In Cairo, the Mazaher group tries to restore its letters of nobility to this very old ritual, criticized by the religious and the authorities, by presenting an softened version.
Le Monde
A performance hall, musicians, an audience … an ordinary concert? No, because on this scene from Cairo, the spirits rub shoulders with the audience and, under the sieved lights, Oum Sameh sings to heal the patients of their demons. The ZAR, which arrived several centuries of Ethiopia and Sudan ago, spread throughout North Africa, especially in Egypt. The names and instruments vary but the goal is the same: exorcise the victims of the jinns, the evil spirits.
Traditionally, the ritual lasts several days and requires animal sacrifices. But in Makan, in the popular center of Cairo, no blood shed: musicians present a softened version that amazes curious Egyptians and tourists eager for exoticism. Fallen by the voice of Oum Sameh and captivated by his underlined gaze of Khôl, the public swings the head in rhythm.
“The Zar is a very old ritual, attached to healing, it is a kind of medical treatment”, explains to AFP Ahmed El-Maghraby, founder of Mazaher, last group according to him to practice Zar in audience. In 2000, he inaugurated Makan “to keep this heritage and archive popular Egyptian music,” explains the gray hair man. And to restore its letters of nobility to the Zar, criticized by religious – Muslims as Christians – and by authorities wanting to end rural traditions to embrace modernity and industrial development.
“Djinns and blood “
“In Egypt, we sometimes tend to despise culture or local traditions”, laments Mr. Maghraby. Besides, starting twenty-two years ago, Mazaher attracted almost only foreigners. “They came to the show with Egyptians. The latter came backwards, because for them the Zar it was” jinn and blood “, but when they saw the Mazaher group and its light version of Zar, they were pleasantly Surprised. “
“We are neither charlatans nor sorcerers”, annoys Oum Sameh, 72, the main singer of Mazaher, still in her light outfit after the performance. In a patriarchal society where women say they are discriminated against by law, Zar ceremonies are led by women, initiated between them. Oum Sameh learned the ritual from 11 years old with his mother and grandmother. Sixty years later, she sings the same words and the same tunes and, she said proudly, “without notes or written words, we inherited it like that and we grew up with”. “It is a spiritual song that evacuates negative energies. There are also some Sufi prayers,” she continues, imposing Creoles with ears and arms covered with tintinnabulant bracelets in gold.
However, deplores Abu Samra, the Tanboura player – a kind of ancient lyre -, “some have a very negative idea of Zar because of the films” in Egypt, the “Arab Hollywood”. In the 1980s, the film Daqat Zar (“The blow of the zar”, in Arabic) thus evoked musicians manipulating a woman by waving the specter of the jinns, while in Al-Taaouiza, (“the curse”), the divas Arabs Youssra and Tahia Carioca lent themselves to disenchantment with false blood and strident cries. “But it is an art like all the others, we must forget these received ideas”, urges Abu Samra, Standard and Long Djellaba skull.
a new recruit
Sign that the times change, Mazaher, of which all the members exceed sixties, has finally found a new recruit: Azza Mazaher, the forty girl of Oum Hassan, one of the percussionists of the troop. The contrast between mother and daughter is striking: while Um Hassan Tambourine on a withdrawal chair, Azzza continues the dance steps with energy. “If someone feels bad and doctors do not find treatment, we can organize a ceremony. But here, we present something light, folk, so that people discover it, understand it and appreciate it” , she explains to AFP.
and the formula seems to work. Mazaher has already participated in several European festivals. And in Cairo, he convinces more and more Egyptians. “They look like us and represent us,” enthuses Mariam Essawi, the twenty, after the concert. For this Egyptian with a trendy look and a pierced nose, “the Zar is part of our history and our heritage”.