Ethiopian troupe Fendika are one of the many artists to perform at the NYU Abu Dhabi Arts Centre. Photo: Waleed Shah
Ethiopian troupe Fendika are one of the many artists to perform at the NYU Abu Dhabi Arts Centre. Photo: Waleed Shah
Ethiopian troupe Fendika are one of the many artists to perform at the NYU Abu Dhabi Arts Centre. Photo: Waleed Shah
Ethiopian troupe Fendika are one of the many artists to perform at the NYU Abu Dhabi Arts Centre. Photo: Waleed Shah

Timeframe: How the NYU Abu Dhabi Arts Centre revitalised the city’s music scene


Saeed Saeed
  • English
  • Arabic

When it comes to NYU Abu Dhabi Arts Centre, I have found that all roads lead to Morocco.

The world music festival Mawazine, held in the country’s capital, Rabat, is where I first engage with many of the artists making their way to the UAE to perform at the Arts Centre.

I’ve attended Mawazine for more than a decade, and it often takes place in May and June, a few months before the Arts Centre’s new season launches.

When I do meet the acts, whether it’s over sweet tea with Beninese singer Angelique Kidjo after a killer concert or a light pre-gig lunch with Afrobeat star Seun Kuti, the artists often quiz me on what to expect from their upcoming Abu Dhabi show.

“It’s a full programme,” I explained to Kidjo in 2017.

“The Arts Centre is not just about the show. There’s a great communal dinner and you’ll meet the students. It’s a whole package.”

Kidjo nodded in approval and Kuti was psyched. “Bring on the students!” he said with a cackling laugh.

'The Arts Centre – Building a Performing Arts Community on Saadiyat Island' is a commemorative coffee-table book. Photo: NYU Abu Dhabi Arts Centre
'The Arts Centre – Building a Performing Arts Community on Saadiyat Island' is a commemorative coffee-table book. Photo: NYU Abu Dhabi Arts Centre

I reminded him of that remark months later in March 2019, moments before we began our preconcert talk on NYU Abu Dhabi’s campus.

“This is really great, man,” Kuti whispered.

“Don’t tell me what you are going to ask. Let’s just get up there, talk and flow.”

We launched into an expansive conversation spanning everything from music and books to politics.

Kuti recalled the pressure of taking over Egypt 80 – the band formed by his late father Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti – his creative process and the enduring power of protest music. In short, he gave me the good stuff.

This is exactly what I signed up for when becoming a music journalist – the opportunity to sit with talented artists and understand the world through their eyes. Needless to say, Kuti’s performance the following night was pure fire.

He was a marauding presence on stage, wielding the saxophone like a hammer. Egypt 80 were right behind him and couched Kuti’s surging riffs with a thunderous polyrhythmic groove.

As for Kidjo, her 2018 live recreation of the classic Talking Heads album Remain in Light is still discussed in reverential tones by friends in the audience.

It was a performance as graceful as it was fiery. Backed by a cracking band and horn section (members of Antibalas), Kidjo transformed the claustrophobic feel and dense structures of the original album into summery grooves, all the while keeping some of the mystery and detachment central to the Talking Heads.

This is the magic of the Arts Centre, which recently announced a new batch of music performances including UK’s Asian Dub Foundation on September 23 and Brazilian Bossa Nova singer Bebel Gilberto on September 30.

Don’t expect these artists to treat this as any other gig.

Instead of just flying in and out before heading off to the next show, they also engage with the city through visits of cultural landmarks, meet NYUAD students and attend community dinners hosted by the Arts Centre.

These meals are not standard sit-down, networking affairs.

They are freewheeling, soulful and kooky discussions where walls are broken between artists, fans, organisers and even us journalists.

Often led by Arts Centre executive artistic director, Bill Bragin, a musician himself, these sessions offer a deeper and contextualised understanding of the performers and their body of work.

Getting Abu Dhabi back in tune

Beninese singer Angelique Kidjo performed at the NYU Abu Dhabi Arts Centre in 2018. Photo: Waleed Shah
Beninese singer Angelique Kidjo performed at the NYU Abu Dhabi Arts Centre in 2018. Photo: Waleed Shah

While the Arts Centre’s cultural impact is undeniable, it’s important to state that its effect is not so much game-changing as it is placing the UAE, and in particular Abu Dhabi, back in the concert game.

To understand this, let’s take a look back, albeit briefly, at the UAE’s music landscape before the arrival of the Arts Centre launched in 2015.

After the World of Music, Arts and Dance festival ended its Abu Dhabi edition in 2011, a growing number of eclectic music events – including the vibrant outdoor Ethiopian music parties on Abu Dhabi’s Corniche featuring then little-known legends such as the Ethio-jazz maestro Mulatu Astatke, who had an early 1990s residency at the Sheraton Abu Dhabi – slowly started being replaced with commercially driven events.

Concerts featuring diverse acts made way for middle-of-the-road entertainment, including nostalgia shows of 90s pop performers like Ace of Base and La Bouche and Greatest Hits concerts by Elton John and Eric Clapton.

While the shows were technically fine, that sense of cultural exploration defining the city was slowly diminishing.

The Abu Dhabi I grew up in, where I would see flamenco performances at the InterContinental hotel with my Spanish uncle-in-law in the late 1980s and an all-star line-up of Eritrean crooners in a packed hall as a child near Al Nahyan Stadium, was slowly becoming a thing of the past.

The Arts Centre’s arrival in 2015 reinvigorated the UAE’s live performance scene with its state-of-the-art theatre, production crews and a dynamic performance programme that included music and dance.

This was particularly felt since ballets and flamenco concerts were often sporadic affairs held by the annual Abu Dhabi Festival.

Dubai Opera, which would go on to host the lion’s share of dance shows, opened a year later.

The Barzakh Festival Effect

47Soul played an electrifying sold-out show at NYU Abu Dhabi Arts Centre in 2018. Photo: Waleed Shah
47Soul played an electrifying sold-out show at NYU Abu Dhabi Arts Centre in 2018. Photo: Waleed Shah

This resurgence of performance was monumentally realised by the inaugural Barzakh Festival in 2017, an absolutely joyous two-day celebration of global sounds featuring everything from the Gnawa beats of Morocco's Aziz Sahmaoui and Noura Mint Seymali's Mauritanian-Moorish desert blues to the turbocharged Ukrainian folk punk of DakhaBrakha.

The impact was immediate because the intention was genuine.

The festival was not an attempt to teach, preach or dictate trends, but was designed to extend an open hand to a cultured community increasingly wearied by suspect past offerings.

Perhaps Bragin knew this. In one of his first interviews with The National in 2015, he clearly stated his vision at the Arts Centre.

“The idea is to create more connectivity to being here in Abu Dhabi. When I look at my work as a curator, it is not purely on an aesthetic level. The artwork itself is central but it is not the only thing,” he said.

“Providing a shared artistic experience helps bring people together … The Arts Centre will hopefully be the way they can find one another, discover their tribe and those with similar interests they never knew were here.”

Barzakh Festival is now a key feature of the cultural calendar and will return to The Red Theatre on March 1 and 2 with the full line up to be announced soon.

The annual line-ups are not composed of acts who happen to be touring the region; they are specifically chosen as a way of blending the traditional with modern, for work that is loyal to its roots while fearlessly looking outward.

They include the Sudanese funk stylings of Alsarah & The Nubatones, and Dengue Fever’s psychedelic take on Cambodian pop.

Before making their UAE debut at Barzakh Festival in 2018, percussionist and singer Walaa Sbeit from Palestinian group 47Soul told The National that the group was curious to see how their heady synthesis of electro-fuelled Levant folk would be received.

Any plans to “bring the crowd with us” was jettisoned within minutes on stage. Such was the reaction from a sold-out audience that 47Soul had to dial up the energy to keep up.

The result was a high octane show that nearly resulted in The Red Theatre’s first-ever mosh pit. Arms – and hair – were flailing while small groups did their best to crush the hall’s floor with muscular dabke moves.

Homecoming

It was the same deal with Ethiopian group Fendika.

While they rehearsed, the UAE Ethiopian community rallied, many of whom learnt about the event through their social media and church groups.

The audiences at their 2019 performance felt the jubilant air of a homecoming. It was a particularly moving spectacle.

Seeing a joyous, multicultural crowd revelling in Fendika’s electrifying Amharic numbers, performed by a live band, brought back memories of those Corniche shows and the vibrant Abu Dhabi music scene I feared were gradually being lost forever.

And if there are any other musicians yet to receive this memo, I am more than happy to give you a pre-gig briefing wherever we meet on the road.

This is an edited version of the essay “The Red Theatre” by Saeed Saeed, published in commemorative book The Arts Centre – Building a Performing Arts Community on Saadiyat Island and available at Magrudy’s in NYU Abu Dhabi and Amazon

What is Genes in Space?

Genes in Space is an annual competition first launched by the UAE Space Agency, The National and Boeing in 2015.

It challenges school pupils to design experiments to be conducted in space and it aims to encourage future talent for the UAE’s fledgling space industry. It is the first of its kind in the UAE and, as well as encouraging talent, it also aims to raise interest and awareness among the general population about space exploration. 

Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
  • Priority access to new homes from participating developers
  • Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
  • Flexible payment plans from developers
  • Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
  • DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
THE CLOWN OF GAZA

Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah 

Starring: Alaa Meqdad

Rating: 4/5

Infiniti QX80 specs

Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6

Power: 450hp

Torque: 700Nm

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Available: Now

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

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SQUADS

UAE
Mohammed Naveed (captain), Mohamed Usman (vice-captain), Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Imran Haider, Tahir Mughal, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed, Fahad Nawaz, Abdul Shakoor, Sultan Ahmed, CP Rizwan

Nepal
Paras Khadka (captain), Gyanendra Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Pradeep Airee, Binod Bhandari, Avinash Bohara, Sundeep Jora, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Rohit Paudel, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi, Basant Regmi, Pawan Sarraf, Bhim Sharki, Aarif Sheikh

Traits of Chinese zodiac animals

Tiger:independent, successful, volatile
Rat:witty, creative, charming
Ox:diligent, perseverent, conservative
Rabbit:gracious, considerate, sensitive
Dragon:prosperous, brave, rash
Snake:calm, thoughtful, stubborn
Horse:faithful, energetic, carefree
Sheep:easy-going, peacemaker, curious
Monkey:family-orientated, clever, playful
Rooster:honest, confident, pompous
Dog:loyal, kind, perfectionist
Boar:loving, tolerant, indulgent   

RESULTS

Lightweight (female)
Sara El Bakkali bt Anisha Kadka
Bantamweight
Mohammed Adil Al Debi bt Moaz Abdelgawad
Welterweight
Amir Boureslan bt Mahmoud Zanouny
Featherweight
Mohammed Al Katheeri bt Abrorbek Madaminbekov
Super featherweight
Ibrahem Bilal bt Emad Arafa
Middleweight
Ahmed Abdolaziz bt Imad Essassi
Bantamweight (female)
Ilham Bourakkadi bt Milena Martinou
Welterweight
Mohamed Mardi bt Noureddine El Agouti
Middleweight
Nabil Ouach bt Ymad Atrous
Welterweight
Nouredine Samir bt Marlon Ribeiro
Super welterweight
Brad Stanton bt Mohamed El Boukhari

At a glance

Fixtures All matches start at 9.30am, at ICC Academy, Dubai. Admission is free

Thursday UAE v Ireland; Saturday UAE v Ireland; Jan 21 UAE v Scotland; Jan 23 UAE v Scotland

UAE squad Rohan Mustafa (c), Ashfaq Ahmed, Ghulam Shabber, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Shaiman Anwar, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Mohammed Naveed, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan

COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3EName%3A%20DarDoc%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Abu%20Dhabi%3Cbr%3EFounders%3A%20Samer%20Masri%2C%20Keswin%20Suresh%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20HealthTech%3Cbr%3ETotal%20funding%3A%20%24800%2C000%3Cbr%3EInvestors%3A%20Flat6Labs%2C%20angel%20investors%20%2B%20Incubated%20by%20Hub71%2C%20Abu%20Dhabi's%20Department%20of%20Health%3Cbr%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%2010%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20IPAD%20PRO%20(12.9%22%2C%202022)
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDisplay%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2012.9-inch%20Liquid%20Retina%20XDR%2C%202%2C732%20x%202%2C048%2C%20264ppi%2C%20wide%20colour%2C%20True%20Tone%2C%20ProMotion%2C%201%2C600%20nits%20max%2C%20Apple%20Pencil%20hover%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EChip%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Apple%20M2%2C%208-core%20CPU%2C%2010-core%20GPU%2C%2016-core%20Neural%20Engine%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMemory%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Storage%20%E2%80%93%20128GB%2F256GB%2F512GB%20%2F%201TB%2F2TB%3B%20RAM%20%E2%80%93%208GB%2F16GB%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPlatform%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20iPadOS%2016%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMain%20camera%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dual%2012MP%20wide%20(f%2F1.8)%20%2B%2010MP%20ultra-wide%20(f%2F2.4)%2C%202x%20optical%2F5x%20digital%2C%20Smart%20HDR%204%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EVideo%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20ProRes%204K%20%40%2030fps%2C%204K%20%40%2024%2F25%2F30%2F60fps%2C%20full%20HD%20%40%2025%2F30%2F60fps%2C%20slo-mo%20%40%20120%2F240fps%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFront%20camera%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20TrueDepth%2012MP%20ultra-wide%20(f%2F2.4)%2C%202x%2C%20Smart%20HDR%204%2C%20Centre%20Stage%2C%20Portrait%2C%20Animoji%2C%20Memoji%3B%20full%20HD%20%40%2025%2F30%2F60fps%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAudio%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Four-speaker%20stereo%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBiometrics%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Face%20ID%2C%20Touch%20ID%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EI%2FO%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20USB-C%2C%20smart%20connector%20(for%20folio%2Fkeyboard)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBattery%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Up%20to%2010%20hours%20on%20Wi-Fi%3B%20up%20to%20nine%20hours%20on%20cellular%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFinish%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Silver%2C%20space%20grey%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EIn%20the%20box%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20iPad%2C%20USB-C-to-USB-C%20cable%2C%2020-watt%20power%20adapter%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20WiFi%20%E2%80%93%20Dh4%2C599%20(128GB)%20%2F%20Dh4%2C999%20(256GB)%20%2F%20Dh5%2C799%20(512GB)%20%2F%20Dh7%2C399%20(1TB)%20%2F%20Dh8%2C999%20(2TB)%3B%20cellular%20%E2%80%93%20Dh5%2C199%20%2F%20Dh5%2C599%20%2F%20Dh6%2C399%20%2F%20Dh7%2C999%20%2F%20Dh9%2C599%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs: 2018 Mazda CX-5

Price, base / as tested: Dh89,000 / Dh130,000
Engine: 2.5-litre four-cylinder
Power: 188hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 251Nm @ 4,000rpm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
​​​​​​​Fuel consumption, combined: 7.1L / 100km

While you're here
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%3Cp%3E%0D%3Cstrong%3ELittle%20notes%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMy%20girls%20often%20find%20a%20letter%20from%20me%2C%20with%20a%20joke%2C%20task%20or%20some%20instructions%20for%20the%20afternoon%2C%20and%20saying%20what%20I%E2%80%99m%20excited%20for%20when%20I%20get%20home.%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPhone%20call%20check-in%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMy%20kids%20know%20that%20at%203.30pm%20I%E2%80%99ll%20be%20free%20for%20a%20quick%20chat.%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EHighs%20and%20lows%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EInstead%20of%20a%20%E2%80%9Chow%20was%20your%20day%3F%E2%80%9D%2C%20at%20dinner%20or%20at%20bathtime%20we%20share%20three%20highlights%3B%20one%20thing%20that%20didn%E2%80%99t%20go%20so%20well%3B%20and%20something%20we%E2%80%99re%20looking%20forward%20to.%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EI%20start%2C%20you%20next%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EIn%20the%20morning%2C%20I%20often%20start%20a%20little%20Lego%20project%20or%20drawing%2C%20and%20ask%20them%20to%20work%20on%20it%20while%20I%E2%80%99m%20gone%2C%20then%20we%E2%80%99ll%20finish%20it%20together.%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBedtime%20connection%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EWake%20up%20and%20sleep%20time%20are%20important%20moments.%20A%20snuggle%2C%20some%20proud%20words%2C%20listening%2C%20a%20story.%20I%20can%E2%80%99t%20be%20there%20every%20night%2C%20but%20I%20can%20start%20the%20day%20with%20them.%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EUndivided%20attention%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPutting%20the%20phone%20away%20when%20I%20get%20home%20often%20means%20sitting%20in%20the%20car%20to%20send%20a%20last%20email%2C%20but%20leaving%20it%20out%20of%20sight%20between%20home%20time%20and%20bedtime%20means%20you%20can%20connect%20properly.%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EDemystify%2C%20don%E2%80%99t%20demonise%20your%20job%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EHelp%20them%20understand%20what%20you%20do%2C%20where%20and%20why.%20Show%20them%20your%20workplace%20if%20you%20can%2C%20then%20it%E2%80%99s%20not%20so%20abstract%20when%20you%E2%80%99re%20away%20-%20they%E2%80%99ll%20picture%20you%20there.%20Invite%20them%20into%20your%20%E2%80%9Cother%E2%80%9D%20world%20so%20they%20know%20more%20about%20the%20different%20roles%20you%20have.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Labour dispute

The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.


- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law 

INFO

Everton 0

Arsenal 0

Man of the Match: Djibril Sidibe (Everton)

In numbers: China in Dubai

The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000

Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000

Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent

Brief scoreline:

Toss: South Africa, elected to bowl first

England (311-8): Stokes 89, Morgan 57, Roy 54, Root 51; Ngidi 3-66

South Africa (207): De Kock 68, Van der Dussen 50; Archer 3-27, Stokes 2-12

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The specs
  • Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
  • Power: 640hp
  • Torque: 760nm
  • On sale: 2026
  • Price: Not announced yet
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Updated: September 15, 2023, 6:01 PM`