This week's arts and culture features an exciting number of concerts by local, regional and international artists that cater to different tastes; you have Iraqi Oud player Khyam Allami, German musician Roger Reckless and his band, live Jazz by Yacoub Abu Ghosh Quartet, an evening of poetry and music by Zahi Wehbe and Macadi Nahhas, Arabic Rock with Jordanian band Jadal, a tribute to oriental violin by Yarub Smeirat, a Christmas concert by Dozan wa Awtar, and a festival of sacred music organized by the French Cultural Center in Amman, Madaba, and the Dead Sea. The Goethe Institute is celebrating its 50th anniversary with five days of German films from five different decades. Nabad Gallery is hosting an exhibition on art and design featuring works by some of Jordan's top artists including Sina Ata, Omar Bilbeisi, Yazan Hijazin, Sahel...

This week's agenda includes a number of concerts that cater to different tastes, from classical music celebrating Franz Liszt's bicentennial, to jazz with Yacoub Abu Ghosh Quartet at Canvas, to an evening with Ala Shahin at Music House, and an evening with different Jordanian bands and musicians at the Culture Palace. Tonight in the park across from the National Gallery of Fine Arts, VJ Um Amel joins DJ Ma'at for an evening of electronica and world beats against a remixed display of several musicals from Egyptian cinema including Lahn el-Wafa' (1955) starring Abdel Halim Hafez and Chadia; 'Afrita Hanem (1948) starring Samia Gamal and Farid El-Atrache; and Fatma (1947) by Ahmed Badrakhan with visualizations of social media, art, and design emerging from the revolutions of dignity spreading across the Middle East and North Africa. You also have a number of...

Music events dominate Amman's arts and culture agenda this week, with some great concerts scheduled every single day. After a week of very successful and eclectic shows, Al Balad Music Festival concludes tonight with a performance by French/Algerian musician Suad Massi at the Roman Amphitheater. Word has it tickets are almost out. Dozan wa Awtar has one last concert this season, performing with the Whiffenpoofs from Yale University, the world’s oldest and best-known collegiate a cappella group. For classical Arabic music, check out the Amman Arab Music Ensemble on Monday night and Bayt Al-Ruwwad group on Wednesday night, both conducted by Sakher Hattar. On Thursday Ateek Ensemble presents Troubadour, Classical chamber music with an oriental flavour accompanied by a whirling dervish, and on Friday, Jordanian musician Salam and his band take the stage at Jara Theater. In other events, don't miss three talks...

[caption id="attachment_6317" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Tareq Abu Kwaik - El Morabba3 at Souk Jara"][/caption] This week, the Jordan Media Institute has its open day featuring a round table discussion with Zaven kouyoumjian from Future TV) and Caroline faraj from CNN Arabic. The day is also an excellent opportunity for those interested in the Institute's Masters program in journalism and new media to find out more before the application deadline. The 17th Franco Arab Film Festival kicks off this coming Saturday with an exciting schedule of narrative and documentary films from Arab and Francophone countries. You also have an artist talk at Darat Al-Funun on their new exhibition in collaboration with Tate Modern: Out of Place. There's also a concert featuring spanish guitar player Marco Socías with the Amman Symphony Orchestra, El Morabba3 live at Jara Theater, and Bayt Al-Ruwwad with their weekly concert of Arabic...

This coming Friday is World No Tobacco Day Celebration, and it's marked with a special event here in Amman with music and dancing with DJ Tully, and performances by the Harley Owners Group, Al-Riyadi Basketball Team, the Source MMA, Freeway Dance Studios, and our National Football Team stars. Don't miss it this weekend at the Riyadi Aramex club playground in Abdoun. After the huge success of their last concert, Mozart Requiem, Dozan wa Awtar are back with a night of favorite Arabic songs, titled "Lamma Bada", on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, at the Ahliyyah School for Girls in Jabal Amman. On Monday the Royal Film Commission is screening the Palestinian documentary Maria’s Grotto, which explores the issue of honor killings through the stories of four women and exposes the magnitude of this issue in Palestine. The screening will...

This post is a new weekly feature highlighting through pictures, cultural events in Jordan. We welcome your submissions to events you have attended and we look forward to receiving your feedback.

Created by Sierra West, for 7iber.com

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[caption id="attachment_7644" align="alignright" width="269" caption="The Fuuls"][/caption] This week features lots of interesting music; Canadian rock group "The Last Supper" are performing tonight and tomorrow, after they cancelled their show in West Jerusalem which was scheduled for later this week (join the discussion on cultural boycott here). American folk/rock group the Fuuls are playing at Zara Expo on Wednesday. Jazz/Funk nights continue every Tuesday at Canvas with Yacoub Abu Ghosh and the Stage Heroes. Bayt al-Ruwwad's Wednesday concerts of classical Arabic music and Jordanian oldies are on, this time at the Hussein Cultural Center. Acclaimed NY-based Japanese choreographer and director Ryuji Yamagochi comes to Amman with a dance and theater performance titled "Gathering Space," featuring Japanese vocalist Sizzle Ohtaka and performers from El Funoun Dance Troupe of Palestine, and borrowing text from Geichiro Takahashi’s “Sayonara Gangsters,” one of the most important...

This week's agenda has a high dosage of local young artists with two collective exhibitions opening; an Urban Art exhibition at Foresight32 featuring works by 22 artists, and a fashion art exhibition at Cafe des Artistes with works by 19 artists. Makan Art Space is screening Banksy's film "Exit through the Gift Shop" on Monday night, and Documentary Film Days kick off on Tuesday in collaboration between the French Cultural Center and the Royal Film Commission. Live Music is back at Canvas after a summer hiatus, this time with Yacoub Abu Ghosh and the Stage Heroes playing a mesh of post funk, post jazz and post modern sounds in a repertoire of original compositions and reinvented jazz and rock standards. There's a lot more: an interesting architectural talk at the Engineers Association, a book launch at Readers, cycling, theater, concerts... so...

This week's agenda is packed, thanks mainly to the the Jordan International Theater Festival, which kicks off tomorrow and features at least four different plays daily from Jordan and abroad. You also have the long-awaited ballet performance of Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty in its Russian version, starting on Saturday and showing for a week at the Hussein Cultural Center. Don't miss the photo exhibit "Telling Pictures" at the Jordan Museum tomorrow, organized by 7iber and Darat al-Tasweer and supported by the Canadian International Development Agency, through the Gender Social Fund. It features work by photographers Nabil Khoury, Amer Sweidan, Rasha Amer, Hasan Tahapsim, and Mohammad alQaq, highlighting community work that challenges stereotypes and promotes women as active citizens. On Wednesday the Columbia University Middle East Research Center hosts the forum: a Free Press for a Global Society, which will start by a...

[caption id="attachment_7017" align="alignright" width="231" caption="Work by Artist Sabhan Adam"][/caption] October just keeps getting better with a busy and eclectic cultural agenda. The New York Tap Ensemble comes to Amman with a unique dance performance following a successful show here two years ago, Zara Gallery hosts a very special exhibition of the private collection of Syrian Artist Sabhan Adam, and the Sufi Dance and Music Festival kicks off at the end of the week. Tomorrow, Makan Art Space hosts a debate titled "Besides Art.. What is Art?" tackling questions on politics, resistance, censorship, and the ideas behind the current exhibition of Annemarie Jacir and Nidal al-Khairy. The European Film Festival might be over, but this week brings you a number of excellent German films as part of the "20 Years of German Reunification" events, which include lectures, a photography exhibition, and a...