An Infusion of Arab Culture and Art Arrives at Washington's "Arabesque" Festival

“Arabesque: Arts of the Arab World,”brings together 800 artists from 22 Arab countries at Washington’s John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Feb. 23 through March 15.

Sulayman Al-Bassam’s ‘Richard III: An Arab Tragedy’With Arab arts being relatively unknown in America, “Arabesque” is part of a larger effort that includes exhibitions and performances in New York.  The Gugenheim Museum currently features two installations by Palestinian-American artist Emily Jacir, recipient of the 2008 biennial Hugo Boss Prize.

In June, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, with the Asia Society and New York University, will kick off “Muslim Voices: Arts & Ideas,” a 10-day showing of the work of calligraphers, filmmakers and others.

Five years in the making, “Arabesque’s” curator, Alicia Adams, recruited artists on scouting trips to 14 countries, without consulting cultural ministries. Still, the festival is not without critics.

Budgetary restraints presented Adams from bringing some of the biggest names in the Arab world to Washington like Lebanese singer Fairuz, Saudi Arabia-based singer and composer Mohammed Abdu, and Iraqi singer Kazem Al Saher, known as the “Elvis of the Middle East.”

According to the WSJ, inclusion of the Ramallah-based Al-Kasaba Theater and Cinematheque’s “Alive from Palestine: Stories Under Occupation,” a play about Palestinian characters who emerge from a mountain of newspapers to tell their stories, has drawn criticism from Jewish donors and some pro-Israel groups.

The primary focus of the “Arabesque” festival is to bring very popular groups like rock band Hoba Hoba Spirit, a group playing to sold out concerts in Morocco, to American audiences. It’s a reverse direction export of culture, designed to inspire interest in Arab arts, which declined seriously after Sept. 11, 2001.

Hoba Hoba Spirit

With the more international attitude of the current Obama Administration, festival curator Adams says: “We certainly want to call attention to the arts and artists that are from this region of the world, but also to the beauty and humanity that exist in that part of the world — and to debunk some of the stereotypes.”

All parties involved stress that there are no official government or political connections to “Arabesque.”

For detailed information on the festival and its artists, see:

U.S. festival spotlights Arab arts and humanity Reuters

Where to see ‘Aretha of Sudan’ Wall Street Journal