In what is fast becoming one of the premier art showcases in the country, the third art season of New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) was officially announced by its organisers on Tuesday, with this year’s edition set to feature a number of different performances including dance, theatre, opera, and stand up comedy.
The art season will kick off on Thursday, with over 200 artists representing more than 20 nationalities — including the UAE — taking part, with shows running all the way until early May.
“The art season will present all types of music, dance, theatre, film, and family programmes. There is going to be a lot of programmes that are really going to be incredible to experience for everybody,” said Bill Bragin, executive artistic director at NYUAD Arts Centre.
“Our opening show this week is a performance by CCN Creteil and Val de Marne from France called Pixel — it’s a mixture of hip hop dance with interactive video, it’s a spectacular piece that will be very enjoyable to watch and a great way to start off the new season,” he added.
“All of the programmes throughout the season will vary, many of the artists might also not be familiar with the audiences, but what we have found is that when people come to the shows with an open mind that those minds will be blown away,” he said.
Bragin said the art season was also contributing to the growth of the UAE’s cultural sector, and more specifically to Saadiyat Island which, has situated itself as a cultural hub and from where the art season will be taking place.
“We are thrilled to have demonstrated the proof of concept for the viability of the Saadiyat Cultural District, we have seen that our audiences are not only coming from Abu Dhabi, but from all over the country and abroad to experience groundbreaking contemporary performing artists.
“I don’t think there has been something presenting work as consistently as we have, in the past a lot of the cultural offerings have been done in a festival context with the festival happening once a year, but for us what we are really trying to do is to create a culture of ongoing participation in the arts,” he added.
“We want to create a model for the artists working in the UAE to see many different kinds of work and models from all around the world,” he said.
Bragins said that the growing success of the art season has also meant that it has been able to attract more artists to come and perform.
“We are going to have 200 individual artists coming to perform over the course of the season representing more than 20 countries including from the UAE, US, Italy, France, Ethiopia, and Pakistan.”
Bragins also highlighted that many of the performances would feature important themes connected to real world issues, and that using art was a powerful way of communicating those messages and bringing people together.
“There are a few different themes like empathy and compassion and that will be reflected in the performances. In a lot of the different works the artists are responding to very urgent social issues, whether they are to do with the environment, the refugee crisis around the world, or family issues,” he said.
“I think the arts are a really important way of bringing people together, in the concerts that we have coming up many of the artists will be exploring cross culturally through collaborations, and so part of that I think brings society together and creates a greater awareness and understanding,” he added.
The details
NYUAD Art Season
Where: NYUAD Arts Centre, Abu Dhabi
When: September 8 — December 5, February 2 — May 12
