Upcoming Events

Spoken word, poetry, live music
Rooftop Rhythms Poetry Open Mic
12th Season
Speak your truth from the roof!

Arab World Debut
Bebel Gilberto - Songs My Father Loved
Heartfelt Brazilian Music
Brazilian chanteuse Bebel Gilberto presents a series of heartfelt and personal songs dedicated to her father, bossa nova originator João Gilberto.

Arab World Premiere
Koyaanisqatsi Live - Film by Godfrey Reggio, Music by Philip Glass
Film Screening with Live Score
Watch Godfrey Reggio’s groundbreaking film Koyaanisqatsi, set to a score by Philip Glass, performed live by the Philip Glass Ensemble, in a hypnotic exploration of nature, urbanization, and a world out of balance.

Middle East Premiere
FRONTERA - Dana Gingras / Animals of Distinction
Presented with the support of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels
A visually stunning spectacle of propulsive dance, powerful live post-rock, and dazzling lighting.

Award winning writers and poets
The City and the Writer: A Global Gathering
Curated by Nathalie Handal
A Words Without Borders celebration of multicultural, multilingual authors reading their works.

Arab World Premiere
This World Made Itself | Infinitely Yours - Miwa Matreyek
Multimedia Live Performance
Performance meets animation at the intersection of cinematic and theatrical, fantastical and tangible, and illusionistic and physical in evocative explorations of the earth and the environment.

Arab World Premiere
Our Island - Small Island Big Song
Multimedia concert of a cross Indo-Pacific collaboration
Discover the shared & distinct musical collaborations of islander songkeepers from the Pacific and Indian Ocean as they voice concerns of a changing ocean.

Featuring La Capella Reial De Catalunya and Hespèrion XXI
Al-Andalus & the Ancient Hesperia conducted by Jordi Savall
Co-presented by Abu Dhabi Festival and The Arts Center
Grammy-award-winning Catalan-Spanish conductor and musician Jordi Savall vividly performs the finest music of the Spanish Golden Age, spanning 500 years of Arabic cultural and historic roots in Andalusia.

World Premiere, commissioned by The Arts Center
Mehek - Aakash Odedra & Aditi Mangaldas
Presented with the support of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels
An enchanting exploration of the human heart, its desires, courage, and resilience, masterfully brought to life by the artistry of Aakash Odedra and Aditi Mangaldas

Boundary shattering global sounds
Barzakh Festival 2024
Four bands over two nights
Discover new global sounds as powerful tradition-bearers and genre-shattering musicians converge over two evenings that blend cultures, styles, and genres.