In a ground-breaking partnership with the University of Cambridge’s new Centre for Strategic Philanthropy, Abu Dhabi Festival brings the Centre’s pioneering executive education programme to emerging philanthropists from the GCC and MENA region.
Talks Series in Partnership with Abu Dhabi Center for Sheltering and Humanitarian Care – Ewaa
Acclaimed Algerian filmmaker Salem Brahimi documents the inspiring story of Algerian Olympic champion Hassiba Boulmerka’s rise in the 1990s as a symbol of courage and resistance against death threats from religious extremists and oppression. Echoing the struggle of young Muslim women in some places to be allowed to jog and engage in sports, the film ultimately raises questions about the place of women in our societies.
In partnership with the Embassy of Japan to the UAE, Abu Dhabi Festival will showcase 42 prints produced by 10 prominent Japanese contemporary painters, including Yayoi Kusama, Masanari Murai and Yasukazu Tabuchi, who explored a wide range of possibilities through prints and expanded the range of expression in contemporary art using the print medium in the 1970s.
Beginning with a visual art exhibition, literature festival and musical performance, Abu Dhabi Festival is partnering with the Middle East Institute in an innovative ongoing collaboration to strengthen US-UAE cultural ties. In 2022, this diverse range of activities includes an exhibition of contemporary art by leading Middle Eastern artists whose work explores the impact of climate change on their communities and natural environment, and the need for greater sustainability.
The companion book to the art exhibition of the same name, Portrait of a Nation II documents the more than 100 key works, including 15 special commissions, that help form the landscape of Emirati and Emirates-based artists through painting, photography, 3D installations and audio-visual works.
The first album by these young performers from Europe and the Middle East is born out of the need to bridge the distance between the shores and sonic world’s of a rapidly changing region. Musicians from Egypt, Turkey, Portugal and Italy met in Cairo to build a new collective musical identity, blending timbres and backgrounds in a unique artistic collaboration with Festival Aix-en-Provence, supported by Abu Dhabi Festival.
Retracing the history of the oud over more than a century and presenting eminent oud players and musicians, this box set of 2 CDs and 1 DVD, with an accompanying booklet, is a comprehensive archive of the most iconic instrument from the Arab region.
Traversing the globe in 13 compositions played by 128 musicians in 20 countries, Hekayat captures the
musical traditions and cultures of every continent. Fusing genres such as hip-hop, western classical
music and Khaleeji rhythms.
In a unique combination of styles from a variety of cultures and time periods, Rahbany blends music from his own Lebanese Arab origins with European Baroque music such as Bach and Vivaldi, intricate Indian rhythms and the irresistible swing of Brazilian beats.