SAF announces the premiere of Revisiting Tarab

Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE) March 18, 2012 — Sharjah Art Foundation announces the premiere of Revisiting Tarab, an evening of music conceived by Lebanese artist Tarek Atoui. More than 20 musicans will perform, along with Atoui throughout the evening in this event that will take place in an open-air courtyard of Calligraphy Square in the atmospheric Heritage Area of Sharjah. Revisiting Tarab is free and open to the public.between 8:15 pm and 2:00 am on the evening of March 19, 2012.

Produced by Sharjah Art Foundation, this performance follows last autumnʼs New York premiere of Atouiʼs Visiting Tarab as a Performa Commission with Sharjah Art Foundation. The performance was held on November 5, 2012 at SIR Stage 37 in New York City and was followed by more than 100 performances by acclaimed contemporary artists included in the three-week biennial.

In this new iteration commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation, Revisiting Tarab will incorporate elements of the worldʼs largest collection of Classical Arab music as interpreted by 22 musicians and sound artists ranging in expertise from hip-hop to electronic and contemporary music.

This collection, part of AMAR Foundation archive, has been assembled by Lebanese collector Kamal Kassar, is comprised of old 78 rpm shellac discs and studio tapes dating between 1903 and 1950, largely covering the Arab renaissance period that began in the early 19th century. Used in Arab culture to describe the emotional effect of music, “Tarab” is also commonly associated with a traditional form of artmusic. The word “Tarab” refers to an older repertoire rooted in the pre-World War I musical practice of Egypt and the East-Mediterranean Arab world, and is directly associated with emotional evocation. For his Sharjah Commission, Atoui invited the Revisiting Tarab musicians and sound artists from different
origins and practices to Beirut to explore the worldʼs largest and most extensive collection of Classical Arab music.

Sharjah Art Foundation President Hoor Al Qasimi explains, 'It is such a pleasure to be working again with Tarek Atoui as he continues to explore this extensive library of classical Arab music in his new commission Revisiting Tarab. The open-air performances on the 19th of March will offer audiences in Sharjah and the UAE an opportunity to experience the traditions of Tarab and Arab music as interpreted by a wide range of international musicians and sound artists.'

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.'

Revisiting 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.'

Revisiting Tarab marks the start of the Sharjah Art Foundationʼs new music education programme conceived with the help of Tarek Atoui. The programme aims to promote the understanding and practice of classical Arab music as well as innovative and abstract music forms such as hip hop, electronic, experimental and contemporary music. The programme will include lectures, seminars, workshops and performances involving local musicians, students, teenagers and children – with the aim of building a bridge between tradition and modernity.

Revisiting Tarab musicians include Tarek Atoui as well as Anti-Pop Consortium (Kyle Austin, Earl Blaize, M Sayyid), John Butcher, Zeena Parkins, Ikue Mori, Robert Lowe, Uriel Barthelemi, Elliott Sharp, Lukas Ligeti, Raz Mesinai, Sara Parkins, Kazuyuki Kishino, Takuro Mizuta Lippit, Susie Ibarra, Roberto Rodriguez, Mustafa Said, Mohammad Antar, Joss Turnball, Ghassan Sabbab, Raed Yassi.

Conceived as a series of performances, the audience is welcome any time between 8:15pm and 2:00am for this outdoor event in Calligraphy Square, Heritage Area, Heart of Sharjah.