The Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) will host musical events to commemorate the UAE’s 51st National Day. On November 28, the eighth edition of “Hekayah: The Story,” which is part of the Abu Dhabi City of Music events, will be held at the university’s East Plaza.
It will bring together poets, spoken word artists, musicians, and storytellers from various backgrounds and cultures to highlight the UAE’s beautiful diversity. At the NYUAD Arts Centre, artists can explore the heritage and pay tribute to the Emirates.
The event’s name, Hekayah: The Story, inspired the season’s theme. The artists will share their stories and narratives of home, family, heritage, and nation in all their complexities through poetry, spoken word, and song, raising questions about what ‘home’ means to each individual.
Hekayah has been an essential vehicle for The Arts Center to celebrate local and regional talent over the years, from award-winning artists and writers to emerging student talents and everything in between. It is intended to reflect the breadth and depth of the UAE, as well as the many communities that call it home.
The event’s lineup was chosen collaboratively by key players in the UAE’s cultural, poetry, arts, and writing communities, including Farah Chamma, Osama Mootassem, Maryam Khalifa Alshehhi, Dorian Paul Rodgers, and Bill Bragin.
Spoken word poetry by Emiratis Ali Al Zaabi, Fatema Al Fardan, Maitha Alsuwaidi, American artists Dorian Paul Rogers and Marion Wrenn, Polish artist Monika Pawlowska, Palestinian artist Samar Abdel Jaber, American-French-Palestinian artist Nathalie Handal will be among the live performances. Hungarian artist Bea Laszlo, Nigerian artist Jiire Smith, and Egyptian artist ZigZag Ghanim will also perform. Moving Mudras, an Asian dance group, will also perform for the audience.
“Hekayah is a significant event for The Arts Center because it allows us to expand beyond our knowledge and relationships through its collaborative curatorial process. Through this process, we are introduced to artists we might not have previously known, as well as shine a light on community artists who may have been at The Arts Center previously, whether as NYUAD students and faculty, as performers at Rooftop Rhythms’ monthly open mics, or in the case of an artist like ZigZag Ghanim, part of a previous production, Sima Dance Company’s Rhyme,” said Bill Bragin, executive artistic director at the NYUAD Arts Center.
“Hekayah creates a transnational space for the celebration of UAE National Day and acts as a platform for Emiratis [and ex-pats] alike to pay tribute to the place we all call home.”
