ZULI

[EG]

"Magma"

Audiovisual installation, 2018. Commissioned as part of the CTM 2018 Radio Lab by CTM and Deutschlandfunk Kultur – Radioart/Klangkunst in collaboration with ORF musikprotokoll im Steirischen herbst, and ORF Kunstradio. Media partner: The Wire.

Ahmed El Ghazoly aka ZULI winner of the CTM 2018 Radio Lab call, which sought proposals that explore the hybrid possibilities of the medium of radio and live performance/installation, that also explore the CTM 2018 Festival theme: Turmoil.

For his new work, El Ghazoly will compose diverse vignettes of life in Cairo, a grossly overpopulated city suffering political unrest over many years. In the artists word’s the city has “a feeling of a volcano on the verge of erupting but never actually does.” Having steadily recorded his surroundings over many years, ZULI proposes a series of vignettes that incorporate conversations held for example with taxi drivers, merchants, commuters at the railway station or metro, as well as his own original music compositions. Festival goers will be able to enter into a circle of screens projecting 360 videos shot on location where the interviews and sound collages are sourced, immersing themselves into the city’s turbulent environment. They’ll also be able to check out a specially-constructed website that will assemble the videos which will be projected in the installation, and also provide additional information and links.

Following its premiere at CTM 2018, ZULI’s work will be subsequently broadcast in its radio version via Deutschlanfunk Kultur in March 2018. Later in Autumn 2018, the work will be presented by the ORF (Austrian National Broadcasting Corporation) via one of their platforms.

Ahmed El Ghazoly aka ZULI is a multi-instrumentalist, producer, and sound artist from Cairo, Egypt. He is co-founder of Kairo is Koming (KIK), a collective of six artists that played an important role in the rise of the city’s underground electronic music scene. Together with Asem Tag ($$$TAG$$$), ZULI also co-headed Cairo’s alternative music venue and club, VENT, from 2013-2015, before transforming their project into a namesake club night and festival. Around the same time, VENT London was run at the now closed Dance Tunnel venue by a third partner, Mohamed Elshourbagui.

ZULI released his debut EP, Bionic Ahmed, with Lee Gamble’s UIQ label, following up with another playfully unconventional release, Numbers. He held a residency at the prestigious EMS Stockholm in between both releases.