Overview

Join us for this year’s Bait Al Shamsi Nights, our annual community gathering at heritage house Bait Obaid Al Shamsi in Arts Square. From 9 December 2023 to 20 January 2024, explore visual arts such as block printing, drawing, painting and photography as well as sound art, creative writing and architecture.

Designed for all ages and abilities, the workshops and excursions are inspired by Sharjah Art Foundation exhibitions and/or SAF neighbourhood architecture and culture, with a focus on sustainability.

All sessions, offered in both English and Arabic, are led by professional artists and art practitioners. The activities are free, and materials are provided.

Workshops

Decorate Carts Together
With Lama Al Rommo
Ages 11–15

Date: Saturday, 6 January 2024
Timings: 5:00 pm–7:00 pm
Languages: English and Arabic



Reflecting the shared experience of place, time and movement conveyed in some of Lubaina Himid’s artworks, collaborate with other participants to decorate carts. Consider the relationship between interior and exterior spaces as you add flowers and other plants, ornamental patterns, and texts about hopes and dreams, fish and animals to the carts.

Let’s Read Together
Ages 6–10

Date: Saturday, 6 January 2024
Timings: 7:00 pm–9:00 pm
Language: English



Discover new worlds as you listen to short stories. Browse through a selection of books, and decide which stories you want to hear.

Sounds of Sharjah
With Hasan Hujairi
Ages 15+

Date: Saturday, 6 January 2024
Timings: 5:00 pm–9:00 pm
Languages: English and Arabic



After a brief historical introduction to field recording as a creative practice, join us for a walk in the heritage area of Sharjah to capture sounds from your surroundings and turn them into sound collages.

Communal Journalling
With Rania Jishi
Ages 15+

Date: Saturday, 6 January 2024
Timings: 7:00 pm–9:00 pm
Languages: English and Arabic



Join Rania Jishi, founder of Naqd Critique on her new venture as she launches a new concept, Serb, a monthly meetup for communal journaling for Arab creatives.

SERB is a monthly creative forum that invites Arab artistic practitioners and writers to journal and document across various types of creative media. The goal is to encourage and provide moral and intellectual support to every Arab voice with an Arab identity. We welcome writers, poets, artists, and novelists to come and learn about different methods of journaling and ways to develop them into influential works and projects that mimic our reality and archive our own history.

Registration

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