Over 4 days, Nafta lives to the rhythm of its festival, “Rouhaniyet” which blows its 6e candle, attracts and seduces. An intense course is built around multiple visits, between intimate concerts, other more popular ones and Maqam of protective saints… In the city of 100 domes, music resounds, life is regenerated and one breathes fresh air. a land out of time.
With great fanfare, the 6e edition of “Rouhaniyet” was opened on Tuesday 1er November in the central square of the Nafta souk with parades and banners displaying the colors of the 100 patron saints of the city and its surroundings. And it was with the unmissable show “Ziara” by Sami Lajmi that the kick-off was given in front of a large and enthusiastic audience. Dances, frenetic rhythms, percussions and flamboyant colors enliven this timeless and timeless show.
The second day of the festival began in the morning with a conference on Sufi poetry and its most outstanding figures in the Arab world, presented by the professor of ancient Arabic literature, Samia Dridi. In her presentation, the professor presented an analysis based on the characteristics and the different themes of pre-Islamic poetry, evoking in particular the poetry of flattery because of its historical value and its profitable aspect, since it was an activity, or a production paid poetics. She draws a parallel with Sufi poetry which is also praise and praise of the divine. The question of Sufi poetry as praise of the divine, and the way that the Sufi follows in his progressive journey from abandonment to revelation, how is it lived, what are the shifts and the dangers and what reward awaits them, or they wait at the end of the road. Relevant and instructive was this conference which generated a wide debate and a good exchange.
In the evening and in the magnificent Dar El Ouadi residence in the Medina of Nafta, a passionate and music-loving public responded to Mariem Azizi’s proposal. An intimate concert carefully chosen by the “Rouhaniyet” festival.
“Rouhaniyet” is a concept that does not lock itself into traditional forms of Sufi or sacred song and music, it opens up to new and innovative proposals that are more contemporary in their approach and approach.
Mariem Azizi between voice and lute, explores new avenues in this field and inscribes her approach in a form of spirituality coming straight from her relationship with the instrument and its musical interpretation which she qualifies as sacred.
A fusional relationship that she maintains with the sounds that she produces with the complicity of a partner Marwen Blue who offers the whole an electronic setting.
This electro-oud project offers us a trip between the instrument and the voice, singing to interpret old texts by Hallej and Andalusian poetesses revisited in her own way.
A work in progress that is built up in layers, pieces that fit together to achieve a compact whole, a mystical air that crosses time and perfectly marries the warm places of Nafta, the mystical.
After a mega concert with the Syrian troupe of Maraachli, at the theater of the city, another beautiful communion between the public and the troupe. The atmosphere was festive and the repertoire familiar. A research work on the Sufi oriental heritage, a neat scenography and studied costumes. The voices were sublime and the exchange was perfect.
The evening continued with other liturgical encounters in the Zaouia of Sidi Bouali Essunni, trance and overcoming, healing dances were the ingredients of a show out of time, a moment suspended between heaven and earth.
The festival continued over the two days that followed between experimentation, fusion and openings on paths of musical creation. Diverse experiences that take an approach based on research and innovation. Tracks which in turn lead to a renewed spirituality giving a hand to traditions, but opening the spectrum to a greater contemplation of the universe.
“Rouhaniyet” 2022 is also about new perspectives with projects like those of Abir Nasraoui or Jihed Khemiri, it is also a place of reflection, meditation and synergy.
Nafta, land of 100 domes, land of asylum and peace, haven of different brotherhoods, under a starry sky and a palm grove as far as the eye can see, the voices of Monshidynes rise with praises, rhythms that shake souls… we hold our breath when we attend a Hadhraa vigil far from the city, where only being is facing the universe.
At the Zaouia of Sidi Bouali Essunni, in Sidi Marzoug or in Sidi Hassen Ayed or others, souls let off steam, calm down, find peace and comfort. Trance is a healing vibration, belief is refuge, and contemplation is one of the impenetrable paths to the divine. Nafta with “Rouhaniyet” is an immersion in this timeless world, a discovery of a land and of oneself, beyond an artistic program, Nafta a life experience.
Nefta is an almost mystical city where spirituality is experienced as a way of life, it owes its serene character to its 100 domes conducive to meditation. Second holy city of Tunisia, the city is known for its famous “Corbeille”, a palm grove nestled in a hollow. A magical place, an oasis within an oasis, where tourists and locals come to cool off. Among the latter, many own a plot of land and grow fruits and vegetables. The “Corbeille” also hides a spring that feeds an artificial lake.
«Rouhaniyet» in Nafta: An immersion in the impenetrable ways of the divine | The Tunisian Press