https://majdshidiac.com majdshidiac.com Sun, 09 Jul 2023 04:09:17 +0000 https://majdshidiac.com en https://majdshidiac.com/Home Mon, 09 Jan 2023 20:57:03 +0000 majdshidiac.com https://majdshidiac.com/Home This is to say, I get carried away and constantly sailing[...] https://majdshidiac.com/Writers-in-Response Mon, 09 Jan 2023 20:57:05 +0000 majdshidiac.com https://majdshidiac.com/Writers-in-Response Writers in Response Residencies &amp; Cultural Programming <img width="1200" height="1200" width_o="1200" height_o="1200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/fcc3593662eef8db5498b9b6424459067a8e8ab318abb7d74b4d0b5081a87185/151327765_107462611384928_5350187954130176031_n.jpg" data-mid="165514224" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/fcc3593662eef8db5498b9b6424459067a8e8ab318abb7d74b4d0b5081a87185/151327765_107462611384928_5350187954130176031_n.jpg" /> Writers in Response- April, 2021 A 4-day writing residency gathering multi-disciplenary writers based in Beirut in an attempt to produce personal narratives in times of calamity. Over the span of 4 days, writers took part in creative and performance workshops as means to develop published works rooted in Beirut’s contextual reality. In doing so, the residency pieced together personal anecdotes to develop a collective narrative documenting life in times of state collapse.&nbsp; *Made possible through the Mophradat Self-Organization Grant and in partnership with The Poetry Pot, Rusted Radishes, and Barzakh Organizing Committee:&nbsp; Sara Sibai&nbsp; Riwa Saab&nbsp; Majd Shidiac Funding Partner: Mophradat Publishing Partners: Rusted Radishes The Poetry Pot 6 Writers in Response From a pool of 60+ candidates, 6 multi-disciplenary writers were selected to include poets, essayists, researchers, and visual artists. The collective writing process culminated in 6 digitally published works traversing the genres of Poetry, Essay, Creative Non-fiction, Short Film, and Audio Essay.&nbsp; Read their work here. <img width="1200" height="1200" width_o="1200" height_o="1200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3b4ac2ee8505f2f2d7b4aff2f1efc28242785e053a6420ef271d6ff93737b4fb/151555454_107396011391588_939233482832181917_n.jpg" data-mid="165514822" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3b4ac2ee8505f2f2d7b4aff2f1efc28242785e053a6420ef271d6ff93737b4fb/151555454_107396011391588_939233482832181917_n.jpg" /> https://majdshidiac.com/From-the-Archive Sun, 09 Jul 2023 04:09:17 +0000 majdshidiac.com https://majdshidiac.com/From-the-Archive From the ArchiveSelection of Poetry &amp; Text back home&nbsp; The lingerie store still open the cafe is a carcass of itself still open the banks are barricaded, and blemished with blasphemy the streets open as ever. Voyeuristic eyes are sedated and i am but a flashlight for dilated pupils; degenerate dialect, open&nbsp;as mother’s wounds. The corner stores have turned into phone shops phone shops to money wiring centers money wiring centers to currency exchange currency exchange clerks still open.They take off their hands at the door,spend the night with their wives watching dirty palms dry off. The Russians have exhibited renewed interest in the house of sand the Chinese are molding the rubble into sooted empires the French supplied army men with new boots; Some turned negotiators Some turned excavators Some turned appropriators Some turned down.The little boy runs with a gun and no assignment bullets his entire conscience&nbsp;food is scarce, and unattainable bodies are open runways and my lover’s heart refuses to accept me. Home is a house of cards, and I am a lousy drunk. <img width="3088" height="2048" width_o="3088" height_o="2048" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1b84fa44e7552592ac173189ada115e23e1664d5eac7bbd9ed723822ec804e89/small.jpg" data-mid="184532352" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1b84fa44e7552592ac173189ada115e23e1664d5eac7bbd9ed723822ec804e89/small.jpg" /> . <img width="2084" height="4624" width_o="2084" height_o="4624" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/61b0ed5e0cb3dbaca868b675514316a8258fe82a4691d37df93d777b15fb4a37/beirutbeirut.jpg" data-mid="184532348" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/61b0ed5e0cb3dbaca868b675514316a8258fe82a4691d37df93d777b15fb4a37/beirutbeirut.jpg" /> <img width="3468" height="4624" width_o="3468" height_o="4624" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4983b601e9fc771617290280fc76d0daa81a0311fc70eba95678e446459805e9/BEIRUT2.jpg" data-mid="184532349" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4983b601e9fc771617290280fc76d0daa81a0311fc70eba95678e446459805e9/BEIRUT2.jpg" /> small talk You can’t understand the world, now can you? And when it made sense, were you afraid? Do you stutter? When you say I need– I need when you say I love– when you are held by your own moth– by your own mmoth– by your own mmoth-rr– by your own mother. What is it like? Sometimes arms have this way of folding out of touch humans can be versatile sometimes life favors the broad. daylight is soothing, heart pulses less frequent in the drift of the clueless breeze, brazing around, sinuous skin jelly like nature blobbing afloat; perhaps all clouds were once lucky people. toothbrush The world is dying out, in your face there are two lines that weren't there, this morning when you finally managed to get out of bed your teeth collapsed and you swore to your reflection, that you would never smile again. <img width="4624" height="2084" width_o="4624" height_o="2084" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1acf08026b2e4636a87032b2fbe5029c2035c664254736ca352f46600e3b290d/life.jpg" data-mid="184532356" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1acf08026b2e4636a87032b2fbe5029c2035c664254736ca352f46600e3b290d/life.jpg" /> <img width="2084" height="4624" width_o="2084" height_o="4624" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0ad06ff07f5ca0fcc2ea88fcac88e12056ba49e38748e962f7446d05eec5fd7b/light.jpg" data-mid="184532350" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0ad06ff07f5ca0fcc2ea88fcac88e12056ba49e38748e962f7446d05eec5fd7b/light.jpg" /> of man I’m a man of many constraints this is to say, I get carried away and constantly sailing. There’s no point in anchoring my heart if ever so often it sheds and removes out of itself to chase the ephemeral-amidst the rage of the disposed I learn new knots and hope this would be the last. . https://majdshidiac.com/On-Sound-and-Space Mon, 09 Jan 2023 20:57:03 +0000 majdshidiac.com https://majdshidiac.com/On-Sound-and-Space On Sound and SpaceMusic Releases &amp; Live Performances Big Broken City Big Broken City- المدينه العوجه 2021- Barzakh Cultural Space Sound and lyrical exploration of modern decline. Infusing spoken word, free jazz, and live electronics, the group performs an improvised set on the violent banality of man in the fall of post modern. Charbel Sawma Bass/Electronics Abdo Sawma Drums/Machine Rami Abou Khalil Keys/Electronics Majd Shidiac Spoken Word/ Vocals <img width="2048" height="1365" width_o="2048" height_o="1365" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/faf927039871162c0c871bb475a3c851c1523060c1ca471a37d1a30038e21867/DSC02880.jpg" data-mid="164219820" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/faf927039871162c0c871bb475a3c851c1523060c1ca471a37d1a30038e21867/DSC02880.jpg" /> <img width="2048" height="1365" width_o="2048" height_o="1365" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/edf193314ab894c4c9bdfb2126a8f9d709457ef03d8a5f5e3c525c6b64b5fd40/DSC02928.jpg" data-mid="164219821" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/edf193314ab894c4c9bdfb2126a8f9d709457ef03d8a5f5e3c525c6b64b5fd40/DSC02928.jpg" /> <img width="2048" height="1365" width_o="2048" height_o="1365" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/efe3b15e1b88af8aaee4db21d7f809741b1db714958382a3693df3b3e332ad3d/DSC02887.jpg" data-mid="164219822" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/efe3b15e1b88af8aaee4db21d7f809741b1db714958382a3693df3b3e332ad3d/DSC02887.jpg" /> © Lara Chahine- Barzakh, 2021 are these your hands? would you like them back? are these your hands? would you like them back?2023- Hive Mind Records “One can’t help but wonder about the hands referred to on ‘Are These Your Hands? Would You Like Them Back?’. Featuring a recitation by the spoken word poet Majd Shidiac, the track is a meditation, his unwavering voice criss-crossing between a tranquil and pensive mass of echoey loops and modulations.” - Christina Hazboun for The Quietus. Yara Asmar- Composer, Main Artist Majd Shidiac- Spoken Word https://majdshidiac.com/From-the-Archives Thu, 26 Jan 2023 16:50:51 +0000 majdshidiac.com https://majdshidiac.com/From-the-Archives back home&nbsp; The lingerie store still open the cafe is a carcass of itself still open the banks are barricaded, and blemished with blasphemy the streets open as ever. Voyeuristic eyes are sedated and i am but a flashlight for dilated pupils; degenerate dialect, open&nbsp;as mother’s wounds. The corner stores have turned into phone shops phone shops to money wiring centers money wiring centers to currency exchange currency exchange clerks still open.They take off their hands at the door,spend the night with their wives watching dirty palms dry off. The Russians have exhibited renewed interest in the house of sand the Chinese are molding the rubble into sooted empires the French supplied army men with new boots; Some turned negotiators Some turned excavators Some turned appropriators Some turned down.The little boy runs with a gun and no assignment bullets his entire conscience&nbsp;food is scarce, and unattainable bodies are open runways and my lover’s heart refuses to accept me. Home is a house of cards, and I am a lousy drunk. <img width="3088" height="2048" width_o="3088" height_o="2048" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1b84fa44e7552592ac173189ada115e23e1664d5eac7bbd9ed723822ec804e89/small.jpg" data-mid="167492811" border="0" data-scale="81" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1b84fa44e7552592ac173189ada115e23e1664d5eac7bbd9ed723822ec804e89/small.jpg" />. <img width="2084" height="4624" width_o="2084" height_o="4624" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/61b0ed5e0cb3dbaca868b675514316a8258fe82a4691d37df93d777b15fb4a37/beirutbeirut.jpg" data-mid="166222661" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/61b0ed5e0cb3dbaca868b675514316a8258fe82a4691d37df93d777b15fb4a37/beirutbeirut.jpg" /> <img width="3468" height="4624" width_o="3468" height_o="4624" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4983b601e9fc771617290280fc76d0daa81a0311fc70eba95678e446459805e9/BEIRUT2.jpg" data-mid="166225933" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4983b601e9fc771617290280fc76d0daa81a0311fc70eba95678e446459805e9/BEIRUT2.jpg" /> small talk You can’t understand the world, now can you? And when it made sense, were you afraid? Do you stutter? When you say I need– I need when you say I love– when you are held by your own moth– by your own mmoth– by your own mmoth-rr– by your own mother. What is it like? Sometimes arms have this way of folding out of touch humans can be versatile sometimes life favors the broad. daylight is soothing, heart pulses less frequent in the drift of the clueless breeze, brazing around, sinuous skin jelly like nature blobbing afloat; perhaps all clouds were once lucky people. toothbrush The world is dying out, in your face there are two lines that weren't there, this morning when you finally managed to get out of bed your teeth collapsed and you swore to your reflection, that you would never smile again. <img width="4624" height="2084" width_o="4624" height_o="2084" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1acf08026b2e4636a87032b2fbe5029c2035c664254736ca352f46600e3b290d/life.jpg" data-mid="167495007" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1acf08026b2e4636a87032b2fbe5029c2035c664254736ca352f46600e3b290d/life.jpg" /> <img width="2084" height="4624" width_o="2084" height_o="4624" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0ad06ff07f5ca0fcc2ea88fcac88e12056ba49e38748e962f7446d05eec5fd7b/light.jpg" data-mid="167491983" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0ad06ff07f5ca0fcc2ea88fcac88e12056ba49e38748e962f7446d05eec5fd7b/light.jpg" /> of man I’m a man of many constraints this is to say, I get carried away and constantly sailing. There’s no point in anchoring my heart if ever so often it sheds and removes out of itself to chase the ephemeral-amidst the rage of the disposed I learn new knots and hope this would be the last. . https://majdshidiac.com/Sonic-Unraveling Mon, 09 Jan 2023 20:57:05 +0000 majdshidiac.com https://majdshidiac.com/Sonic-Unraveling Sonic Unraveling Sound Essays &amp; Music Journalism <img width="1280" height="853" width_o="1280" height_o="853" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a0dc6ea6c4e9599e537e120e378cc975644a27bb208c9b5a35d90d3a207203d6/Tamara-Saade--night-in-Beirut-04-22.jpeg" data-mid="165575316" border="0" alt="&copy; A Night in Beirut- Tamara Saade" data-caption="© A Night in Beirut- Tamara Saade" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a0dc6ea6c4e9599e537e120e378cc975644a27bb208c9b5a35d90d3a207203d6/Tamara-Saade--night-in-Beirut-04-22.jpeg" /> <img width="3000" height="2909" width_o="3000" height_o="2909" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/580cb0a221fa9763585ca374d44b2fefefd6be8a2b158a9f38920bf7297a249d/unending_trials_of_finding_a_better_god_shidiac_ali-sayah.jpg" data-mid="165575631" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/580cb0a221fa9763585ca374d44b2fefefd6be8a2b158a9f38920bf7297a249d/unending_trials_of_finding_a_better_god_shidiac_ali-sayah.jpg" /> <img width="1080" height="1080" width_o="1080" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/83c33759e349f298d73770da0450163af3254decbb818038d413fd2c380556d8/07_snap_shidiac_from-bottom-reactor_bananamonkey.jpg" data-mid="165575936" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/83c33759e349f298d73770da0450163af3254decbb818038d413fd2c380556d8/07_snap_shidiac_from-bottom-reactor_bananamonkey.jpg" /> <img width="5905" height="5905" width_o="5905" height_o="5905" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c7d362f095e7a6085c6e86391e1a2958d939a41ca5c593401d5c3838b3bae8a6/shidiac_amorphous-arab_melissa_ghazale.jpg" data-mid="165576308" border="0" alt="&copy; amorphous arab- Melissa Ghazale" data-caption="© amorphous arab- Melissa Ghazale" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c7d362f095e7a6085c6e86391e1a2958d939a41ca5c593401d5c3838b3bae8a6/shidiac_amorphous-arab_melissa_ghazale.jpg" /> The unending trials of finding a better godAt the concert, working-class folk rush, but collectively they look stagnant. The pressure of constant friction has put them in progressive stasis, orbiting a light. In the hadra of the Mouath’en, working-class women and working-class men extend their limbs in hopes of catching most of the light. From the bottom of a reactor The city was calm on that Sunday afternoon. There was a midday offensive at the Southern border, the casual type mind you. They were showing families going up the hills overlooking the battlefields; perhaps in an act of defiance, perhaps only to watch the fireworks. They say that if you hear the sound of an approaching missile, then it has already hit the target. All you’re left with in your remaining moments of deduction is how close you are to it. Amorphous arab Can one pursue the past through reimagining the present? Veteran musician Yacoub Abu Ghosh and sound experimentalist Rehab Hazgui talk to Norient about merging tradition with recent techniques at the Mirath: Music Sound Exhibition, a project by the Goethe-Institut.&nbsp; <img width="1200" height="906" width_o="1200" height_o="906" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e441dcd6e200de8206b7de0fd1f29b5e4ca918eaf09d1d2ecfb345de8b3133de/nORIENT11.jpg" data-mid="213146820" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e441dcd6e200de8206b7de0fd1f29b5e4ca918eaf09d1d2ecfb345de8b3133de/nORIENT11.jpg" /> Hearing Out a Window For Rewired Festival 2024The city is loud again. Sirens and honks as a backdrop of an erratic soundscape. Chatter, chatter, chatter – pedestrians trying to make sense of blurred phone conversations. A colloquial cacophony. Motorbikes whizz in a hurry, always in a hurry, a dwindling solo, loud cooling systems on the rhythm section. Everyone seems to be agitated – especially the steel box drivers. Busy, busy beggars, catcalling the brick walls to get their voices back. <img width="800" height="491" width_o="800" height_o="491" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/dca4be6ba90cd81e0e11835432926a51c921cce256cfb6e8ccdba796d6a0359b/KOAST1.jpg" data-mid="213146483" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/dca4be6ba90cd81e0e11835432926a51c921cce256cfb6e8ccdba796d6a0359b/KOAST1.jpg" /> The Making of KOAST: Unfiltered, Unhindered, and Heading South Flowing down the stream, KOAST picks up her inspirations and experiences along the way, they become part of her making, and she weaves them into new forms of expression. While breaking through an eclectic range of genres and styles, she can be found singing English lyrics in Arabic scales, or Arabic lyrics on Afro-beat. For KOAST, this amalgamation of sounds and inspirations comes as an organic pursuit of self-indulgence. <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/53772e589be2b52cf34e09c06fea23fc4b99dbed9892404cbb086f7e974defb4/Autotune-Rebellion-MAIN-PICTURE.jpg" data-mid="249944874" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/53772e589be2b52cf34e09c06fea23fc4b99dbed9892404cbb086f7e974defb4/Autotune-Rebellion-MAIN-PICTURE.jpg" /> Autotune Rebellion: A Rupturing Cypher on the Fringes of Lebanon’s Music Scene&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; For Beirut and Beyond International Music Festival 2025The sudden presence of some 12-15 rappers, producers, and collaborators on stage was pleasantly overwhelming. Maybe not as much for the technicians who rushed to live EQ a capricious range of flows, treating one cadence after the other. And at times when Ghanim’s hard drive would give out, or the generator stalled, the verses would turn acappella, or live drums would replace the beats in defiance, somewhat symbolically, of structural and regional challenges insisting that the show must go on. <img width="1600" height="1067" width_o="1600" height_o="1067" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3d12091ccbb677b70d4541e2ba8fa695da6488b98049c20206e9a4ce1c3fa03f/beirutsweepstamarasaade.jpg" data-mid="166234487" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3d12091ccbb677b70d4541e2ba8fa695da6488b98049c20206e9a4ce1c3fa03f/beirutsweepstamarasaade.jpg" /> Between hunger and famine: From the scene with El Rass &amp; Ziad NawfalTo all those who have written and still write about how Beirut is the city of contradictions, it’s time to realize that the city is, in fact, a land of contradicting realities. These realities overlap, create, and destroy each other almost viciously. So perhaps in apocalyptic times like these, it could be helpful to ask ourselves which reality we are subscribing to, and which we are succumbing to. <img width="800" height="491" width_o="800" height_o="491" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c539c89998f251508f648a584ffc85b68419ac96c77caef8b14a3ec58bf2093a/Atoui1.jpg" data-mid="213149127" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/c539c89998f251508f648a584ffc85b68419ac96c77caef8b14a3ec58bf2093a/Atoui1.jpg" /> Theatrics of Life: Aia Atoui Dives into the Human ConditionIn the time of confinement, Aia Atoui picks up a camera and finds herself studying her neighborhood. She generates an affinity for sitting on her balcony to observe the passers-by, capturing strangers in a moment of existential unraveling as they stand and stare at nothing, or come around at the usual time to perform their small part in the grand stage of the mundane. <img width="800" height="491" width_o="800" height_o="491" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ba07b06f9fdb824e7714c919fbd9a616141a5c06f542b7b46a9d6a3dfcff26b1/LilianeScenenoise1.jpg" data-mid="166235127" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/ba07b06f9fdb824e7714c919fbd9a616141a5c06f542b7b46a9d6a3dfcff26b1/LilianeScenenoise1.jpg" /> Trouble in deep slumber: Liliane Chlela rattles the cage There’s no stage in the city that Liliane hasn’t performed on. Throughout the years, she has scaled and built her own version of home. On a dimly lit stage in Mar Mikhael, a few hundred meters away from an ammonium-ridden destiny, she sat shoulder to shoulder with ingenious jazz composer Tarek Yamani. Amidst her simple, time-tested setup, she engineered a sonic conversation of rhythm and resonance. <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2d18eb4392abf3b0d220cc2686351def581c77174603f78089d2686a403b6dd6/lynn-adib.jpg" data-mid="249980786" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2d18eb4392abf3b0d220cc2686351def581c77174603f78089d2686a403b6dd6/lynn-adib.jpg" /> Longing and Belonging: Lynn Adib’s Journey Through Jazz&nbsp; After her striking performance at Global Week for Syria (in Beirut) the night before, it took me ten minutes of waiting in the sun-lit streets of Gemmayzeh to wake Lynn up. She invites me to the naturally lit balcony of an Airbnb she had booked on the occasion of this performance. Between the sharp noises of early truck drivers making their daily deliveries and the sporadic interruptions from her daughter Sarah, who seemed oblivious to the fact that her mom was being interviewed but keen on finding some morning entertainment, we managed to have a conversation about her musical journey of longing and belonging. <img width="800" height="491" width_o="800" height_o="491" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9a2fab6bfe16b0b84022bddaba73aa03bf8e8959ba5a9a48e24e56e808f2fd40/ELRASS.jpg" data-mid="249947614" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/9a2fab6bfe16b0b84022bddaba73aa03bf8e8959ba5a9a48e24e56e808f2fd40/ELRASS.jpg" /> A Laid-Back El Rass Butchers Heads with a Smile in ‘Vodka W Cerelac’ Seen in his urban element, shifting between ridiculing pseudo rapper careers on a day swing, to chopping up big mogul heads in the kitchen, El Rass seems to be having fun. While he takes jabs at rappers’ rhythmic incoherence, he also serves them a lesson in consonance, making syllable play and alliteration look as simple as breathing, and what’s more boastful than an untamed, unquestionable level of skill? <img width="800" height="491" width_o="800" height_o="491" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ad5407ea9d0e26d9577237e2ff6d063418ff26334c6cb0a0df60757b5e0d3034/pplradio.jpg" data-mid="218063027" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/ad5407ea9d0e26d9577237e2ff6d063418ff26334c6cb0a0df60757b5e0d3034/pplradio.jpg" /> The People's Radio: Reflecting on One Remarkable Year of Radio AlHara A year ago around this time, I sat at my bedroom work desk to write about a pirate radio station that emerged from the shackles of lockdown to broadcast to a melancholic world. Back then, the radio was still an exciting notion filled with ‘what ifs’ and ‘what could be. A year and thousands of broadcasting hours later, I sat down with the boys from ‘the neighborhood’ again to discuss how a lockdown sensation turned into a global movement with local roots. https://majdshidiac.com/About Mon, 09 Jan 2023 20:57:06 +0000 majdshidiac.com https://majdshidiac.com/About <img width="2048" height="1365" width_o="2048" height_o="1365" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/52161d307b04e0378db1ba7ba7fe056f628ba118b75c2464052425dcb264757c/About.jpg" data-mid="164133238" border="0" data-scale="91" alt="&copy; Lara Chahine- Barzakh, 2021" data-caption="© Lara Chahine- Barzakh, 2021" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/52161d307b04e0378db1ba7ba7fe056f628ba118b75c2464052425dcb264757c/About.jpg" /> © Lara Chahine- Barzakh, 2021 Majd Shidiac is a spoken word poet and writer born and raised in Beirut. Performing on all sorts of stages since 2013, Shidiac founded The Poetry Pot in 2017, a poetry and music collective performing for live audiences monthly. Through his work with The Poetry Pot and beyond, Majd played an integral role in growing Beirut's contemporary performance poetry scene, facilitating creative writing, performance, and poetry workshops in schools, universities, and creative communities across Lebanon. In 2020, Shidiac employed his writing to cover contemporary and folk music from the Arabic-speaking world, exploring themes of dispossession, resistance, and sonic revelation in journalistic-style features and freeform essaying.