Image:
Image courtesy of the artist. Photo credit: Jordan Munn
1 November 2025
8:00 pm–9:00 pm
Africa Hall, Al Manakh, Sharjah
Join us for an engaging collaboration between electronic composer Sote (Ata Ebtekar) and audio-visual artist Tarik Barri.
Experience an evening of layered electronic sounds juxtaposed with large-scale generative visuals. Together with Sote’s compositions, shifting between dense, textured rhythms and delicate tonal structures, Barri’s real-time projections expand across the Africa Hall, transforming the venue into a responsive visual environment.
Through the synergetic use of sounds and abstract visuals, the artists explore a range of emotions and themes, from isolation and loss to beauty and hope. Their collaboration meditates on how sound and image can alternately embody both rupture and renewal.
Content advisory: This performance features loud sounds and strobing light effects.
Free and open to the public.
2 November 2025
4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Flying Saucer, Sharjah
Ages: 16+
In English
Sharjah Art Foundation is pleased to host audiovisual artist and software developer Tarik Barri for a hands-on introduction to Videosync, a tool that extends Ableton Live into the visual realm.
Developed by Barri and his team at Showsync, Videosync allows musicians and artists to create real-time visuals that move in step with sound or unfold independently as visual works. Within Ableton Live’s familiar interface, participants can manipulate and warp video, integrate live video streams or generate visuals from scratch. Using MIDI, automation and signal routing, Videosync makes it possible to synchronize tightly with music or to explore looser, more improvisational audiovisual interactions.
In this workshop, Barri will guide participants through core concepts, practical tips and advanced techniques, showing how Videosync can be used to combine live improvisation with pre-composed elements and build unique audiovisual environments.
What to bring
Participants must bring their own laptops (Mac/PC) with Ableton Live Suite 11 or 12 (trial versions are acceptable) and Videosync installed. Videosync can be downloaded at videosync.showsync.com.
Experience required
Some familiarity with Ableton Live is recommended. Beginners can prepare by exploring the following resources:
Tutorials on automation and routing by LNA: Video 1, Video 2, Video 3
Free and open to the public. Registration required.
2 November 2025
6:00 pm–7:00 pm
The Flying Saucer,
Dasman, Sharjah
Join us for a conversation with Sote (Ata Ebtekar), a pivotal figure of the electronic music scene in the region.
Hear about the influences that have shaped his sound and led him to develop a distinctive approach to making music. Share in the lessons he has learned from Persian Dastgah music and collaborating with traditional musicians, as well as some of the musical concepts he has arrived at after more than three decades in the field. Sote will also speak about what being an educator means to him, and how he feels about the canon of music emerging from Iran.
This conversation follows Sote’s collaborative performance with audiovisual artist Tarik Barri on 1 November 2025 at Africa Hall, Al Manakh, Sharjah[RS1] .
This talk is free and open to the public; however, prior registration is required.
Sote (Ata Ebtekar) is a Tehran-based sound artist whose work spans experimental electronics, acoustic-electronic collaborations and club sounds. A pivotal figure of the electronic music scene in the region, Sote is guided by his deeply-held conviction that rules and formulas should be deconstructed, and as such employs modal codes, tonality and rhythm to create vivid synthetic soundscapes. Revisiting traditional materials through digital manipulation, Sote conceives radical compositions that range from delicate to abrasive, marked by striking emotional contrasts.
Audiovisual artist Tarik Barri is the co-founder of Showsync, which develops Videosync, Beam and other tools tailored for musical synchrony in live performances and shows. Videosync enables musicians and artists to craft real-time visuals that respond to sound or function independently as standalone works. Barri’s collaborations with various artists, including Ben Frost, Sote, Robert Henke and Nicolas Jaar helped shape Videosync into a tool that's both intuitive and powerful.
1–2 November 2025
Image:
Image courtesy of the artist. Photo credit: Jordan Munn