DUBAI: For the first time in its 12-year history, Art Dubai, a leading international fair on the aesthetics of life, will be having a big group of Filipino performers and they will be showcasing the Sarimanok, a mythical bird of the Maranao Muslim tribe in Central Mindanao, Southern Philippines.
It is said that the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) found the rooster in the first of the seven heavens.
Founded in 2007, Art Dubai focuses on the works of artists from non-Western countries.
Kristoffer Ardeña, who hails from Dumaguete, will also be among Pinoy artists at the global event, who will be showcasing art exploring jologs, a derogatory term to describe people from lower-income households using ordinary materials like tarpaulin, rugs, and Katrina fabric (typically used in school uniforms).
The Art Dubai program revolves around two main performances, the first being Marlon Griffith, an artist from Trinidad and Tobago, who has developed a version of his A Walk into the Night, specifically for Art Dubai.
Taking the aesthetics of Trinidadian carnivals and West African shadow puppets as a starting point, the piece stages both a large-scale celebratory procession and a magical play of light and shadow.
The performance is a collaboration with the Philippine Business Council-Dubai & the Northern Emirates, the Philippine Consulate General in Dubai and the Filipino Community in Dubai.
A Walk into the Night will involve 120 performers, as well as music composed by Exekiel Nuñez and costumes in collaboration with Filipino fashion designer Armand Zarris Manapat, and invites the fair’s visitors to join in the performance, which will pass through the fair. (Performance: March 19, 9-9.45pm; March 22, 7.30-8.15pm; throughout the fair).
