What can be said about our Lebanon in the year 2021? Let us not attempt to put into words the hardships that have and are still befalling our country, our citizens, our musicians and cultural operators, our venues and places of congregation, in recent months… At Irtijal, with many of our friends and collaborators exiting the local scene, we felt it was our duty to hold this current edition and attempt to give something back to this city that has nurtured us for over 20 years.

We are happy to host a mostly local edition for 3 intensive days. Happy to welcome some of our expatriated musicians, who have chosen to brave ever-increasing travel restrictions to be with us. Happy to finally launch our incredibly exciting Istimrar commissions project. Happy to present a festival focused on workshops and collaborations, one of Irtijal’s constant goals over the years.

In 2021, in collaboration with our partners at hcmf//, we launched ISTIMRAR, our first series of COMMISSIONED WORKS addressed to Lebanese musicians. The purpose of this series is to keep the creativity of Lebanese musicians alive and robust and to inject some stimulation into the Lebanese musical sector as a whole.