In this episode of the NYUAD Arts Center podcast, we're joined by Widad Mjama, one-half of the musical group Aïta Mon Amour, in the lead-up to their performance at the Tamaas Festival in Abu Dhabi. The pioneering rapper from Morocco explores her musical experiences, her early exposure to various music genres in Morocco, and her eventual gravitation towards rap. Widad discusses the Moroccan rap scene and the significant impact of artists like Tupac on her life. The discussion delves into the origins and significance of Aïta, a traditional Moroccan music genre, and how Aïta Mon Amour celebrates and modernizes it. Widad sheds light on her collaboration with Khalil, their creative process, and the challenges of preserving tradition while introducing modern elements.

In this episode of the NYU Abu Dhabi Arts Center Podcast, we delve into the intrinsic philosophy of dance with dancer and choreographer Omar Rajeh. The conversation spans his journey from founding dance company Maqamat in Beirut in 2002, to developing contemporary dance awareness in Lebanon and organizing the influential BIPOD festival. Omar discusses the transformative power of dance, its societal impact, and the innovative production "Beytna" set to be showcased at The Arts Center's Red Theater on January 30th. He gives his testament to the inclusivity and philosophical depth dance can achieve in our world today.

In the lead up to her two-night comedy show performance (in English on January 15 and in Arabic on January 17) of Bint Balad at the NYUAD Arts Center, Maysoon Zayid joins us on The Arts Center's podcast to chat about performing in Abu Dhabi, working with NYUAD, and the importance of creating an accessible future for individuals with disabilities. She provides insight from her multifaceted career as a comedian, writer, and university professor, and talks about her teaching philosophy, the unique dynamics of teaching a condensed J-Term, the global diversity of her students, her innovative course "Message in a Bottle," and her passion for performing live. Maysoon emphasizes the power and responsibility of storytelling, recounts her personal experiences with disability, and highlights the critical need for designing accessible environments in general. This episode is packed with humor, wisdom, and a powerful call to action for inclusivity and understanding.

Creating intimate worlds through theater, reckoning with Lebanon's state of play, and paying homage to two of her home country's leading actresses: a conversation with theater maker Chrystèle Khodr. Khodr's play Augurs follows actresses Hanane Hajj Ali and Randa Asmar as they retrace their theatrical journeys from the moment they decide to work in theater in the early 1980s. Using her play as a basis for our conversation, we talk about the Lebanese theater scene at large, erasure of collective memory, and the realities of working in this field from Beirut.

We’re kicking off the third season of the NYUAD Podcast with Bill Bragin, founding executive artistic director of The Arts Center at New York University Abu Dhabi, and Maya Allison, founding executive director of The Art Galleries and senior research scholar and chief curator at New York University #AbuDhabi. They tell us all about what this year holds at NYUAD’s Arts Center with reflections on the legacy they’ve built so far and the local cultural eco-system that they’ve painstakingly nurtured. Maya and Bill invite us into their curatorial decision making, how they see their “local” context in Abu Dhabi, and what it took to speak to an audience that didn’t yet exist. From their biggest learning curves through to curating for an audience with wildly different reference points and cultural backgrounds, this conversation gives us a fascinating look at how the NYUAD Arts Center came to be the fixture of Abu Dhabi’s cultural scene that it is today. You'll also get a sneak peak of what to expect from this new season of performances and exhibitions at The Arts Center.

Bill Bragin – executive artistic director of the NYUAD Arts Center – talks to us about the center’s upcoming season, how it's impacted the city of Abu Dhabi so far, and what he envisions for the future of both the center and its ripple effect on the country as a whole.