Fairouz - Legend and Legacy

Every effort has been made to trace the Forum for International Art and Culture. They are not listed in any Washington DC directories. The source of the material on these web-pages is therefore assumed to be in the public domain until objections are received.

This server is a non-commercial effort at disseminating cultural information at no profit for those involved.

Other credits:

Production Director:

Violette Yacoub

Contributing writers:

Kamal Boullata, Sargon Boulos, J. Coleman Fitchen Jr., and John A. Vardas.

Sources of photographs:

Edward Ossim, Photo Varoujian, National Council of Tourism in Lebanon, Photo Agop, Joseph W. Haddad, Photo Adnan Naji, Photo Gregory, Francois Lochon-Gamma, Photo Wakim, Abd al-Razzak al-Sayyed, William Tracy - Aramco World, John Bowden.

From the book, 1981:

The Forum for International Art and Culture is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization which was established in 1971 by its president, Miss Violette Yacoub, in San Francisco where it is based. Its objectives are cultural and educational: to present a diverse spectrum of international artists to the North American public. As its first cultural event, the Forum sponsored the San Francisco appear- ance of the Tamburitzans, an outstallding folkloric dance troupe from Duquesne University. Immediately after that, the Forum introduced to North America the Lebanese singer Fayrouz. Fayrouz's concert tour began in New York at Carnegie Hall on September 29, 1971 and continued on to 10 other North American cities. She was accompanied by the Lebanese La Troupe Populaire, which had performed in Lebanon's annual Baalbeck Inter- national Festival.

Since 1971, the Forum's activities have included numerous art exhibits, poetry readings, dramatic presentations, and musical concerts. One of the most notable of these offerings was the first Latin American Theatre Festival at the University of San Francisco in 1973. The Forum also sponsors the publication of Tigris, an independent journal of literature and the graphic arts published in San Francisco and edited by Sargon Boulus. The Forum will continue to present important cultural events to the public, such as the current concert tour by Fayrouz. It is also planning a series of dance festivals involving international folkloric dance troupes to be held in several U.S. cities in the near future. Like all Forum activities, these are intended to promote mutual enrichment and cross-fertilization among the world's artistic and cultural traditions.

al@mashriq                       960812