The Africa Hall in Sharjah is reopening with a treat: live performances by renowned artists.
The celebrations kick off with a performance by Grammy Award-winning musician and Senegalese icon Youssou N’Dour and his group Le Super Etoile de Dakar on September 26 at 9pm. The 7 Seconds singer is known to mesh contemporary and traditional music with rhythms that’ll have you pulling those dance shoes on.
The next night Grammy-award winning Malian singer and songwriter Oumou Sangare takes the stage to dispense her special blend of rock, funk and soul, woven through African beats.
On September 28, Ethiopian giant Mulatu Astatke takes the stage. Considered the ‘father of Ethio-jazz’, Astatke is an instrumentalist with a knack for blending African, American and European rhythms.
The next night is a tumble into greatness. Musicologist, composer, DJ-producer and musician DJ Peter Adjaye is bringing to the UAE contemporary Afromusic. This performance takes place in Mirage City Cinema, Al Mureijah Square, Sharjah, at 7pm, and is free to attend. Meanwhile legend Nina Simone’s daughter, Lisa, whose music has created ripples in its own right, is set to perform at Africa Hall. Ready for some heart-wrenching blues and soul tones?
Finally, come September 30, New African Jazz will light up the African Hall stage thanks to Somi. Tickets for performances, starting at Dh80 (Dh60 for students) are now available online.
BEYOND MUSIC
The Africa Institute is an interdisciplinary research institute dedicated to the study, research and documentation of Africa. So it should come as no surprise that besides the music, it’s also arranged for some visual treats. On September 28, Manthia Diawara’s movie An Opera of the World — an exploration of the relationship between Africa and Europe — is to be screened at document 14 at 5pm. The screening will be followed by a discussion between Professor Manthia Diawara (New York University), the film’s director, and Professor Salah M. Hassan (Cornell University). Entry to the movie at Africa Hall is free.
The next morning, Sharjah Art Foundation presents 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction, an international symposium that revisits the original 5-plus-1 exhibition curated by Frank Bowling in 1969. It’s to run from 10am onwards.
