Ali Mahdi
Sidi Tayeb Salih lights up the US Library of Congress – Washington, again, recalling and celebrating
The presence of Sudanese creativity between the Kennedy Center for the Arts and the US Library of Congress in Washington, early positive dialogue leading to results
American theater performances at Al-Baqaa Festival for theatre, positive signs in the promising relations of possible cooperation, and we are now enjoying each other.
Presentation of (Sinnar Crucible) at Lamama Theater – New York, practical application with quality of the concepts of theater and politics in building bridges and strengthening post-political relations.
Gentlemen, I returned that morning, walking slowly, no rain and no clouds that mimic (Karmakul) at noon, despite the beauty in it, which is evidenced by some of its people who are well-behaved. I came to it for the first time decades ago, more than four or more, at that time I was in a lifetime of enthusiasm, which makes my walk this step or more in the morning walks, including the Library of (US Congress) and the (Kennedy) Center for the Arts, on the green (Potemak) River, in front of built (and upgraded) months,
That was part of my dream, to enter with awe, to roam the place, to see the various art exhibitions, some of which are short-term, and others that extend for months, to attend meetings with artists, they come from various capitals, from different cultures and knowledge, to enter one of the renewed artistic shows, to enjoy the soul And the heart, and before my eyes watching the latest performances of the (Ballet) theater, especially if (the Berlina) is one of the dates of Latin American dance, the old and the new, it came that evening from a city in the far west, after (Los Angeles) by a distance, it was in the sixth decade, yes, but it In her beauty standing, she presented one of her most beautiful performances, and one of the most beautiful international ballet performances. She dances with grace and perfection, young, charming, and most beautiful when she rises in movement, to swim in the space of the stage, and in one of the most modern theaters in the world. I went to her, they introduced me to her, I knew (Africa), and she told me later in the evening, and we passed in the early evening that distance of the place, and there was no possible barrier that separated us in time.
She said while her perfume was fragrant between her eyes, there is nothing in it except the truthfulness of the revealing word.
(She is the happiest to get acquainted, after that long life, with one of them, Africa, her old dream) The relations of liberation movements in Africa, the day I fell in love with (Patrice Lumumba) and after him (Jomo Kenyatta).
And that is another story, and on my visit, my personal dream came true, and I stood in one of the most beautiful and newest halls in the memorial center of President (John Kennedy), telling in a lecture closer to an open dialogue, with the presence of artists, scientists, politicians, researchers and critics, who knew and watched my theatrical experiences (Theater in Conflict Zones), the most important of which is (The Sinar Crucible), on the day of its premiere at the famous (Lama) theater in (New York), and the founder has an American theatrical friend (Alan Stewart), she invited me and the Al-Baqaa Theater team to present the show, and she sat that day Among the audience, which is the most enthusiastic about my initiative to use theater to mitigate conflict, the unity of civil conflicts, especially after I presented the experience in the city of (Timbuco) in (Mexico) and the summer there in 2004, changed, in all the details of the difference. It was the first time that I briefed the international theater community on our efforts to build peace in my homeland, and the farthest city (Timbuco). But she is the most beautiful, she lost my fatigue with her beauty, in which I met the descendants of the Sudanese soldiers, on the day they fought for peace and stability in Latin America, and that is another story for me in which there are details, and I would not have surrounded it without the interventions of some of the audience of my lecture in it, and the General Conference of the International Theater Authority moves on Its Latin America, (Argentina), for the first time. The brown man stood up for a little while and shouted, “I heard this rhythm from my great-grandfather years ago, and I memorized it. Please repeat it if you would be so kind.”
I was showing some pictures of our performances in Greater Darfur, and old songs to which we danced in the (Sereef) camp outside the city (Nyala). Then the stories took us to the house, the beautiful family, and the photographs that gathered some of the soldiers of the Sudanese division, and that is another story that I will return to, because after that, on another visit to Mexico, we met, and I visited with him families whose origins are from Greater Darfur and the Nuba Mountains.
And on that day at the (Kennedy) Center for the Arts, the circles of common interest widened, and we walked in programs that extended for years. To (Saint Louis) the most beautiful and (Los Angeles) for its significance, and what is in between, I tell about it the idea in the possible uses of the performing arts.
Then this morning I go back alone to walk in it (Washington), but the step is less than that of the first in the last quarter of the seventies of the last century.
(The impact of Sufism on contemporary theater)
And because it was the first in the history of Arab and African performing arts, I do not think that I will return to it, the library I love and the most important in its capabilities of preservation, codification and documentation. After our positive dialogues and exchange of visits, the idea was integrated. Celebrating my good sir, Saleh, may he have mercy on him, and the transmission of the great and complete mercy was not far away, not in the distances of time or idea. We celebrated the anniversary as quickly as possible, especially as it was months before that, and we were preparing for external participations, so the Al-Baqaa theater was transformed into a major artistic and scientific workshop. And I sat with my loved ones, as usual, drawing on paper pictures that we collect with the possible dialogues, to build scenes in which there will be scenes in which there will be a display of personification, singing, praise, and older hymns that suggest love in its sincerity. So the full display was with love (from Tayeb Al-Tayeb Salih), and the National Theater witnessed Omdurman and at the opening of the Festival The international spot for the theater was its first performance, and it was a key after that to others, and it was according to the arrangements of that dream that the celebration and celebration of his fragrant biography would be moved to the (American Congress) building in which (Washington) that I knew, so I walked one day to witness my first appointment with them the most beloved people of the library, and I reached it from my hotel that I knew For years, not far from the square of my movement, and the Embassy of Sudan is in its most famous location among the embassies, then I walk from there to (Georgetown) University, cross the bridge, and enjoy the sight and soul with the sounds of water running to settle for it, I did not follow where, but I was the happiest when I saw greenery and short trees . There are big buildings on the road after the bridge. The old Washington buildings that you know, the distinguished architecture maintains your level of sight, so you walk safely in your sight. The biography of Sidi Tayeb Salih used to perfume the halls, the corridors, the doors opened with his beautiful name, and greetings and peace be upon the righteous people, as soon as they knew the idea and the details, and the morning did not pass until the agreement was with joy. It was the first of its kind, a Sudanese (American) agreement between us at the Mahdi Arts Center, especially, and here in Khartoum we have artistic and cultural working relations with the (American) embassy, and together we organized one of the largest cultural events, preceded by performances by the American theater at the Baqaa International Festival, then specialized workshops In the studios of the Mahdi Center for the Arts, rather it is the first in the history of Sudanese (American) relations. The day the center celebrated in its old location on (Sultan Ali Dinar) Street was a great cultural day, in the midst of a Sudanese (American) audience.
It was not in my mind that we respond to the Center by organizing Tayeb Salih’s celebration at the Library of the (US Congress) and in (Washington) more than we renew opportunities for cooperation, but, but this is great, and it grows whenever we know what happened after it.
Tayeb Salih celebration
Mehdi Center for the Arts and Library (of Congress)
We put slogans on luxurious designs to promote the first creative initiative to celebrate an Arab-African writer, then I went to cities to invite scholars, writers and friends who know his merits and are aware of his contributions, so I wrote scientific and memorial papers.
Then it happened
But this time in the location of the possible
We will go back to Washington again to return to the halls of the US Library of Congress with a beautiful fragrance.
Our program at that celebration consisted of three research seminars, in each of which there were three papers prepared by venerable scholars and professors. Students in the languages of the world His most famous novels (Season of Migration to the North) and (Zein’s Wedding), and others.
And we would have shown the most beautiful show (from Tayeb Al-Tayeb Salih).
Then the dear late Abdul Karim al-Kabli sat for days with the sultans of Sudanese music across America, who gathered to present in the big stage in the library, musical and lyrical performances that pleased the audience. It was, then, but again.
Over the past weeks, I have looked at all my correspondences that were going towards continuing the process of realizing the great program. The leadership of work in the US Library of Congress changed, but the documents were preserved and the enthusiasm is greater. Now I am back in the direction of promoting dialogues again, and this is the time to search for possible opportunities, confident that they are the best now and what is possible and not impossible between us.
Mahdi Center for the Arts last year completed its registration procedures in New York and held the first meeting of its board of directors chaired by Habib Hassan Issa al-Tijani al-Amir.
And Ramadan Kareem, the days of its goodness have passed
We are all like children
Waiting for the feast