Mazaher

Music · Fasching

You can hear history in Mazaher's music. Rhythms and songs that carry traces of traditions from the Horn of Africa to the Arabian Peninsula, brought over by generations of practitioners who learned the music without sheet music. Um Sameh, Um Hassan, and Nour El Sabah are among the last remaining zār practitioners in Egypt—an ancient ritual built on song, polyrhythmic drumming, and dance. Zār has long been misunderstood as exorcism and demonized at home. In reality, it is something much more…