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Abu Dhabi Festival reaches out to underprivileged

Cultural activities, workshops will be held in special needs centres, orphanages and for poor women.

The Abu Dhabi Festival (ADF) is reaching out this March to underprivileged and isolated communities across the UAE. From children with special needs to underprivileged women and orphanage children, the festival’s education and community programme will give everyone the opportunity to be creative.

“Through the arts in all its varied forms, the festival complements formal education and helps develop the UAE’s young minds many of whom will become tomorrow’s leaders, tomorrow’s pioneers and tomorrow’s entrepreneurs,” said Hoda Al Khamis Kanoo, founder of the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation (ADMAF), organiser of the festival.

For the fourth consecutive year, the ADF comes to Tawam Hospital in Al Ain and Shaikh Khalifa Medical City, as well as Imperial College London Diabetes Centre in Abu Dhabi. Musicians from the House of Arts, Bayt Al Oud and the festival’s main programme will perform for patients and staff.

The UK’s theatre company for special needs, Oily Cart, will move into the Zayed Higher Organisation for Humanitarian Care and Special Needs for a week-long residency (March 2-6), where it will run workshops, teacher development and specialised performances for children with profound and multiple learning disabilities. The Dar Zayed on Tour will help the children of Dar Zayed orphanage enhance their cultural identity and nurture their creativity with a visit to the Kidzania educational environment in Dubai on March 8. In association with the UAE Red Crescent initiative Al Ghadeer, Treasuring Traditions will show underprivileged women the ropes to creativity and financial independence through traditional handicrafts, led by the female students of UAE University in Al Ain.

Taking children on an adventure into Emirati heritage, World Storytelling Day on March 20, organised by Zayed University’s Al Kharareef Storytelling Club, is an all-day event that will give pupils of Al Mushrif School a glimpse into the past, and an experience of traditions such as food, crafts, games, animals and, of course, storytelling. On March 22, Young Artists’ Day welcomes youngsters from across the UAE to perform live on the stage of National Theatre in Abu Dhabi, in a show of music and dance. Run for several years under the theme “Bilad Al Khayr” (The Land of Blessings), the ADF’s educational and community programme aims to attract as many and as varied communities as possible, especially children, to the world of arts and creativity.

“At ADMAF, we firmly believe that the skills and insight young people acquire through the arts and music will give them the edge to excel, which is why through initiatives such as the Abu Dhabi Festival, we ensure creativity among our youth is nurtured,” said Al Khamis Kanoo.

Now in its 11th year, the festival, taking place from March 2 to 31, has a line-up of over 50 free musical performances, interactive workshops, exhibitions and lectures for its “Bilad Al Khayr” programme.

Highlights include The Space Sessions, a series of three evening platforms for young Emiratis and peers to share creative ideas and artistic inventions; the 10th Emirates International Peace Music Festival, a nationwide tour by the Emirates Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Youth Symphony Orchestra of the Premiere Music College of Prague featuring young Emirati soloists; and The Story Mile, a new chapter in Emirati storytelling written and illustrated by students of Zayed University.

New this year is Ashtar Theatre, an acclaimed Palestinian theatre company, which will embark on its first UAE tour on March 10-18 with an Arabic language production of Sinbad and the Monster, as well as presenting a series of theatre-in-education workshops for schools and special needs centres in Umm Al Quwain, Ajman, Fujairah, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Ras Al Khaimah, to nurture Arabic language capabilities, enhance Arabic literature studies and strengthen cultural identity. — silvia@khaleejtimes.com