1001 Arab Futures: an embodied imaginarium (working title)
*NOTE:
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic 1001 Arab Futures premiere dates have been moved to Summer/Fall 2021. Sharon and her collaborators have embarked on their creative process remotely and are working to create rich possibilities to engage with others within the pandemic landscape.
1001 Arab Futures development during the 2019-2021 season
Minnesota Conservatory for the Arts & Public Launch
Winona, Minnesota
June 2021
SOLO: shared evening of McKnight Foundation Dance Commissioning Projects
The Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts
Minneapolis, Minnesota
September 17 & 18, 2021
http://www.mcknightdancechoreo.org/solo
A multi-media performance/art event co-directed by three artists of Lebanese heritage: Yara Boustany, Lebanese dance artist (Lebanon); Mette Loulou von Kohl, Lebanese/Palestinian/Danish American dance artist (New York City); Andrea Shaker, Lebanese American visual artist (Minneapolis).
Concept and performance by Sharon Mansur, 1001 Arab Futures is inspired by Arab Futurism: a cultural movement imagining the future of the SWANA/Arab world infused with present day sociopolitical events. The project’s title is a nod to the 1001 Arabian Nights classic fantastical folk tales, often referenced as a precursor to Arab science fiction.
1001 Arab Futures was commissioned by The Cowles Center as part of their SOLO commissioning program, funded by the McKnight Foundation. It was commissioned on behalf of Sharon Mansur, 2018-19 McKnight Dancer Fellowship recipient.
Sharon Mansur, in partnership with the Minnesota Conservatory for the Arts, is a fiscal year 2020 recipient of a Cultural Community Partnership grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature; and by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
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Due to the COVID-19 pandemic 1001 Arab Futures premiere dates have been moved to Summer/Fall 2021. Sharon and her collaborators have embarked on their creative process remotely and are working to create rich possibilities to engage with others within the pandemic landscape.
1001 Arab Futures development during the 2019-2021 season
Minnesota Conservatory for the Arts & Public Launch
Winona, Minnesota
June 2021
SOLO: shared evening of McKnight Foundation Dance Commissioning Projects
The Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts
Minneapolis, Minnesota
September 17 & 18, 2021
http://www.mcknightdancechoreo.org/solo
A multi-media performance/art event co-directed by three artists of Lebanese heritage: Yara Boustany, Lebanese dance artist (Lebanon); Mette Loulou von Kohl, Lebanese/Palestinian/Danish American dance artist (New York City); Andrea Shaker, Lebanese American visual artist (Minneapolis).
Concept and performance by Sharon Mansur, 1001 Arab Futures is inspired by Arab Futurism: a cultural movement imagining the future of the SWANA/Arab world infused with present day sociopolitical events. The project’s title is a nod to the 1001 Arabian Nights classic fantastical folk tales, often referenced as a precursor to Arab science fiction.
1001 Arab Futures was commissioned by The Cowles Center as part of their SOLO commissioning program, funded by the McKnight Foundation. It was commissioned on behalf of Sharon Mansur, 2018-19 McKnight Dancer Fellowship recipient.
Sharon Mansur, in partnership with the Minnesota Conservatory for the Arts, is a fiscal year 2020 recipient of a Cultural Community Partnership grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature; and by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
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Project collaborator Bios:
Photo by Liliane Rahal
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Yara Boustany
Having obtained her audio-visuals degree from ALBA, Yara continued her studies at CAU Theatre, Dance and Circus School, Spain. In 2015, she founded Amalgam Studio in Beirut, a space for performers to develop their practice. She took part in national and international performances, including her solos ‘Astroturf’ and ‘One day – One Night – Beirut’. The latter premiered at the International Solotanz Festival, Germany and was presented in the Solo Dance Festival, Turkey. In 2017, she received a grant from AFAC to produce ‘ēvolvō’ which was shown in BIPOD, Al Madina Theatre in Beirut and in Body/Mind Festival in Poland. In July 2019 it toured in London, Liverpool and Manchester at the Shubbak Festival. It will be premiered in France in Chalon sur Soene, Festival Instances. She is currently developing a new piece “Boundless Thought” that started within a residency in Athens, “Breaking Art”, and she received a grant from AFAC for this project. This year she started her Master in Choreography in Codarts University, Rotterdam. www.uirii.com |
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Mette Loulou von Kohl
Mette Loulou von Kohl was born from the orange at the center before the new world came. She is a performer and a wanderer. Mette Loulou received her B.A in Theatre from Bard College and completed her M.A in Applied Theatre at Goldsmiths College, University of London. She is a graduate of EmergeNYC of the Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics at NYU. Mette Loulou is fascinated by the intersection between her personal identities as a jumping-off point to reveal, dismantle and rebuild realities and dreams. She grapples with her past to complicate her present and conjure unimagined futures. She exists in two places at once. http://www.metteloulouvonkohl.com |
Photo by Laura Bluer
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Photo by Tommy O’Laughlin
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Andrea Shaker
Andrea Shaker is a professor of art at the College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University. She earned her BA from Georgetown University and her MFA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her photographic and moving image work has been exhibited regionally and nationally including exhibitions in Chicago, New York and Glasgow. Her films have been screened at the Walker Art Center, Mizna’s Arab Film Festival, and Altered Aesthetics Film Festival. Her written work home. not home. (bayt. lays bayt.) is included in the publication Women, Citizenship, and Photographies (Liverpool University Press, 2016) and on silence is included in the publication Mizna: Prose, Poetry and Art Exploring Arab America (vol 18.2). Shaker is a 2019 recipient of a Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative grant for photography. She currently serves on the Executive Board of New Arab American Theater Works. https://www.csbsju.edu/art/faculty/shaker |
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