ctrl x The Attic: Panoramic w/ Maalem Houssam Guinia [MO], Al Ehtifal

PANORAMIC is a new monthly live series presented by Control x The Attic. It's dedicated to experimentation and cross-border music culture. Taking place one Wednesday a month, it brings together live acts from North and Central Africa, Europe and the SWANA region. We’re stripping away the tired, lazy label of “world music”. Panoramic isn’t about folkloric showcases or exoticized nostalgia. Instead of treating Western Europe as the default filter for global culture, we’re tuning into decentralized scenes across the globe, making space for radical improvisation and electronic mutation. Every edition will also feature local live acts, creating a direct, ongoing connection between Bucharest and the global underground. For this first encounter, we invited: Maalem Houssam Guinia is the son and successor of Gnawa master Mahmoud Guinia. He plays the guembri, a three-stringed, skin-covered lute central to the tradition’s hypnotic rhythms. In lila ceremonies, these repeating patterns accompany dance and trance-like states, and are traditionally believed to have spiritual and healing powers. His 2024 album Dead of Night, released by Hive Mind Records, was recorded in a single overnight session in a Casablanca home. AL.Ehtifal Project is a musical collective that integrates spontaneous thoughts into performance moments, as a way of communication. The word "AL.Ehtifal" comes from Arabic, meaning "The Celebration." The project challenges the dominant musical landscape and established norms through authentic forms of artistic expression, born out of the need for experimentation. It has a flexible body of musicians. “a fresh construct of identity layering that recently made its unexpected appearance as the possibility of a get-together ” The Attic is an independent cultural platform founded in 2015, dedicated to exploring, documenting, and curating emerging sound arts and music culture through a critical, interdisciplinary lens.