You are cordially invited to a concert by acclaimed musician Maurice Louca, performing the very first edition of the project Ill-Equipped in collaboration with artists Elisa Diaferia, Juri Simoncini, Nicholas Stewens, Kaiwen Wu, and Hemansingh Lutchmun. The event will take place this Friday, July 18, at 8 p.m. in the Aula of Städelschule (Dürerstraße 10) and is supported by DigiPraxSND and the Friends of Städelschule

The title Ill-Equipped is a loose translation of Mal Armé—a playful misreading of the French poet Stéphane Mallarmé’s name, once coined by Samuel Beckett. It gestures toward the creative potential of being underprepared, of working with limited means or unstable materials. Drawing on Beckett’s notion of le besoin d’être mal armé (“the need to be ill-equipped”), the project embraces imperfection, uncertainty, and friction as generative conditions for creativity and collective processes. Known for his expansive and exploratory musical approach, Louca brings a distinctive voice to this open-ended exploration of improvisation and collaboration.

Maurice Louca is an Egyptian composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He works both as a soloist and in various ensembles, including The Dwarfs of East Agouza, the Trio Lekhfa, and the international jazz ensemble Elephantine. His musical spectrum encompasses psychedelic Shaabi music, cosmic jazz, and free improvisation. His renowned solo albums include Benhayyi Al-Baghbaghan (2014), Elephantine (2019), Saet El Hazz (2021) and Fera (2025). Listen here.

The concert is organized by Samuel Georgy and Philippa Bock. Looking forward to seeing you there!