Emel Mathlouthi

Emel Mathlouthi first took the stage at the age of 8 in the Ibn Sina suburb of Tunis. In her mid-twenties, she moved to France to pursue her singing career, and her song “Kelmti Horra” (My Word Is Free) was sung on the streets of Tunis by Arab Spring revolutionaries. Mathlouthi’s gorgeous, intricate sound moves between rock, trip-hop and electronica, all interlaced with classical Arabic tradition. Her delicate and rousing songs express love, suffering and longing for home in a deeply confessional style that verges on sacred Sufi music and yet would not be out of place in the discos of Europe or America.

Sponsored by IU African Studies; Women of Lotus

Saturday, Sept. 20

10:25 – 11:40 pm / Buskirk-Chumley Theater