From July 2-4, 2021, Irtijal proudly took part in TERDAD 2021 Festival in Beirut.
Under the auspices of UNESCO‘s “Li Beirut” initiative for reviving the cultural sector in Beirut, TERDAD consisted of 3 days of public performances and workshops, organized in partnership by Lebanese cultural associations Irtijal, Samandal Comics, Zoukak Theatre Company, Metropolis Cinema, and Maqamat Dance Theatre.
Irtijal’s contribution to TERDAD consisted of 4 distinct events
July 2nd, 2021
Topologie d’une Absence Ciné-Concert
Produced in partnership with Metropolis, this Ciné-concert combines music and film based on extraordinary archive footage from the 1920s, captured in Lebanon by Pathé and Gaumont.
Film research & editing by Rami El Sabbagh
Music by Abed Kobeissy, Sary Moussa and Sharif Sehnaoui

July 3rd and 4th, 2021
Live Drawing Concert #1 and #2
Participating musicians: Nadia Daou, Jad Atoui, Aya Metwalli, and Anthony Sahyoun.
Samandal artists: Shakeeb Abu Hamdan, Carla Aouad, Ghadi Ghosn, Carla Habib, and Lena Merhej.
July 4th, 2021
Aghane Servicet (in collaboration with Metro al Madina)
Music by Bashar Farran, Ahmed Al-Khatib, Farah Kaddour, Samah Bou Al Mona, and Hanna Yazbek
Sound engineering for all Irtijal events by Fadi Tabbal (Tunefork Studios)
On TERDAD 2021
About TERDAD 2021
On the 4th of August, 2020, Beirut was struck by two massive explosions that caused unprecedented damage and a widespread loss of lives and livelihoods. In a country already reeling from the social and economic crisis and the devastating effects of the pandemic, the cultural and artistic sector was hit in the heart. In cinemas, galleries, theatres, museums, learning spaces, sound recording studios, and cultural spaces, the damages were gigantic. While cultural activities were being suspended, a talented generation of young Lebanese artists was left with only one hope: leaving.
In this gloomy context was born TERDAD.
Created by UNESCO under “Li Beirut”, its flagship initiative for the city recovery, TERDAD – or RESONANCE in English-, will allow the creative echoes of Beirut to resonate again and shut the sound of the explosions, over the course of 3 days of public cultural activities in the heart of the city, in the schools and cultural spaces of Mar Mikhael, Gemmayze, Quarantina, and Sursock. The event unites 5 local cultural associations that propose different forms of art, after having provided them with urgent financial support to the local artists through a coproduction program. On the 2nd, the 3rd, and the 4th of July, and as an integral part of “Li Beirut”, TERDAD will mark the resumption of the creative activities of the city, much needed today to regain a sense of normalcy, a sense of life.