On a recent Thursday, a group of around 40 teens and young adults gathered in a meeting room in Ishbilia art hub to hear and perform poetry and music. The stage of this evening’s open-mic event, a fixed microphone upon a small, round carpet, hosted as many as 17 performers.
Some read deeply personal poems about depression and unhappy love.
“It has been a couple of months since we stopped talking,” one girl read aloud from her smartphone, her dark hair falling on her face. “Since then, I’m not the same ... Trust me, I have been reading more, drinking more, admiring art more, everything is getting more with each passing day. I am even falling in love with you more and harder than ever before.”
She left the stage to applause and rejoined the audience.
Another woman, Hiba Korjieh, has attended seven of Sidewalk Saida’s first eight events that invite anyone to step onstage and perform. She practiced the song “Mad World” by Gary Jules to present it at this night, but hasn’t yet decided whether she wants to go on stage. She once before sang a Coldplay song to the crowd.
“At first, I had a little bit of stage fright,” she recalled, “but then I was comfortable with the audience, because I know half of them.”
The atmosphere during the gathering suggested a lot of those attending seemed to know each other. Yes, co-host Malak Abou Zhar confirmed to The Daily Star, a community has started to grow around the Sidewalk Saida events.
Though Sidon isn’t as conservative as many imagine, she added, the first open-mic in Lebanon’s southern capital was much needed.
“There is an invisible cage,” she said. “People are still hiding in the cage, afraid to come out. So this place provides the space for ... anyone who’d like to share anything.”
Performers are encouraged to address topics otherwise considered taboo - like religion, sexuality and mental problems, while developing themselves artistically.
Co-host Mohammad Rashid looked for a space like this while growing up in Sidon, but had to go to Beirut to find it. Sidewalk started there in October 2017 but has been spreading over Lebanon, with another branch establishing itself in Batroun. Tripoli’s first Sidewalk event happened March 30.
Rashid said that the events in Sidon were especially well-visited.
“When it comes to art, we are kind of in a drought here. It’s not much space for self-expression, especially for teenagers and early adults.”
Rashid was so convinced with the idea behind Sidewalk that it was one of the reasons he quit his job. He wants to use some of his free time to professionalize Sidewalk Saida.
Sidewalk isn’t only an open-mic event. Most nights there is a special guest doing a “feature” - which means having around 20 minutes to present, instead of the usual seven.
“The main purpose of the feature is to introduce a new thing to the people,” Abou Zahr said, “and to discover new rising and local talents and give them a chance to grow.”
On this night, music teacher and music shop owner Mohammad Younes improvised on a drum kit for half an hour, something the hosts were looking forward to - though they were unsure about how people would receive it.
“It might get a bit loud,” Rashid said before Younes started.
“I don’t think many people will feel really comfortable, but at the same time I want them to see different types of art and self-expression.”
Indeed, as Younes’ drumming intensified, it did get loud, but people bopped along, some with their eyes closed. Even when his’ rhythms started to escalate - eventually ending with one of his drums toppling over and percussionist throwing a tom-tom to the floor - they gave him a rousing applause.
“Lebanon is sometimes very bad and I manage to save myself through music,” Younes remarked.
“I want to spread this gift that was around before we existed.”
At the end of the show, he handed drums to the excited audience and encouraged them to join his improvisations, which many happily did.
Abou Zhar and Rashid were relieved. “We were afraid people might leave halfway through because it was too loud,” Abou Zhar said afterward, “but some said it’s the best Sidewalk so far.”
Korjieh also liked Younes’ improvisations, though she noted the performances hadn’t left her time to get up on stage to sing. Maybe she will find the courage the next time Sidewalk is taking place in Sidon.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
