Abdullah Miniawy

Born in 1994 in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, Abdullah Miniawy grows up between this birth context and Egypt, where he lives notably in Fayoum before settling in Cairo at the time of the political upheavals of the early 2010s. A poet, singer, composer and trumpeter, Abdullah Miniawy develops a practice at the crossroads of spoken Arabic poetry, electronic music, contemporary jazz, improvisation and experimental forms. His early projects emerge in Cairo in an artistic environment linked to the independent scene and the post-revolution, where his texts take a central place. Later settled in Europe, Abdullah Miniawy multiplies collaborations with musicians from jazz, improvised music and electronics, notably the Carl Gari trio, trumpeter Erik Truffaz, clarinetist Yom, as well as with Peter Corser and Karsten Hochapfel in Le Cri du Caire. His discography includes in particular the project Darraje with Carl Gari (2016), Sheikhs with Guns with Carl Gari (2018), The Act of Falling from the 8th Floor with Carl Gari (2019) and Le Cri du Caire (2023). In these different formats, Abdullah Miniawy articulates a voice marked by declaimed speech, inhabited singing, rhythmic tension and open textures, with writing characterized by the political, the intimate and a constant attention to spiritual resonances.