JEDDAH: A creative residency encouraging musical collaboration between Saudi and French artists was held in Jeddah’s Al-Balad this week.
The French Consulate General in Jeddah, in partnership with the Tariq Abdulhakim Museum, the French Embassy, and Alliance Francaise, brought together French musician Stracho Temelkovski and five Saudi artists for the residency.
Held from Nov. 27 to Dec. 5, the program featured multi-instrumentalist Temelkovski along with Saudi talents Sultan Al-Qurashi on oud, Ziyad Ayman Saeed on violin, Amin Mohammed Abu Harb on semsemiya, Abadi Abdulrahim Al-Qurashi on drums, and singer Mada Ali Al-Ghamdi.
Over several afternoons of musical exchange, they worked on a collaborative repertoire that will culminate in a public performance on Friday night, Dec. 5, at Festival Garden in Al-Balad’s Cultural Square.
Temelkovski described the residency as a natural extension of his lifelong artistic mission. “I really like to make bridges in my music,” he said. “That’s one of the aims. Music has to be something deep, and I try every time to make a real meeting with another culture.”
