Throughout the run of Bodies of Knowledge, Mahmoud Chouki will create a new musical composition and series of site-specific performances for the exhibition,  collectively titled Safar, that explore how music can speak across cultural divides to envision new forms of dialogue between East and West. Chouki will be joined by New Orleans-based trumpeter Steve Lands.

Admission is free for all Louisiana residents on Wednesdays courtesy of The Helis Foundation.

ABOUT MAHMOUD CHOUKI

Mahmoud Chouki is a master guitarist, multi-instrumentalist and composer living and working in New Orleans. His art draws together music from many different international contexts to consider how music can speak across cultural divides. His own compositions incorporate musical influences from across the globe, ranging from European classical, Andalusian from Southern Spain, Levantine music from the Middle East, Maghrebian music from North Africa, Latin American music, and jazz from the Southern United States. Integrating sounds and rhythms from many different cultures, Chouki combines classical guitar with instruments such as the loutar, a traditional instrument of the Middle Atlas region of Morocco; the sintir, a Sub-Saharan instrument from the Sahel region (Mali); the oud, an oriental lute; the Algerian mandole, a steel-string fretted instrument resembling an elongated mandolin; the Bağlama saz, a Turkish long necked bowl-lute; the banjo, and a variety of percussion instruments. As artistic director of Rencontre Orient-Occidentat Chateau Mercier in Sierre, Switzerland, Chouki has brought together a wide range of international musicians to envision new forms of dialogue between East and West, with music often the only common language between performers.

Future performances on Wednesdays at 3 pm by Chouki and guest musicians include:

• August 14: Helen Gillet
• September 11: Jesse Autumn
• October 9: Martin Masakowski

Friday Nights at NOMA performances (5:30 – 8:30 pm):

• July 26: Oscar Rossignoli
• August 23: Cyrille Aimee and Ricardo Pascal
• September 13: Georgi Petrov and Sam Dickie
• October 13: Final Ensemble Concert