of Society: Director Ahmed El Attar explores the concept of family in his trilogy of plays. In this play he focuses on two wealthy and powerful families, one from Syria and the other from Sweden. These families initially disapprove of their children’s marriage, but they find common ground when a business opportunity arises. El Attar uses witty and intense dialogue in Arabic, Swedish, and English to raise the question of what price people are willing to pay for success in a chaotic world.

WHEN- Thursday, 2 November till Saturday, 4 November.

TIME- Thursday at 8:30pm, Friday at 7pm and Saturday at 8pm.

WHERE-Falaki Theatre.

PRICE TAG- EGP 300.

Blink and You’ll Miss Us fuses poetry and film together. This mixed film installation Is a series of short films made by filmmakers from Afghanistan and Canada. The films feature poems by Aria Aber and were shot in Kabul and Toronto in October 2020. Each filmmaker was given one stanza of the poem at a time, and they had only 18 hours to create their film in response. This project is an international conversation and a collaboration between different artists.

WHEN- Everyday from Tuesday, 17 October till Tuesday, 23 October.

TIME- Weekdays 5-10pm and Weekends 2-10pm.

WHERE-Kodak Passageway.

PRICE TAG-No charge.

Bird: Sofiane Ouissi, a Tunisian dancer and choreographer, forms a special bond with pigeons. He doesn’t try to control or tame them, but lets the encounter happen naturally. In BIRD, a performance he created with Selma Ouissi, they invite the audience to think about existence, creation, and connection. They explore how we can simply be present together in a shared space. They want to understand what this coexistence will lead to and how it will affect our bodies and states of being. They also want to discover how they can create a dance that incorporates this unique connection with the birds.

WHEN- Saturday, 4 November and Sunday, 5 November.

TIME- Saturday at 3pm and Sunday at 5pm.

WHERE-The Factory.

PRICE TAG-EGP 100.

The Waterproofed Artist is a dance with a story in Venice.Representing Morocco Younes Atbane will perform an interactive dance that explores the power dynamics in the global art scene. It takes place in 2048, during the 72nd edition of the famous Venice Biennale, where countries compete for cultural dominance. However, the city of Venice starts sinking, and the artists and their artworks are forced to float on the water. This event leads to a critical examination of the art world. The performance will debut at D-CAF.

WHEN- Thursday, 2 November and Friday, 3 November.

TIME- Thursday at 7pm and Friday at 9pm.

WHERE-Rawabet Art Space.

PRICE TAG-EGP 100.

The Woman Who Dwelt in the House Before Me: Recounts the story of a woman’s life in an apartment in the city: Where loneliness, alcoholism roam rampant and throw in the struggles with menopause into the mix. However, another woman, who used to live in the same apartment, watches and judges the narrator with sarcasm and a strong sense of morality. Their strange interactions create a deeply emotional performance. Directed by Henri Jules Julien the story is based on a collection of poems by Syrian poet Rasha Omran. Three female voices bring the poems to life: Omran performs in Arabic, actress Nanda Mohammad performs in French, and improviser Isabelle Duthoit sings in a unique “wordless language”.

WHEN-Thursday, 19 October.

TIME- 8pm.

WHERE-Rawabet Art Space.

PRICE TAG-EGP 150.

MUSIC-

Music night is an international fusion of voices. A diverse set filled with soul-stirring melodies as four remarkable artists from the Czech Republic, Sudan, Syria and Egypt fuse their diverse musical talents. Ridina Ahmedová (Czech Republic), Hayaa Almweil (Syria) and El Kontessa (Egypt) will showcase their exceptional synergy, co-curated by the visionary minds of Simsara and Donia Wael.

WHEN- Friday, 3 November.

TIME- 10pm-1am.

WHERE-The Warehouse.

PRICE TAG- EGP 300.

The Infinite Hip-Hop Song Live bring back original hip-hop. This performance has been captivating audiences worldwide since its premiere a year ago at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Musician Hassan Khan draws upon a colossal reservoir of distinctive beats, melodies, bass lines, and vocal units to culminate into ten distinctively composed songs, each harmoniously enhanced with the enchanting verses of eleven diverse rappers. After successful shows at VEGA in Copenhagen, Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin, and the Sonic Shaman Festival in Taipei, this groundbreaking performance is now set to make its Egyptian stage debut at D-CAF. This show will also mark Khan’s first performance in the country since 2018, making it a highly anticipated event for hip-hop fans in Egypt.

WHEN- Saturday, 21 October.

TIME- 8pm.

WHERE-Rawabet Art Space.

PRICE TAG- EGP 200.

NEW MEDIA & VISUAL ARTS-

Baalbekis an interactive art installation based on a painting. Andrea Sztovánovits and Gergely Álmos have created an interactive art installation based on the pioneering Hungarian artist Csontváry painting “Baalbek” that represents the transition between heaven, earth, and humanity. The painting is divided into three parts: One showing a busy city, another is a temple connecting earth and sky, and the last shows the sky representing the divine world. People can control the projected image of Csontváry’s painting by changing the perspective, colors, and light effects. The immersive experience is accompanied by sounds like a sandstorm, a muezzin’s voice, city noises, and bells. Each sound represents one of the three parts of the painting.

WHEN- Everyday from Tuesday, 17 October till Tuesday, 23 October.

TIME- Weekdays 5-10pm and Weekends 2-10pm.

WHERE- Kodak Passageway .

PRICE TAG- No charge.

How Am I Here?: Many Syrians who have left their home country still have conflicting feelings about returning, unsure if it is something they truly desire or just another terrifying experience. In this performance piece Mey Seifan explores these emotions using virtual reality, AI, and carefully planned enactments of dreams. The performance delves into her dreams that inspired the piece, including written accounts and recollections. It also includes additional content such as comments from individuals, tutorials on lucid dreaming, and using art to express trauma. The performance concludes with a musical journey through a dream, performed by singer Shadi Ali.

WHEN-Everyday from Friday, 3 November till Sunday, 5 November.

TIME-2-10pm

WHERE-The Factory.

PRICE TAG- No charge.

SPECIAL EVENTS-

Drink Your Milk is a collection of animated poems about our bodies and voices. This performance is the fruit of six artists’ collaboration which discusses autonomy and will have its first showing in the Arab world at D-CAF. The project was created by Golden Hour Productions, a group that aims to create meaningful events through collaboration.

WHEN- Everyday from Tuesday, 17 October till Tuesday, 23 October.

TIME- Weekdays 5-10pm and on weekends 2-10pm.

WHERE-Kodak passageway.

PRICE TAG- No charge.

Interactive Audiovisual Installation Workshop: This workshop, hosted by Andrea Sztovánovits representing Hungary, teaches participants how to navigate technological progress and use them to share their story on a global scale. The workshop is open to adults interested in audiovisual art and covers topics like sound, visuals, technology, and the artistic process.

WHEN- Friday, 20 October and Saturday, 21 October.

TIME- 12-4pm.

WHERE-Studio Emad Eddin.

PRICE TAG-Needs registration.

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