Prepared by: Sarah Ramadan, researcher at AFTE’s Law Research Unit
Content
Methodology
Introduction
Preface: What happened?
First: Silence that wasn’t the first… Afrocentric controversy
Second: The Syndicate of Musical Professions and the struggle over identity
Third: Should the Syndicate Ignore Audience Concerns?
Fourth: Does the Syndicate have the right to back down after granting a license?
Conclusion
Methodology
The paper relied on published news and press reports, which included statements made by representatives of the Syndicate of Musical Professions regarding the facts of the ban, as well as an analysis of Law No. 35 of 1978 regarding the establishment of syndicates and the Federation of Syndicates of Actors, Cinematographers, and Musicians, in addition to the internal regulations of the Syndicate of Musical Professions, which were approved by the Syndicate Council in 2007 and ratified by the General Assembly in the same year.
Introduction
The issue of restricting the freedom of creativity driven by a public rhetoric that supports and even demands this restriction has recently emerged, as we have recently witnessed the cancellation or postponement of concerts by foreign performers for several reasons, including ethical reasons, as usual, as well as reasons related to identity and nationalism, something that has become very prominent in the crises of holding concerts in Egypt.
Canadian producer and DJ Blondish announced the postponement of her North Coast concert, which was scheduled for July 26th, 2024, after a social media campaign demanding the cancellation of the concert due to her support for the settlement and apartheid state “Israel” and homosexuality. In a democratic context, it is possible to imagine the concert taking place alongside the protests of opponents, but the issue of restricting freedom of creativity and freedom of expression in general is the main driver of the policies of this regime, and it is these policies that play a role in limiting the participation of citizens except by demanding the intervention of the security authorities or asking the syndicate to play roles that would contribute to imposing more siege on freedom of creativity.
In April 2024, rapper Kanye West’s concert, which was scheduled to take place on 20 April 2024, was cancelled. While a press source confirmed to a website that the cancellation was due to security considerations, the syndicate officially confirmed that the concert was cancelled for ‘personal reasons’ related to Kanye, but the cancellation came after a campaign on social media demanding intervention to cancel the concert because Kanye’s works conflict with Egyptian customs and traditions, as well as sharing the same orientation as Travis Scott on Afrocentrism, which is the most prominent case that will be discussed in detail. However, the crisis of banning Travis Scott’s concert and then cancelling Kanye’s concert led some to call for the Music Professions Syndicate to study the artistic content to be presented at the concert to determine its compatibility with the Egyptian identity, morals, public taste and the values of Egyptian society.
According to the law, the content of concerts is already being censored by submitting written songs to the Censorship Agency for Artistic Works.
The Travis Scott concert crisis illustrated the seriousness and extent of the restriction of creative freedom, as it clearly included the Music Professions Syndicate’s declaration that security approvals are a prerequisite for the syndicate’s approval to hold concerts in Egypt, as well as the syndicate’s declaration that it relies on social media to make decisions, and the Scott concert incident also included the syndicate’s right to reverse its decisions in violation of Law 35 of 1978, which regulates the syndicate.
The Music Professions Syndicate has cancelled American rapper Travis Scott’s concert, which was scheduled to take place in the Pyramids Plateau on July 28th, 2023, to launch his first album after a five-year hiatus. The Syndicate of Music Professions in Egypt issued a statement 10 days before the concert, on Tuesday, 18th of July, backtracking on the approval and cancelling the concert permit, despite the fact that tickets sold out in less than half an hour after they were announced. The syndicate based its decision on ‘surveying the opinions of social media users’ who condemned the concert, according to the statement.
Prelude: What happened
The publicity for Scott’s concert sparked widespread controversy on social media platforms, in which criticisms and concerns were mixed between safety standards, ethics, family values and Egyptian identity, as they focused on what was called the singer’s practice of Satanic and Masonic rituals during his concerts, in addition to abnormal sexual practices and drug use. Others claimed that Scott uses human souls as an offering to the devil according to his beliefs, which was their explanation for an incident that at one of Travis Scott’s concerts, in the United States in 2021, in which 10 people died and hundreds were injured, as a result of overcrowding and stampedes of the audience.
As for the criticisms about the Egyptian identity, Scott’s affiliation with Afrocentrism, which adopts ideas related to developing awareness about African culture throughout history and highlighting that identity and its importance, especially in the face of white Eurocentric discourse, turned a concert into a conflict over identity and accusations of trying to hijack Egyptian history and civilisation.
First: Scott was not the first… The Afrocentrism controversy
In February 2023, the organisers of a stand-up comedy concert by American actor Kevin Hart announced[1] in an official statement the cancellation of the concert for logistical reasons, a few hours before it was set to take place at the Cairo International Stadium, following a social media campaign to cancel the concert under the name ‘You are not welcome in Egypt’, a campaign initiated by the page ‘Egypt’s Consciousness’ due to Hart’s affiliation with the Afrocentrism movement. It seems that the security authorities intervened to prevent the concert from taking place. The founder of the page announced that he was pleased with the speed with which officials responded: ‘We felt that our efforts were successful, and we have to thank the officials for the step to prevent this malicious virus from spreading.’
In April of the same year, the Egyptian public opinion turned against the portrayal of Queen Cleopatra by a dark-skinned actress in a Netflix documentary.[2] The trailer for the documentary stated that Cleopatra’s heritage has been the subject of much academic debate. This was followed by an assertion by a commentator in the documentary that Cleopatra was a dark-skinned woman, contrary to popular belief. Many criticised the film’s portrayal of Cleopatra as dark-skinned, which critics considered a falsification of ancient Egyptian history, and stated that she, in fact, was of Macedonian descent. This controversy opened the debate on the ideas of the Afrocentrism movement, which adopts the idea that all world civilisations were made up of people with dark skin.
Afrocentrism emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, centred in the United States among African-Americans before spreading to Europe and Africa. Afrocentrism argues that Western society, which claims that Europe is the cultural and civilisational centre, has intentionally or unintentionally erased any contribution of Africans to history. Against Eurocentrism, Afrocentrism seeks to highlight the contributions of African civilisation and critique colonialism and slavery as contributors to the process of erasing Africans from history.
This trend has faced various criticisms, from the reactionary who argues for white supremacy, including biologically, to the progressive who opposes the idea of a centre as a way of looking at and reading history, whether that centre is European or African, and instead sees history as a multiplicity of different contributions. But what does this intellectual debate have to do with a concert?
Secondly: The Musical Professions Syndicate and the struggle over identity
Since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power in 2014, he has always emphasised[3] the issue of Egyptian identity and the values and customs of the Egyptian family and society. Since the first moment of his rule, he has burdened the artistic, cultural and media community with the impossible task of promoting an imagined national identity that is inclusive of all Egyptians and of a specific and limited nature, representing a single voice echoed through official state channels and adopted by the artistic community close to the authority, in an evocation of the Nasserist ‘one voice media’ model, which the president expressed his admiration for on more than one occasion, whereby the media and art are the voice of the authority and the ruling establishment.
This trend has been reinforced by a number of laws, administrative decisions and practices that restrict the public sphere in general and the freedom of creativity and artistic expression in particular. The Musical Professions Syndicate[4], unlike other artistic syndicates, has been the most enthusiastic to express this restriction and the most expressive of this trend, from its battle with festivals and rap, during which it used the issue of identity, to the removal of syndicate members based on their political or personal orientations, including their free expression of matters not related to the work of the syndicate.[5] In recent years, the Music Professions Syndicate has become the authority’s instrument, issuing a statement supporting the Egyptian state in completing and continuing economic reform plans, implementing national projects, and in the war on terrorism, and another statement supporting the Egyptian police in their war on terrorism.[6]
This discourse, and this way of managing it, has contributed to fuelling reactionary, one-sided and self-contained discourses. Talking about an Egyptian identity that encompasses 106 million citizens is impossible, especially when it is linked to a set of unknown values and customs that the authority constantly talks about. This has reinforced the fear of anything new or different from the line drawn by the authority. This policy was manifested in laws such as the Information Technology Crime Law No. 175 of 2018, which resulted in the arrest and trial of girls for dancing on TikTok and other accusations including destroying Egyptian family values, identity and other such loose terms, following a wide incitement campaign on social media platforms against the girls.
The publicity of Scott’s concert was accompanied by campaigns on social media demanding the cancellation, or expressing their fears and concerns about Scott and the issue of strange rituals and devil worship. It is worth noting here that devil worship is one of the accusations that have plagued metal music since the 1990s in Egypt, and caused security campaigns to arrest concert attendees or even prevent them from taking place. Amr Abdel Salam, a cassation lawyer, filed a lawsuit demanding the cancellation of Scott’s concert[7], and based his lawsuit on the same identity and values discourse, saying: ‘We, as an Egyptian Arab people, are committed to religious values, customs and traditions that reject any practices that represent a danger to our youth and daughters and harm the reputation and identity of the Egyptian people and the Egyptian state.’
In the Travis Scott crisis, the syndicate decided to follow the same restrictive and hostile policies against freedom of artistic creativity, ignoring the Egyptian constitution, by issuing a statement cancelling the concert, instead of taking precautionary measures such as strengthening cooperation between the syndicate and the Civil Protection Authority to ensure the security of the concert and the audience, which is the core of the work of this authority. The syndicate went further in its statement and reinforced the fears of citizens, and prioritised security approvals and considerations in relation to the holding of concerts.
Thirdly: Should the Syndicate ignore the public’s concerns?
The Syndicate of Musical Professions, like any professional syndicate, is the regulator of the profession, aiming to defend the interests of its members and develop the profession by opening up to new techniques and different colours of music, in accordance with Law No. 35 of 1978, as amended, and the internal work regulations of the syndicate. It is important that the syndicate interacts with the public in a way that takes into account the interests of those involved and develops the profession.
In its statement cancelling the concert, the Syndicate took a very dangerous turn by placing security approval as a condition for holding concerts in Egypt, and even making it the authority authorized to decide on the holding of this concert in particular and concerts in general, in complete abandonment of the Syndicate’s roles and obstructing the work of other competent authorities in this matter, such as the Ministries of Culture represented by the Censorship Agency for Artistic Works and Labour Force, which are authorized to give permits for concerts, which is a violation of the Egyptian Constitution and laws and regulations governing the functioning of the Syndicate’s work. The Syndicate of Musical Professions requested a security investigation into whether Scott’s concert would take place or not, and notified the ZM Agency for Events Organizing[8] commissioned by Ten for Production to cancel the concert for lack of security approvals, as the Syndicate asserted in the notification that it has the right to withdraw the licence once granted.
Article 67 of the Egyptian Constitution guarantees the freedom of artistic creativity, the welfare of creators, and the encouragement of creativity. With regard to the suspension and confiscation of artistic works, it stipulates that ‘no lawsuits may be filed or initiated to stop or confiscate artistic, literary and intellectual works against their creators except through the public prosecution.’
The other aspect of the syndicate’s first statement, which is no less dangerous, is that it relied in its decision to cancel the concert permit on a survey of social media users, and here the syndicate does not clarify the criteria for this survey or any metric it used to indicate that public opinion is directed towards cancelling the concert only, as the indicators of ticket sales were contrary, as they were sold out from the site as soon as they were announced within half an hour. Another thing is that the syndicate operates under the constitution and the law governing its work, which clearly shows that freedom of artistic creativity is a fundamental right and priority, but in its statement the syndicate replaced all this with arbitrary opinions for a crowd mobilised throughout the past years in a manner different than the usual one followed.
The syndicate said in its statement: ‘Since the General Syndicate is part of the fabric of this beloved homeland, working for its stability and security and refusing to tamper with societal values and Egyptian and Arab customs and traditions, after extrapolating and surveying the opinions of the users of social networking sites, and after what the syndicate received from … which included photos and documented information about strange rituals of the star of this concert to perform during his performance and harnessing his tools to perform rituals that contradict our inherent societal values and traditions, the Syndicate Chairman and the board of directors decided to cancel the licence issued for this type of event that contradict the cultural identity of the Egyptian people’.
Here, we find that the syndicate is using the same security formula in addressing the public, which is hostile to difference and rejects it, and even sees it as a threat to its survival and existence. This decision implicitly means banning any performer or musician who represents a different culture to the extent that the authority fears, otherwise how can a foreign singer whose culture, with its values and customs, is similar to Egyptian culture?
In its response, the Syndicate ignored the statements of both Scott and the organising company, as he stressed in more than one show that Egyptian history means a lot to him and is the reason behind the decision to launch the album from the Pyramids plateau, while the organising company announced that the number of attendees was limited to 6,000 tickets, in a hall with a capacity of 20,000, which facilitates procedures and avoids stampedes and other issues, and denied any allegations regarding the significance of holding the concert or even regarding the accusations made against Scott.
The Syndicate’s statement did not address any precautionary measures that it could take in cooperation with the Civil Protection Authority to secure the concert, nor did it refer to the results of the investigation conducted by the Houston police regarding the 2021 incident[9], which concluded that no charges were filed against Scott. Instead, the statement focused on the Syndicate’s right to withdraw the license on the one hand, and to confirm the false rumours about Scott on the other hand, which are the justifications used by the Syndicate to impose guardianship on the public and normalise the idea of security agencies’ penetration into the issue of organising concerts.
In the end, the syndicate took a hasty decision to retract the license. This decision and others indicate the fluctuation in the decision-making process within the syndicate, which loses its seriousness and credibility as an entity working in the interest of the profession. The syndicate had previously retracted its decision to require singing in concerts to be accompanied by a band of at least 8 musicians, as it later reduced the number to 6 musicians in rap concerts, in addition to the decision to ban festival singing, before it established a popular singing division and set restrictive conditions for festival singers within its ranks.
Fourthly: Does the Syndicate have the right to retract after granting a license?
Obtaining a permit to hold a concert in Egypt requires the approval of both the Syndicate of Musical Professions and the Censorship Agency for Artistic Works, in addition to approval from the Ministry of Manpower if the applicant is a foreigner, as in the case of Travis Scott, and Article 5 of Law No. 35 of 1978 on the establishment of syndicates and the Federation of Syndicates of Acting, Cinematographic and Musical Professions states that ‘the Syndicate Council may temporarily authorise a specific work or a specific renewable period for non-members in order to facilitate the appearance of large conscious talents and the continuation of outstanding experiences or taking into account the circumstances of joint production or encouraging cultural exchange between Egypt and the rest of the world. The applicant, whether Egyptian or foreign, must pay to the Syndicate’s Subsidies and Pensions Fund a proportional fee of 20% of the wages and salaries obtained as a result of the temporary permit.’
In 2018, music industry workers were surprised by the Cabinet’s decision to establish the so-called ‘Standing Committee for Organising Festivals and Celebrations,’ which includes representatives from eight other ministries in addition to the Ministry of Culture: ‘Finance, Interior, Foreign Affairs, Civil Aviation, Youth and Sports, Local Development, Tourism, and Antiquities.’ The committee is responsible for authorising the holding of concerts and festivals in June each year. The formation of the committee and its tasks violated the Egyptian constitution and infringed on the laws and regulations governing the holding of concerts, including the law establishing artistic unions, and gave the committee broad and undefined powers, such as preventing any public activity that does not develop creativity and preserve identity.
There is no actual information about the committee actually operating, specially that the concert organizing company did not specify it while mentioning the processes of obtaining the Travis Scott’s concert permit. Whether the committee is active or not, the Ministry of Interior’s interference in the holding of concerts in Egypt seems to have become a reality, through so-called security permits. Although the Professional Syndicates Law does not stipulate the cases of withdrawal of licences for concerts by foreign singers, the Prime Minister’s decision gave the Permanent Committee for Organising Festivals and Celebrations this right, in addition to the right to raid and cancel any concert.
Law No. 35 of 1978 on the establishment of the Syndicates and Federation of Syndicates of Acting, Cinematographic and Musical Professions has regulated the cases of withdrawal of membership for active or affiliated members. Article 12 of the internal regulations of the Syndicate of Musical Professions stipulates the cases of withdrawal of membership for affiliates, which include:
- Breach of one of the terms of the permit;
- failure to pay the proportional fee to the syndicate;
- or conduct that would impede the syndicate from performing its work.
However, the Artistic Syndicates Law and the Musicians’ Syndicate bylaws do not stipulate any provision regulating the withdrawal of a one-day permit or foreigner’s licence.
According to the organising company, Scott’s concert was set to be one of the largest entertainment shows in the Middle East. The company announced that tickets for the concert were sold out 11 minutes after the website opened for bookings, with tickets going for as much as $220. Confusion reigned among the organisers after Travis’ team was prevented from entering the pyramids to make preparations for the concert, especially in the absence of an official letter confirming that there was a security refusal to hold the concert. The syndicate later announced the withdrawal of the permit to hold the concert after assurances from Travis that the concert was taking place, forcing the organisers to refund the money for the tickets that had already been booked.
Conclusion
Much of the Syndicate’s battles in recent years can be summarised around the conflict of imagined identity, in the name of which it restricts freedom of creativity and sets obstacles and requirements for practising the profession, and it is notable that the Syndicate wants to apply this identity to foreigners, placing security agencies and social media platforms as censors of the profession.
The continuation of the syndicate’s arbitrary and hostile decisions to art and culture will lead to the syndicate’s decisions not being taken seriously, especially in light of arbitrary, illegal and unconstitutional decisions. The mechanism followed by the music professions in issuing the decision indicates a very dangerous trend, where the syndicate, led by Captain Mustafa Kamel, abrogates the constitution, law and regulations, and relies on the approval of the security authorities and the personal judgements and impressions of internet users, who were exposed to nationalist and racist speeches, especially during the first crisis that arose during the screening of the series Cleopatra.
These policies not only harm creative freedom and restrict creators, but also harm tourism and contradict the state’s economic policies, which it says are aimed at attracting investments in an attempt to solve Egypt’s inflation and currency crisis. The Syndicate’s policies negatively impact the staging of international events in Egypt. On the one hand, there are obstructive bureaucratic procedures involving security agencies, and on the other hand, the Syndicate has the right to withdraw the licence, which leads to a lack of confidence for organisers due to the risk of event cancellation.
[1] ‘Egypt's history is a red line’. Reasons for the cancellation of Kevin Hart's concert in Cairo between nationalism and Afrocentrism (Report), Al-Masry Al-Youm, published on February 2023, last accessed 2024 https://www.almasryalyoum.com/news/details/2824181 [2] What is the Afrocentricity that sparked the ‘Black Cleopatra’ controversy? https://shorturl.at/eMERc [3] Al-Sisi to Sakka and Yousra: By God, you will be held accountable for what you do, Al-Arabiya, published in January 2015, last visited 2024 https://shorturl.at/4ssJh [4] Sara Ramadan, A locked door. A paper on membership as a gateway to independent art unions in Egypt, Association of Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE), published in March 2021, last visited 2024 https://afteegypt.org/research/research-papers/2021/03/18/21279-afteegypt.html [5] The Musicians Syndicate confirms its support for the state against calls for chaos and terrorism, Al-Shorouk, published in September 2019, last visited 2024 https://www.shorouknews.com/news/view.aspx?cdate=24092019&id=052b0e2f-965b-478f-8e91-949993aad866 [6] The Syndicate of Musical Professions praises the role of the police in combating terrorism, Al-Shorouk, published on April 2020, last visited 2024. https://www.shorouknews.com/news/view.aspx?cdate=15042020&id=d8173462-fcd4-44a7-9d32-e9348e1a0806 [7] The most famous of them is Travis Scott ... ‘Pyramids concerts’ spark anger on social media and reports to cancel them, Al-Dostour, published in April 2024, last visited on 2024. https://www.dostor.org/4695465 [8] A New statement from the Syndicate of Music Professions regarding Travis Scott's concert, Masrawy, published on 21 July 2023, last visited 2024.https://shorturl.at/knlEK [9] Attorneys for rapper Travis Scott say he was not responsible for safety at deadly Astroworld concert، AP, published on April 2024. https://apnews.com/article/travis-scott-lawsuits-astroworld-festival-deaths-a29c820f709b121e5968ba87cabf75e3
