Sharjah Art Foundation announces Visiting Tarab, an evening of music, to premiere opening week of Performa 11 (Nov 1 - 21), the fourth edition of the internationally acclaimed New York visual art performance biennial. Conceived by Lebanese artist Tarek Atoui, Visiting Tarab will incorporate elements of the world’s largest collection of Classical Arab music as interpreted by 16 musicians and sound artists ranging in expertise from hip hop to electronic and contemporary music. A Performa Commission with the Sharjah Art Foundation, Visiting Tarab is one of 12 commissions by the New York biennial. The US commission also continues the Sharjah Art Foundation’s ongoing commitment to support the flourishing arts environment in the Gulf region and beyond by actively pursuing both a regional and international program of cultural collaboration and exchange. The performance will be held November 5, 2011, from 8pm to midnight, at SIR Stage 37 in New York City and will be followed by more than 100 performances by acclaimed contemporary artists included in the three-week biennial. To purchase tickets, please visit www.performa-arts.org.

This performance will feature Tarek Atoui as well as Anti-Pop Consortium, Uriel Barthelemi, Jonathan Butcher, DJ Spooky, Lukas Ligeti, Robert Lowe, Raz Mesinai, Ikue Mori, Sara Parkins, Zeena Parkins, Elliott Sharp and Zafer Tawil.  The one-night-only US performance will be a continuous building of energies, intensities, and textures inspired by the structure and rules of “Tarab,” transforming the New York venue into a space of enchantment and ecstasy.

Visiting Tarab will premiere in the U.S. on November 5, 2011, for One Night Only, as a Commission of the Internationally Acclaimed New York Biennial, Performa 11

The Sharjah Art Foundation will premiere Visiting Tarab in the United Arab Emirates in March 2012.