The Kennedy Center Presents

Arabesque: Arts of the Arab World

Unprecedented Three Week Festival highlighting the Arts and Culture of the 22 Arab Nations To Take Place February 23-March 15, 2009

Festival presented in cooperation with the League of Arab States

WASHINGTON, D.C. — From February 23 to March 15, 2008, the Kennedy Center will present ARABESQUE: Arts of the Arab World. The unprecedented three-week celebration of Arab arts and culture will include performances in music, dance, and theater, as well as exhibitions featuring art installations, photos, sculpture, cuisine, mosaics, fashion, a souk (market), soundscape, and more. The festival, presented in cooperation with the League of Arab States, will feature more than 800 artists representing 22 Arab countries.

From the Arabian Gulf to the Levant and North Africa, this region of the world is the birthplace of human civilization and features extraordinary diversity in geography, traditions, landscape, religion and contemporary aesthetics. During the festival, the Center will be transformed with exhibits on every floor, festival performances on the nine stages, and even the cuisine in the restaurant and café will offer a taste of Arab culture. The festival offers a number of free performances on the Millennium stage, free access to the exhibit spaces, and low ticket prices on a number of other performances.

While the Kennedy Center has previously presented Arab artists, this is the first time it has launched a festival showcasing Arab arts of this magnitude, marking the largest presentation of the Arab arts ever in the United States.

“I believe the arts create peace and provide a window onto understanding people,” said Kennedy Center President Michael M. Kaiser. “I hope this festival will act as a catalyst towards achieving both between the Arab and Western worlds.” He added, “This festival will showcase the rich heritage and beauty of the Arab world through its extraordinary artists on the Kennedy Center’s stages.”

The League of Arab States is a regional organization with a combined population of 325 million that spans two continents—Africa and Asia—over five million square miles and includes 22 countries and territories: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

The festival title was inspired by the word Arabesque, derived from the word Arab, and refers to a calligraphic style developed in the 9th century in Iraq. The arabesque style reflects flowing and intersecting geometric lines and was adopted to define the ballet position. It is used as an evocative description of visual, dance, theater, or musical styles that are Arab or carry a marked Arab influence.

Excerpted from full press releasebelow

Breaking the Veils: Women Artists from the Islamic World

North Gallery

Breaking the Veils: Women Artists from the Islamic World brings together the work of female artists from the Arab world and beyond to attempt to break the stereotypes attached to women in the Islamic world. The exhibition spans the paintings and etchings of women artists who live in countries throughout the Arab world that include: Syria, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Sudan, Oman, Yemen, U.A.E., Algeria, Lebanon, Tunisia, Egypt, Palestine, Iraq, Morocco, Palestine, Jordan. Their subject matter includes issues related to gender, the environment, politics, nationalism, social mores as well as abstract works that carry pure aesthetic values. For Arabesque, the Kennedy Center will create an exclusive installation using 29 paintings by the 26 Arab artists participating in the exhibit. The media are as varied as their subjects and include: oils, acrylics, watercolors, inks, gouaches, dry cacti, silkscreen, etching, collage and treated photographic print. The exhibition works come from the permanent collection of the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts in Amman.

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets may be purchased at the Kennedy Center Box Office, online at kennedy-center.org, or by calling Instant Charge at (202) 467-4600. Those patrons living outside the Washington metropolitan calling area may dial toll-free at (800) 444-1324.

FUNDING CREDITS

Arabesque: Arts of the Arab World is presented with the generous support of Presenting Underwriter, the HRH Foundation. Additional support is provided by the United Arab Emirates Embassy in Washington, D.C.; the Ministry of Culture and Information, Kingdom of Bahrain; the Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center; the Qatar Foundation; A. Huda and Samia Farouki; the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art; Alice and David Rubenstein; Saudi Aramco; Ford Foundation; Michael Kojaian; Ambassador Elizabeth Frawley Bagley and Mr. Smith Bagley; and the Laura Pels Foundation.

International Programming at the Kennedy Center is supported through the generosity of the Kennedy Center International Committee on the Arts.

Presented in cooperation with the League of Arab States

For more information on Arabesque: Arts of the Arab World, please visit www.kennedy-center.org.

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TICKETS & INFORMATION:

(800) 444-1324

TTY: (202) 416-8524

Full Press Release