COSMOS: Behind the Scenes with Sharjah Art Foundation
In 'Behind the Scenes', COSMOS dives into local stories from across the world together with our global partners.
Located in Sharjah’s historic Art and Heritage Areas, Sharjah Art Foundation activities and events take place throughout the year and include exhibitions featuring the work of Arab and international artists, performances, music, film screenings and artist talks, as well as extensive art education programmes for children, adults and families. Ahead of their annual March Meeting, author Emma Warren chats with the Art Foundation’s music director, Hasan Hujairi, about the diverse cultural community that makes up Sharjah’s creative scene.
Words by Emma Warren
Photography courtesy of Sharjah Art Foundation
Underground electronic music at the Sharjah Art Foundation, in the UAE, stopped when the war in Gaza started. “We paused a lot of our music events, just because it didn’t feel sensible to be celebrating when our neighbours were going through what they’re going through,” says Hasan Hujairi, an experimental musician and composer who runs the Sharjah Art Foundation’s music department. “Now we’re reassessing. We’re thinking a lot about the question: What does music mean in society?”
This year’s annual March Meeting, which takes place the weekend before Ramadan starts, attempts to answer that question. It’s themed around the Arabic word tawashujat which refers to intertwining, or the coming together of thoughts and ideas. Whilst the overall event features artists and filmmakers, Hujairi has invited two community radio stations: Palestinian Radio Alhara and South Africa’s Pan Africa Space Station. “It’s important for us to reflect on the relationship between music and society and what that means in our context, to be presenting music and working with culture.”
The folk music from the region is shared, says Hujairi, describing similar genres of music in Karachi, Dar Es Salaam, Basra or Bushehr. “Each city develops their own tweaks but when you see it or hear it it’s the same rhythm, dance, with a few idiosyncrasies. The sea historically didn’t separate people, it connected them.” Within the gulf region, he says, it’s one of the more interesting places to be. “There are a number of important art platforms in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. We constantly have really big artists passing through – visual artists and musicians. We have good libraries here. The local structure for learning is great. In Dubai there’s a lot of spectacle entertainment and sometimes I want something a bit more challenging. I guess it’s my job to bring that here, without ostracising people.”
Each emirate has an identity that has developed over time, he explains. “Back in 1971 [when Sharjah joined the UAE], they wanted to make this place a bit more family friendly, so culture was one of the things the local government focused on.” The result? Most of Sharjah’s music culture is government-led – like the semi-autonomous Sharjah Art Foundation – with a smaller part of the ecosystem coming from civic society or individual initiatives, and from a constellation of like-minded souls elsewhere in the region. There’s Space 21, an electronic music festival in Kurdistan, Northern Iraq, and Irtijal which was set up by musicians in 2000, in Beirut, Lebanon to promote contemporary and experimental practices in music. “There are these little pockets. The scene is small but there are these little nodes. People know each other,” he says. "There’s a lot of nuances in the way networks and connections are built across borders. For some states, it’s easier for people to move around. For others its more difficult, even though we’re technically neighbours.
Le Guess Who?’s COSMOS documentary about the Sharjah Art Foundation (est. 2003) with a focus on contemporary art and including sound art, premiered at the end of last year. It featured Hujairi, in his role as oud-player and sound artist, alongside fellow Sharjah-residents modular synth artist Safeya ‘SAF’ Alblooshi and dream-pop duo WYWY, showcasing a scene based partly in the Foundation’s landmark Flying Saucer venue and in art galleries. Only 20% of people in Sharjah are locals, so it’s no surprise that the featured artists have connections elsewhere: Hujairi comes from Bahrain and has lived in the UK and South Korea, Alblooshi has Russian parents and grew up in Dubai whilst WYWY are from the Philippines. “Sharjah rent is considerably cheaper than Dubai,” explains Hujairi, describing the morning commute to the larger Emirate with raised eyebrows and a smile. Sharjah residents tend to come from South Asia, particularly India and Pakistan, he says, alongside people from Syria, Iraq, Sudan and more recently, people who didn’t want to enlist in the Russian army when the war started. Occasionally, there are Western Europeans or North Americans, but not in the same numbers.
Traditional Emirati musicians and poets tend to live on the coast or in the mountains on the southern coast of Sharjah, says Hujairi, where music is traditionally seen as private, listened to at weddings or other celebrations and not open to the public. Art Foundation concerts from legendary South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, Malian Mandé blues artist Boubacar Traoré Mali and Tinariwen give a sense of the palette. “We focus a lot on different African artists,” says Hujairi. “I also like the Scottish folk scene, especially the ones that have been experimenting with electronics and new ideas, so I introduced that last year.” Consequently, Inge Thompson, who combines traditional music with electronics, is part of their Fall 2024 programme.
The COSMOS documentary highlights other aspects of the community: Mina Radio and record shop Flip Side, both of which are based in Dubai. The latter provides a welcome space for hangs: “I go there sometimes, pick up records every now and again. Friends of mine perform music there. It’s located in a neighbourhood where there are a lot of art related things: there’s an independent movie theatre next door and small art galleries. It used to be an industrial neighbourhood, now it’s this cultural area.”
Whilst the largest of the emirates might be better known for having big name DJs playing in expensive clubs, there’s another side to UAE life – and Hujairi wishes it had been better documented. “In the pre-social media time, a lot of people were passing through, and they didn’t leave an archive: friends having an experimental music concert back in 2010 in a little venue and now people can’t remember [the details] because they don’t live here any more.” He notes the Tse Tse Fly label which released a series of compilations featuring music made by different people from the regions, before the owner moved back to London and off the UAE radar.
The local archive of experimental music might be missing, but Belgian artist C-drik, who runs the Syrphe label from his European hometown, is supporting UAE music from afar. “His website lists countries around the world and all the experimental musicians he can find in each one. It’s a very grand project for one person to do but I think he’s done a very good job – he’s building connections between different communities. It’s funny how it works. We don’t have the archive locally, but though this proxy archive online.”
Musicians need space and whilst you’re not going to find much in the way of sweaty, smoky basements, the Foundation are eking out space where they can. “There’s one cassette shop that’s really interesting. It’s a small place. Recently I took over this space that used to teach ceramics. The Foundation put in four giant speakers and a mixer. People can bring in their equipment and play. We have a space for playing music. Recently some musicians from Sudan, I suppose refugees now, they contacted us asking for a space to rehearse.” A plan is in place to try and set up a Japanese-style listening café in the building that housed the oldest radio station in UAE. Previously a British military barracks, the Federal Government took it over and it’s been abandoned for decades. “It’s a one floor structure and it’s kind of been collecting dust for decades now. They were going to tear it down and we convinced them not to. We said we want to turn it into a music space. The idea is that it’ll have a recording booth and a café with a very fancy soundsystem.” Other ideas include a flexible theatre for indoor performances, two recording studios and space for visiting artists-in-residence. Also percolating away in the background is a wish list idea that relates to vinyl pressing plants.
Heading back to work – there’s a lot that needs doing before the next event – Hujairi reflects on the experience of being an electronic artist in his adopted hometown. Yes, it’s about the music, but of course, it’s also deeper than that.
This article is part of the COSMOS series ‘Behind the Scenes’, in which people from across the world discuss their local cultural scenes and their creative processes.
Are you interested in collaborating with COSMOS to share your local cultural scene? Please let us know via cosmos@leguesswho.com.
