The Sharjah Art Foundation has launched its first performance program following the establishment of its new Performance Department. The program will include five performative works by local and foreign artists that will be presented in theatres, open spaces, and public venues throughout the emirate from November 4, 2022, to January 8, 2023.
Perform Sharjah, a brand-new initiative organized by the Director of Performance and Senior Curator Tarek Abou El Fetouh, formalizes and broadens the Foundation’s dedication to fostering the development and exhibition of performance.
Performance artists have included theatre, music, contemporary dance, and installation into their practices as contemporary art progressively blurs the distinctions between disciplines. During Perform Sharjah, local and international artists will involve the general public in their studies of the rhythm of the city through their unique perspectives on both its architectural and cultural history and live urban structure.
Perform Sharjah has strong relationships with the emirate’s varied communities and runs initiatives that actively involve the city and its people.
The Foundation will commission artists to create performances and site-specific works in various sites throughout the city, to be presented to the public over the following years, with Perform Sharjah laying the way for future performance initiatives.
Additionally, through workshops, talks, and educational programs developed with regional partners like the Sharjah Theater Department and Sharjah Performing Arts Academy, Perform Sharjah will provide participants from the UAE and the larger Gulf region with a wide range of learning opportunities in theater and performance.
Every brilliant thing
Ahmed El Attar’s adaptation and direction of “Every Brilliant Thing” in Arabic serves as the program’s opening sequence. In the play, Nanda Mohamed will be seated by herself on a blank stage with only a basic set, props, and background music. She faces the difficult problem of juggling the plot with the enthusiasm of the audience, who are encouraged to engage and even improvise throughout the performance.
Automobile 9
Joe Namy will perform “Automobile,” his ninth version of his musical performance, behind Al Rolla Square Car Park, one of the city’s most significant and distinctive sites.
Remote Sharjah
A new adaptation of “Remote X” will be performed by the renowned theatrical company Rimini Protokoll. The performance, which functions as a traveling laboratory for experimental study, has been shown in numerous places all over the world. A distinctive dramatic framework is created for each new edition, drawing inspiration from the local metropolitan landscape.
A computer-generated voice will lead the participants as they stroll through a series of carefully chosen indoor and outdoor venues in the Sharjah version, titled “Remote Sharjah,” which will start at the Sharjah Art Foundation spaces in Al Mureijah Square. Each guest will experience the sites as if they were within the set of an imaginary movie.
After All Springville: Disasters and Amusement Parks
After All Springville: Disasters and Amusement Parks, a fascinating performative work by Miet Warlop that combines theatre and the visual arts, kicks off the program’s return in December. Throughout the performance, viewers will see exotic beings with hybrid bodies—half humans, half objects—doing unusual, yet strangely familiar activities.
New Creation
The performance “New Creation” by Bruno Beltro marks the end of the season. In order to translate the political realities of his native Brazil into intense pulses of bodily energy, Beltro—who is widely regarded as a pioneer of the hip-hop scene—pays close attention to them. He also has a deep understanding of music and space. With his company, Grupo de Rua, Beltro deconstruct hip-hop and investigates the lexicon of street dance and contemporary dance.