The soundscapes of Abdullah Miniawy hold a claustrophobic weight in them—whether through blown-out club beats, rattling post-industrial trap, noirish smears of jazz, or suffocating slabs of ritual tribal ambient, each carry anxiety like a burning flag. The expressionist, writer, singer, composer, and actor imbues the deeply heavy politics and struggles of his native Egypt in each of his personal works; notably, his lyrics were displayed in places like the Yarmouk camp in Syria during the Arab Spring. Collaborations with the likes of HVAD, Simo Cell, and most heavily Carl Gari, yield funereal works that blend every »dark« genre imaginable in complex and intriguing ways, evoking lushness from sparsity and finding sacrament in the most hellish of pits.
Since 2015, Carl Gari has been inextricably intertwined with Abdullah Miniawy, having met through a cultural exchange project organised by Goethe-Institut Cairo during which the material for their first collaborative LP Darraje was recorded. The Münich-based project was formed to subvert reality through sound, snarling uneasily across ambient, dub, psychedelia, trip-hop, and sluggish techgnosis to form seething and corrupted sound design. Their 2019 conceptual album The Act of Falling from the 8th Floor was acclaimed for its heart-wrenching lyrics and soundscapes detailing the horrors of living under Egypt’s brutal Al-Sisi dictatorship.
Miniawy broke onto the screen with a role in the award-winning Tunisian film Tlamess, netting himself a nomination and shortlisting for the Best Actor Award from the Arab Cinema Center at Cannes. He’s composed soundtracks for dance shows, theater productions, and exhibitions, including notable works "Cabaret Crusade III" by Wael Shawki, "AMDUAT" by Kirsten Dehlholm, and "Insurrection" by Jilani Saadi. After winning the 2023 Les Victoires Du Jazz in France for the album Le Cri du Caire, Miniawy returned with Carl Garni this year for the LP Shoot The Engine, a “commission of a just crime in favor of human skills …a revolutionary declaration of the act of walking.”
Shoot The Engine اقتُلْ الدافع, by Carl Gari & Abdullah Miniawy
Shoot The Engine اقتُلْ الدافع, by Carl Gari & Abdullah Miniawy
Abdullah Miniawy is supported by SHAPE+, which is co-funded by the European Union and Pro Helvetia. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
