This program is dedicated to encounters and collaborations between musicians from the Middle East and Western Europe or America. In times of growing polarization and mutual paranoia, the importance of building cultural bridges of this sort increases. Opportunities for new insight and understanding also increase however, because the palpable urgency of critical times leads to a greater willingness for debate.
 
Trio A, comprising trumpeter and cartoonist, Mazen Kerbaj, guitarist, Sharif Sehnaoui and bassist/electronic musician, Read Yassin, is the most-renowned project of the Beirut/Lebanon scene for free improvised music. For seven years they have organized the Middle East's largest festival for experimental music, Irtijal, as well as taken care of Lebanon's only label for contemporary avant-garde music, Al Maslakh ("Slaughterhouse").
 
The trio Nettle consists of DJ/Rupture (electronics), Jen Jones (cello) and Abdel Hak (violin, banjo). Their music reflects the three musicians' origins, bridging North Africa, Europe and Brooklyn with a combination of urban beats, abstract electronics and traditional melodies. DJ/Rupture manages the label, Soot Records, on which he brings together artists from various regions under the slogan, "A strike against geography" with a focus on the Middle East and the Maghreb with artists such as Mutamassik and Filastine.
 
The point of departure for the performance by Dutch-German combo, Staalplaat Soundsystem and electronic musician, Tarek Atoui from Beirut is an as yet unpublished tape, by the 1999 prematurely deceased British musician, Bryn Jones aka Muslimgauze. Jones' interest in Arabic culture, evinced by his music, and his unambiguous, consistent and unaffected political support of the Palestinians' struggle for an independent national state, was and continues to be controversial. Born in Manchester, Jones never traveled to the Middle East, refusing to go as a tourist to an occupied country. Thus, in his own way, Jones mirrored aspects of the Orientalism that is so widespread in Europe. Interviewed about the possible repercussions of his music in Arabic countries, he replied: "None. None at all. But nor do we expect any. That is unimportant." He was however, mistaken. Although his music was never available for sale in Arabic lands, thanks to the Internet and MP3 formats, it is today a significant reference point for many Arabic experimental musicians.