Image: The nineteenth-century heritage house near the port in the centre of Sharjah’s historic neighbourhood
Sharjah Art Foundation’s season of performance, Perform Sharjah, brings together 16 artists from diverse disciplines at Perhaps Here, exploring the orbits of contemporary imagination through a variety of live performances including eight new commissioned productions. Over three days from 9 to 11 February 2024, the event will take place in Majlis Al Sheikh Mohammed and the rooms of Bait Al Serkal —the nineteenth-century heritage house near the port in the centre of Sharjah’s historic neighbourhood.
Borrowing its title from Khulood AlMu'alla's fourth book of poetry, this event will feature artists from diverse disciplines who will share their works with the public. In line with the book’s title in Arabic, ‘Rubbama Huna’, which could be interpreted as ‘something may be here’, Perhaps Here invites audiences to experience something that could either be intellectual, emotional or aesthetical in nature.
Theatre makers, installation and video artists as well as poets and writers will be performing their works simultaneously on repeat throughout the evening in a marathon of artistic productions. Audience members can select three short shows [20 minutes each] to attend per night. The performances are as follows:
Mostaqbalna by Andeel Performance commissioned and produced by Sharjah Art Foundation Language: Arabic
The performance tells a story about a charismatic CEO of famous startup Mostaqbalna when he announces the launch of its latest high-tech products to enthusiastic audiences, loyal customers, reporters and rivals. The attending audience will have the opportunity to try out one of the company's most innovative products—the non-racist gun.
Pen Pals by Ala Younis Performance commissioned and produced by Sharjah Art Foundation Language: Arabic
Launched in Abu Dhabi in 1979, the children's magazine Majid garnered widespread readership throughout the Arab world. A regular feature included a section with black-and-white photographs of readers alongside brief biographical sketches, indicating their willingness to be a pen pal or to assume a role as one of ‘Majid’s Agents’. Ala Younis juxtaposes the Pen Pals’ information with drawings sent to the magazine by its readers to create objects with autobiographical associations. These objects reflect the solidarity cultivated through paper-dependent transactions.
The Making of by Taus Makhacheva Performance commissioned and produced by Sharjah Art Foundation Language: English
The artist revisits, compares and subverts how her late grandfather Rasul Gamzatov (1923–2003), a prominent Soviet poet, is remembered. Developed in collaboration with choreographer Anna Abalikhina, the performance tackles genealogies through various forms of appearances—historical figures, shadows, ghosts, outlines and silhouettes.
A Thousand White Plastic Chairs by Lawrence Abu Hamdan Performance commissioned and produced by Sharjah Art Foundation Language: English
This spoken word performance accompanied with live music draws its scenography from the system of simultaneous translation deployed during the Nuremberg trials (1945–1946). Lawrence Abu Hamdan re-performs the asymmetry between the speed of the technology, which allowed words to travel through copper cables at 4600 m/s, and the human mind’s ability to process what it sees and stores of a given event. The performance examines the inextricable relation between testimony and technologies of dissemination and distortion.
Access/Misalignment by Mahmoud Tarek Video Performance No dialogue
This live video performance presents collated visual segments based on a dream sequence, underscored by sounds sampled from locations that appeared within the recurring dream, accompanied with live drumming. The video footage crystallises the dream tale through symbolic iteration emphasised by sound, integrating the viewer into the experience.
Melek—Mashaa by Marwa Arsanios Performance commissioned and produced by Sharjah Art Foundation Language: Arabic
Departing from a reflection on the etymology of the Arabic word Melek [property], Melek—Mashaa is a continuation of the ongoing project ‘Who is Afraid of Ideology? Part 4: Reverse Shot’, laying the groundwork for the series’ fifth part. Rooted in linguistic, historical, legal and geological discourses and literature, the reading performance aims at creating a world where non-property is imagined as an urgent possibility.
What If We Don’t by Amir Reza Koohestani Theatre performance commissioned and produced by Sharjah Art Foundation Languages: Farsi and English
The performance narrates the story about a group of immigrants who have arrived by sea are asked to register their details. A woman questions the necessity of such a registration, but a doctor insists there is no alternative for immigrants who want to use the services on offer.
Songs from the Phantom Boat by Sulayman Al Bassam Theatre performance commissioned and produced by Sharjah Art Foundation Language: Arabic
A collage of poetry and songs from an ongoing imaginary project titled The Phantom Boat—an engine for carrying humans and their imagination(s) upon the high and stormy seas as well as on navigable interior channels. The Phantom Boat lands at every port but stops at none, and once you have embarked, you cannot leave.
Lawrence by Muhanad Kareem Kazar Theatre performance commissioned and produced by Sharjah Art Foundation Language: Arabic
Actor Ahmed Abu Arada explores multiple historical narratives through the lens of his own Palestinian family history and the present condition of the world. He investigates the secrets around T. E. Lawrence during the Great Arab Revolt (1916–1918). With the help of artificial intelligence, he examines historical documents, including Lawrence’s 1922 book The Seven Pillars of Wisdom as well as the series of letters known as the ‘Hussein/ McMahon Correspondence’
You May Own The Lanterns, But We Have The Light Episode 1: Home Alone by Haig Aivazian Video installation Language: Arabic with English subtitles
Comprised of found cartoons and animations—all re-drawn and re-animated with varying degrees of alterations to the original footage—this short black-and-white film paints a picture of a city plunged in darkness. The inhabitants engage in various forms of escapism and confrontation. The plot begins in the guise of a linear narrative, in which two young adults go out to dance while a child is left behind, the film devolves into increasingly tempestuous dreams.
Ahlou Al Kahef by Fakhri El Ghezal Video installation Language: Arabic with English subtitles
Shot in black and white on Super 8mm film, Ahlou Al Kahef is an open letter to rap artists Jojo M and Galâa. It focuses in equal measure on the remembering and the longing felt on a voyage through their shared footsteps—before and after their migration from Redeyef in the Tunisian mining basin to Nantes, France.
2026 by Maha Maamoun Video installation Language: Arabic with English subtitles
Based on a text from Mahmoud Uthman’s 2007 novel The Revolution of 2053 and referencing a scene from Chris Marker’s La Jetée (1962), a time traveller recounts his vision of the future of the area around the Pyramids, and by extension, Egypt in the year 2026—a vision that strains to reach beyond, yet remains severely confined by the present’s imaginal constraints.
Reading From The Novel The Water Diviner by Zahran Alqasmi Literature reading Language: Arabic
Small Unpaid Debts by Haytham El Wardany Literature reading Language: Arabic
What the Wind Left Behind by Eman Mohamed Turki Poetry reading Language: Arabic
The Passion and Breeze of Poetry by Khulood Al Mu'alla Poetry reading Language: Arabic
Ticketing information Admission is free; however, prior booking is advised. Book your tickets now at sharjahart.org.
Image: The nineteenth-century heritage house near the port in the centre of Sharjah’s historic neighbourhood
Sharjah Art Foundation is an advocate, catalyst and producer of contemporary art within the Emirate of Sharjah and the surrounding region, in dialogue with the international arts community. The Foundation advances an experimental and wide-ranging programmatic model that supports the production and presentation of contemporary art, preserves and celebrates the distinct culture of the region, and encourages a shared understanding of the transformational role of art. The Foundation’s core initiatives include the long-running Sharjah Biennial, featuring contemporary artists from around the world; the annual March Meeting, a convening of international arts professionals and artists; grants and residencies for artists, curators and cultural producers; ambitious and experimental commissions; and a range of travelling exhibitions and scholarly publications.
Alyazeyah AlMarri
Press & Communications Manager
Sharjah Art Foundation
Tel: +971-6-544-4113, ext. 26
