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Kamakan is an electro ritual project founded by Tehran-based Iranian musician, performer and dancer Mahdi Saki. Mahdi was born in Ahwaz in Iran, close to the border with Iraq – where an Arab minority lives. Kamakan is drawing from music traditions of the south of Iran, a region rich of Arab and Persian, Indian and Afro-descendant heritage. Through several steps of creation, Kamakan started incorporating electronic sounds in 2023. The result is a performance, which stays truthful to the original spirit of Kamakan, with an electronic twist and incorporating dance.
Born in Ahwaz in Iran, Mahdi Saki grew up to the sound of Arabic lullabies from his native province, of Khuzestan close to the border with Iraq. Dance and music were an escape from turmoil around him at a time when war was raging. He studied dance and theatre in Tehran before gathering musicians of the independent scene around the contemporary folk project Kamakan.
Drawing both from music traditions of the south of Iran, Arab and Persian heritage, classic and contemporary poetry, Kamakan is a melancholic and powerful journey. Their first album released in 2015 instantly became a classic for the Iranian youth. The band went on to compose a second album which they never got the authorisation to be released in Iran. Their third album IS’’ was finally released in September 2023. On stage, the project led by Mahdi Saki can unfold in multiple shapes and involves
various musicians and singers.
After a residency in France in November 2023, Kamakan took a new turn and started incorporating electronic sounds to offer audiences the chance to connect with rare repertoires. Kamakan challenges perceptions of a region rich of various cultural influences from Persian, Arab, Indian and Afro-descending populations.
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