KVS, les ballets C de la B & A.M. Qattan Foundation by Danny Willems
MENA/Future, the 2016 Live Ideas festival at New York Live Arts, brings cutting-edge performances from the Middle East-North Africa region to New York City. Presenting over 45 events, including over a dozen US premieres, MENA/Future is one of the largest and most comprehensive festivals devoted to exploring ongoing cultural transformations in the region.
“In a time when mutual understanding of our contemporaries in the MENA region is of the utmost importance, when networks of communication between artists all over the world continue to define and shape the political landscape across political and cultural divides, the artist’s voice has never been more essential,” states Thomas O. Kriegsmann, Director of Programs.
Running from February 8 to April 3, 2016, MENA/Future features performances, films, lectures, panels, and community dialogues by artists from Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Tunisia, Israel, UAE, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Sudan, and beyond, addressing a wide range of pertinent issues relevant to the region.
Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef and journalist and author Rula Jabreal, deliver the festival’s keynote on February 8 at the CUNY Graduate Center. Performances include Badke, a dynamic dance piece featuring ten young dancers from Ramallah by the Belgian company les ballets C de la B; a multi-media reenactment of the infamous Berlin Conference, entitled 2065 BC by the Egyptian Adham Hafez Company; Israeli artist Arkadi Zaides’s political dance work Archive; Palestinian artist, Farah Saleh’s interactive solo Free Advice; solo dance works by Marie Al Fajr, Mona Gamil, Amira Chebli, and Leyya Mona Tawil; and Moroccan Radouan Mriziga’s captivating movement piece ~55.
Including exhibitions, concerts, and public lectures, the festival aims to add the nuances and complexities that artists offer to the construct of the “Middle East” and regional representations.
For tickets and information visit newyorklivearts.org/liveideas.
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