Damascus-SANA
The late artist Nihad Kalai, the godfather of Syrian television comedy and one of the pillars of writing for cinema and theater, with his immortal works, was the personality of the year at the 18th Syria International Caricature Festival, with the participation of 668 artists from 73 Arab and foreign countries, which opened at Dar Al-Assad for Culture and Arts this evening.
The artists participating in the festival competed in portraying the artist Kalai from different artistic visions and perspectives, most of which reflected his comedic nature and the novelty of his creativity.
The festival began with the screening of a documentary film about the biography of the artist Kalai, whose name is Nihad Kalai Al-Kharbutli, born in Damascus in 1928. He learned in its schools and worked as a customs official. He was one of the pioneers of the private theater groups and one of the founders of the National Theater and the Syrian Arab TV, and he played the most prominent role in the first spread of Syrian drama through the works of “Sah Al-Nom” and “Hammam Al-Hana” And the rise of the Syrian theater through the works of Kask, Oh Homeland, the estrangement of Tishreen Village, and the Syrian cinema through the films “Aqd Al-Lulu, the Tramps, the Sheridan” and others, before it was subjected to an attack in 1976, which led to a permanent disability that affected its artistic presence, leaving us in 1993 after suffering with pains and diseases, leaving an immortal artistic legacy.
The names of the winners of the festival were announced, and they are the artist Ihsan Sharakhi and the second, Muhammad Hussein Akbari from Iran, who represented them to receive the award, Hamid Esmati, the Iranian cultural advisor.
The jury of works participating in the festival was honored, which included the companion of the late great artist Duraid Lahham and the plastic artists Mowaffaq Makhoul, Suha Ghanem, Hassan Ismail and Bushra Al-Hakim.
The monologist Riad Maraachli and the Al-Qased Orchestra led by Maestro Jamil Al-Bitar presented during the festival a link of songs that evoked the personalities of the works of "Sah Lanoum", Hammam Al-Hana, Tishreen Village, Ghorba, Kask Ya Watan, and other works of the artist Kalai and the characters he created.
The artist Maraachli personified the roles of most of these characters, especially Ghawar Al-Toucha, Badri Abu Kalabsha, Abu Sayah and Abu Riah, performing a number of their songs, such as “God Mohi Shaareki, Yamo La Duraid Lahham and Rah Jagni By Abdel Latif Fathi, Shara Saha Al-Nom, Hammam Al-Hana” and others.
The artist, Raed Khalil, the organizer of the festival, explained in a statement to SANA that every year a new trend is presented, as the 18th session of the festival sought to mix music with color. Nihad Kalai, considering that the main goal of the festival was achieved through the process of cultural cross-fertilization between us and the world.
Khalil pointed out that most of the works focused on the character of the artist Kalai, as it is suitable for caricature through performance and emotion and the way of dealing with the word and the event, and his role in breaking something from the concept of the theater called the fourth wall helped the artists to enter into the heart of the situation with which he was dealing with the so-called in Art in aesthetic coexistence.
The artist, Mowaffaq Makhoul, in turn, explained that the criteria for selecting the participating work were represented by the presence of the smile, the quick idea, the surprise, the lack of complexity and the clarity of the idea, considering that the festival is very important to promote interest in the art of caricature and to celebrate the artist Kalai and his comic works, as he is part of the Syrian dramatic memory.
The artist, Muhammad Al-Ali, drew attention to his participation in the work of a portrait of the late Kalai, trying to highlight the details and distinguishing marks on the face, such as his glasses, prominent features and performance, especially since he was one of the kindest of Damascus.
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