Join us for an incredible night of cutting-edge, revolutionary music as British-Iranian multi-disciplinary artist and musician Ash Koosha and Tunisian experimental singer Emel Mathlouthi put on transcendent, unforgettable performances.  

These performances are presented as part of AFI’s Revolutions & Movements festival. 

Emel Mathlouthi 

Featured in the Guardian, Pitchfork, & NPR, Emel Mathlouthi was hailed as the voice of the Tunisian Revolution when her protest songs became the anthems of the 2010 uprising. Following a number of explosive performances, her songs were banned from the airwaves in Tunisia. With her latest album, ‘Ensen’ (‘Human’), Emel expands her sound and creates a cinematic, bold, and unique combination of electronic beats and North African rhythms. Called “a singular voice” (NPR) and “a dynamic and politically conscious performer” (BBC), Emel’s music is “epic, gorgeously ornamented” (Pitchfork ‘Rising’). 

Ash Koosha  

Featured in Rolling Stone, the Guardian & VICE, Ash Koosha is a British-Iranian multi-instrumentalist composer/producer, futurist and technologist. Originally from Iran, Koosha fled the country due to restrictions on his artistic freedom. While in Iran, he planned a UNICEF-supported festival alongside a group of underground musicians. Attended by 700 people, the festival was raided by authorities. Over 200 people were arrested and Ash was jailed.  

Now based in the UK, Ash has released a number of electronic albums & innovative projects. His latest album Return 0 is 15 years in the making and co-written by an artificially intelligent “auxhuman” of Koosha’s own creation. Completed in collaboration with visual artist Isabella Winthrop, Koosha’s Return 0 revolutionizes how we experience sound, artificial intelligence, & virtual simulation. 

Photography by Nosrat Tarighi