El Mastaba Center for Egyptian Folk Music is a unique civil society organization that was founded in 2000 by Zakaria Ibrahim, with the aim of reviveing Egypt’s rich and unique performing arts heritage. The Center, not only preserves, documents, and develops traditional music in Egypt, but is unique in its efforts to reintroduce folk music in its original communities and to revitalize its role in the daily life and imagination of the Egyptian people. In showcasing the diversity of Egypt’s musical traditions, El Mastaba demonstrates an inherent strength of Egyptian society, its pluralism.  El Mastaba further seeks to mitigate the threat of extinction facing traditional music  by creating an appreciation and awareness of its value to communities and to cultural identities that is expressed in market value, encouraging younger generations to see this as an economically viable profession.