Sharjah Art Foundation Announces Visiting Tarab, An Evening of Music Organised by Sound Artist Tarek Atoui

Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE), September 28, 2011 — The Sharjah Art Foundation (SAF) announces Visiting Tarab, an evening of music, to premiere opening week of Performa 11 (Nov 1 - 21), the fourth edition of the internationally acclaimed New York visual art performance biennial. Conceived by Lebanese artist Tarek Atoui, Visiting Tarab will incorporate elements of the worldʼs largest collection of Classical Arab music as interpreted by 16 musicians and sound artists ranging in expertise from hip hop to electronic and contemporary music. A Performa Commission with the Sharjah Art Foundation, Visiting Tarab is one of 12 commissions by the New York biennial. The US commission also continues the Sharjah Art Foundationʼs ongoing commitment to support the flourishing arts environment in the Gulf region and beyond by actively pursuing both a regional and international program of cultural collaboration and exchange. The performance will be held November 5, 2011, from 8pm to midnight, at SIR Stage 37 in New York City and will be followed by more than 100 performances by acclaimed contemporary artists included in the three-week biennial. To purchase tickets, please visit www.performa-arts.org.

Used in Arab culture to describe the emotional effect of music, 'Tarab' is also commonly associated with a traditional form of art-music. The word 'Tarab' refers to an older repertoire rooted in the pre-World War I musical practice of Egypt and the EastMediterranean Arab world, and is directly associated with emotional evocation. For his Performa Commission, Atoui invited sixteen musicians and sound artists from different origins and practices to Beirut to explore the worldʼs largest and most extensive collection of Classical Arab music. This private collection, owned by Lebanese collector Kamal Kassar, is comprised of old 78 rpm shellac discs and studio tapes ranging from 1903 to 1950, largely covering the Arab renaissance period that started early in the 19th century and continued through the 1930s.

The result of this research will be the performance in New York City and will feature the artist as well as Anti-Pop Consortium, Uriel Barthelemi, Jonathan Butcher, DJ Spooky, Lukas Ligeti, Robert Lowe, Raz Mesinai, Ikue Mori, Sara Parkins, Zeena Parkins, Elliott Sharp and Zafer Tawil. The one-night-only US performance will be a continuous building of energies, intensities, and textures inspired by the structure and rules of 'Tarab,' transforming the New York venue into a space of enchantment and ecstasy.

The Sharjah Art Foundation will premiere Visiting Tarab in the United Arab Emirates in March 2012.

Sharjah Art Foundation President Hoor Al Qasimi stated, 'Visiting Tarab is a truly exceptional commission that reveals the beauty of traditional Arab music. Tarek Atouiʼs vision for modernizing elements of this renowned collection in ways that continue to preserve the significance of its traditions is admirable. It is a pleasure to be able to collaborate with Performa as one of New Yorkʼs premiere arts organizations, and to bring musical traditions of the Arab region to the United States. We look forward to sharing this same work in the United Arab Emirates in March.'

Sound artist Tarek Atoui comments, 'To me this project is about reviving a universal heritage and a golden era that the world – and especially the Arab world – seems to have forgotten about after the change and turmoil of the second half of the 20th century.

Visiting Tarab is about rediscovering a renaissance age with all its innovations and openness through the languages of sound, music, and performance. As an artist, I feel lucky and privileged to have started a project that is going beyond my expectations and what I had imagined...'

Performa Founding Director and Curator RoseLee Goldberg adds, 'It has been a thrilling experience working with Tarek and getting to know the history of Tarab music. Each of the artists has returned from Beirut quite transformed. This is the goal of our exciting collaboration with the Sharjah Art Foundation; to create a real exchange of ideas and sensibilities.'

Born in Lebanon in 1980, Tarek Atoui moved to France in 1998 where he studied sound art and electro-acoustic music. In 2006, he released his first solo album in the Mort Aux Vaches series for Staalplaat Records, and in 2008, he served as artistic director of the STEIM Studios in Amsterdam, a center for the research and development of new electronic musical instruments.

Atoui is a sound artist who specializes in creating computer tools for interdisciplinary projects and youth education. He has presented work internationally including the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York (2010); Sharjah Biennial 09, United Arab Emirates (2009); La Maison Rouge, Paris (2010); the Mediacity Biennial, Seoul (2010), the Haus Der Kunst, Munich (2010) and the Salzburg Sommerszene festival (2011).

Visiting Tarab is supported by Performa Producers Circle members Carla Chamas and Judi Roaman, and by Nayla Hadchiti, and Hutham Olayan.