The first concert of the Festival Al-Mutamid is tomorrow at 21.30 at the Convento de Santo António in Loulé.

The group Beth Nahrin, comprising musicians from Iraq, Morocco and Syria, will be opening the 10th staging of the festival with music inspired by mystic poems from the Arab, Persian and Kurdish traditions. The group’s principal performer is the Iraqi musician Khalid Kaki.

Khalid Kaki (Arab oud and vocals) will be accompanied by Jawad Ibix (violin), Salagh Sabbagh (darbouka and deff), Luis Aalae (deff) and Sonia Alejandre (oriental dance).

The festival, which was first held in 2000, bases its programme on the music from the three monotheistic cultures of the Mediterranean: Jewish, Christian and Arab. The aim of the event is to pay tribute to the poet king Al-Mutamid, son of and successor to the King of Seville Al-Mutadid.

Muhammad Ibn Abbad (Al-Mutamid) was born in Beja (1040); he was made governor of Silves at the age of just 12, and spent his youth there amid great refinement. In 1069, he acceded to the throne of Seville, the strongest of the kingdoms that came into being in Al-Andaluz after the fall of the Caliphate of Cordoba.

In 1088, Al-Mutamid was removed from the throne by the Almoravids and departed for Agmat, to the south of Marrakesh, where he died in 1095.

His tomb, which has been preserved until today, became a symbol for the most beautiful era in Al-Andaluz.

In February, the Festival Al-Mutamid will be visiting Albufeira, Lagos, Lagoa and Vila Real de Santo António.

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