Overview
Overview
Sharjah Art Foundation is pleased to announce that internationally-acclaimed dance studio Company Wayne McGregor will inhabit Rain Room Sharjah from 14 to 16 February 2019, continuing nearly a decade of collaboration between choreographer Wayne McGregor, CBE and Rain Room’s creators, Random International.
The dancers will perform continuously evolving interventions in the rain to the musical score Rainlight by contemporary composer Max Richter. Choreographed by Wayne McGregor, this performance premiered at Rain Room in The Curve, Barbican, London in 2012.
The performances will be presented over three days.
• Thursday, 14 February 2019
3:00 pm–9:00 pm
• Friday, 15 February 2019
4:00 pm–10:00 pm
• Saturday, 16 February 2019
12:00 pm–5:00 pm
Company Wayne McGregor dancers Rebecca Bassett-Graham, Camille Bracher, Jordan James Bridge, Benjamin Holloway, Daniela Neugebauer, Jacob O’Connell and Jessica Wright will perform the dancer interventions in Sharjah. The company has toured in over 50 countries, performing more than 30 experimental choreographic works by McGregor.
To learn more and purchase tickets, visit sharjahart.org. Each ticket reserves a 15-minute visit to Rain Room and the ongoing performances.
About Rain Room
Random International’s immersive installation Rain Room (2012) invites you to walk through a downpour of continuous rain without getting wet. The responsive environment follows visitors as they navigate the darkened underground space, preventing the rain from falling directly above any detected human presence.
This site-specific installation uses 2,500 litres of self-cleaning recycled water, which is controlled through a system of networked 3D tracking cameras. The work explores how humankind's relationships to one another and to nature are increasingly mediated through intangible technologies.
Founded in 2005, Random International is an art group based in London and Berlin. Their work, which includes sculpture, performance and large-scale architectural installation, explores the human condition in an increasingly mechanised world through emotional yet physically intense experiences.
Sharjah’s Rain Room marks the Middle East premiere and the first permanent installation of this project by Random International. The work has previously been on view at the Barbican, London (2012); MoMA, New York (2013); Yuz Museum, Shanghai (2015) and LACMA, Los Angeles (2015–2017).
The Rain Room building in Sharjah has been designed by Sharjah Art Foundation and the UAE-based SpaceContinuum Design Studio in collaboration with Shape Architecture Practice + Research, Sharjah.
Opened in May 2018, Rain Room is part of the Sharjah Art Foundation Collection and the first of a series of artist-designed permanent spaces.
About Wayne McGregor
In his practice, choreographer and director Wayne McGregor CBE draws from academic research in a range of fields, including technology, semiotics, cognitive science and biology. With collaborations across dance, visual arts, VR, film, theatre and opera, McGregor’s mixed media works feature anatomy-defying choreography performed in austere and expansive set designs, where light, sound and bodies interplay.
McGregor is Artistic Director of Studio Wayne McGregor, founded in 1993, which encompasses Company Wayne McGregor and a host of education, research, artist development and community engagement initiatives, including FreeSpace and QuestLab Network. Among his more than 30 experimental choreographic works for Company Wayne McGregor are Autobiography (2017), +/- Human (2016), Tree of Codes (2015), Atomos (2013), UNDANCE (2011) and FAR (2010). McGregor is also Resident Choreographer of The Royal Ballet, London, and he is regularly commissioned to create choreography for international ballet companies, films (Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts, Mary Queen of Scots), music videos (Radiohead, Chemical Brothers), fashion shows (Gareth Pugh, London Fashion Week 2017), campaigns (everyBODY for Selfridges) and television (Brit Awards).
McGregor's work has earned him a multitude of awards, including the National Dance Award, Critics' Circle, London (2006, 2009, 2016, 2018); Olivier Awards, London (2007, 2016); Golden Mask, National Theatre Award, Moscow (2012, 2015); Prix Benois de la Danse, Moscow (2009); South Bank Show Award, London (2007, 2009) and Time Out Award, London (2001, 2003). In 2011, McGregor was awarded the Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) for Services to Dance.
McGregor is Professor of Choreography at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, London, and a member of the Circle of Cultural Fellows, King’s College London. He has received an Honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Plymouth, an Honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Leeds and an Honorary Fellowship from the British Science Association.
About Sharjah Art Foundation
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. Under the leadership of founder Hoor Al Qasimi, a curator and artist, 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.
Established in 2009 to expand programmes beyond the Sharjah Biennial, which launched in 1993, the foundation is a critical resource for artists and cultural organisations in the Gulf and a conduit for local, regional and international developments in contemporary art. The foundation’s deep commitment to developing and sustaining the cultural life and heritage of Sharjah is reflected through year-round exhibitions, performances, screenings and educational programmes in the city of Sharjah and across the Emirate, often hosted in historic buildings that have been repurposed as cultural and community centres. A growing collection reflects the foundation’s support of contemporary artists in the realisation of new work and its recognition of the contributions made by pioneering modern artists from the region and around the world.
Sharjah Art Foundation is a legally independent public body established by Emiri Decree and supported by government funding, grants from national and international nonprofits and cultural organisations, corporate sponsors and individual patrons.
About Sharjah
Sharjah is the third largest of the seven United Arab Emirates and the only one bridging the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Reflecting the deep commitment to the arts, architectural preservation and cultural education embraced by its ruler, Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Sharjah is home to more than 20 museums and has long been known as the cultural hub of the United Arab Emirates. In 1998, it was named UNESCO's 'Arab Capital of Culture' and has been designated the UNESCO ‘World Book Capital’ for the year 2019.
Media Contact
Alyazeyah Al Reyaysa
+971 (0) 6 5444113
alyazeyah@sharjahart.org