Ahmed Yunis (EG, 1994)
Residency period: September-November 2026
Ahmed Yunis (also known as YUNIS) is an Egyptian composer and live performer based between Paris and Kafr El-Dauwar. His work operates at the intersection of electronic music, and speculative ritual, developing “synthetic traditions” where ancestral memory and contemporary sound coexist. Drawing on Egyptian popular and ceremonial forms, he approaches tradition as a living, mutable material reshaped through experimental production.
His practice combines dense rhythmic structures and immersive sonic environments that blur the boundaries between composition and ritual. Through performances, collaborations, and recent works such as Ninety Nine Eyes and Orouj, he explores sound as a space of collective experience and transformation.
At La Becque, Ahmed Yunis will develop Laghm: Choir of the Silent Brotherhood, an experimental vocal project inspired by the nearly forgotten Egyptian practice of Laghm, a breath-driven form of expression composed of moans, sighs, and fragmented utterances. Developed within the framework of a residency supported by Pro Helvetia, the project begins with solo vocal research, exploring how these elements can be reimagined through electronics, repetition, and spatial composition. Treating the voice as both memory and movement, Yunis places breath at the core of his compositional approach, seeking to translate this embodied practice into contemporary sonic frameworks while preserving its raw emotional intensity.