The Spring Season at The Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi is in full swing with a global line-up of artists exploring their identities in a globalised world.
“It sold out,” says Bill Bragin, the Executive Artistic Director at The Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi, referring to Rooftop Rhythms, the Middle East’s longest-running poetry open mic night, which is entering its second decade. This season also saw an opportunity for Abu Dhabi’s youth, with the second edition, the first being online during the pandemic, of the Junior Rooftop Rhythms.
“Supported by the US Mission to the UAE as part of our youth engagement programmes, it presents an opportunity to really train young people not just in writing but in the performance of the poetry and the power of the delivery,” says Bill.
The diverse calendar of activities that are sure to engage and inspire the community also aims to explore the question ‘how do you maintain your distinct cultural heritage, while also speaking to a globalised world in a very contemporary way.’
“It’s a question that comes up all time in this new country that has modernised so quickly,” says Bill. “So for example, the artists in the Barzakh Festival, which took place at the beginning of February featuring four bands from around the world, are in their own way asking the same question and coming up with their own answers.”
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The boundary-pushing line-up also includes the Balimaya Project, with an opening set by Shilpa Ananth. The Balimaya Project uses the repertoire and instrumentation of the Mandé peoples of Senegal and Mali as the bridge to bring the folkloric West African music together with jazz and the sounds of Black London. Led by composer/arranger and leading UK-based Djembe player, Yahael Camara Onono, Balimaya Project creates unique and exciting music that seeks to reclaim their ancestral culture and music, and the fast-rising band have made quite an impression at home and abroad.
“Yahael Camara Onono is British, whose parents are Senegalese and Nigerian, but lived in Dubai and Abu Dhabi for six years, and now resides in London,” says Bill. “Yahael draws from traditional West African culture, yet is also tied into this new cutting-edge London jazz scene and in the same ways is asking the question and answering in a way that he is right for him.”
Another artist in the line-up who is asking similar questions is Shilpa Ananth, an Indian vocalist, songwriter, and performing artist based between the US and the UAE, who grew up in Dubai. Her unique sound fuses the dreamy landscapes of South India with soul, jazz, and electronic influences, with Shilpa bringing together three of the oldest Indian languages – Tamil, Malayalam, and Hindi – with English, creating art that transcends borders and cultures.
“Shilpa is also questioning where she fits into the world since she is from several places, including here in Abu Dhabi now where she teaches at Berklee Abu Dhabi. “Artists have different identities and are left thinking ‘how can I express the full self’,” says Bill. “As a curator, this is an ongoing interest of mine.”
For more information about The Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi, visit nyuad-artscenter.org.
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Image source Bill Bragin
