Hajjaj Salama

Sharjah Art Foundation organized, within the second season of "Sharjah Performances", a new artistic experience titled "Perhaps Here", held in the heritage Bait Al Serkal and Majlis Sheikh Mohammed in Arts Square on February 9, 10, 11, with the participation of 16 artists from theater, live installation, video, poets, and writers who presented simultaneous performances several times each day. According to a statement received by "Ahwal Al-Marifa", the title "Perhaps Here" refers to the fourth collection of poet Kholoud Al Mualla, which was borrowed as a name for this unique experience, seeking to present stories of live creativity in the form of short performances, poetry recitals, literary readings, or video installations, where the audience could choose three of them each performance night.

The list of participating artists included: Kholoud Al Mualla, Zahran Al Qasimi, Alaa Younis, Amir Reza Koohestani, Andeel, Fakhri El Ghezal, Haig Aivazian, Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Maha Maamoun, Mahmoud Tarek, Marwa Arsanios, Muhanad Karim Kazar, Sulayman Al-Bassam, Taus Makhacheva, Haytham El-Wardany, and Iman Mohammed Turki. This new event came to create a space for the audience to interact with contemporary artistic imagination and test ideas, aesthetics, or feelings through various types of live arts. From poetry with Kholoud Al Mualla reading "The Love and Air of Poetry" and Iman Mohammed Turki reading "What the Wind Left Behind", to storytelling with Zahran Al Qasimi reading from his novel "The Exile of the Water Seeker" and Haytham El-Wardany in "Small Unpaid Debts".

In theater, the audience saw three performances: Sulayman Al-Bassam presented "Songs from the Ghost of a Boat," weaving songs and poems for a boat carrying humans and their imaginations above raging waves and storms. Muhanad Karim Kazar in his performance "Lawrence" engaged with historical narratives and secrets surrounding T.E. Lawrence in the Arab world during the Great Arab Revolt, using AI to test stories about historical documents. Under the title "What If We Didn’t?", director Amir Reza Koohestani took us on a journey with migrants across the sea asked to register their information upon arrival. Video installations included Maha Maamoun's "2026," inspired by Mahmoud Othman's novel "The 2053 Revolution," narrating a time traveler's vision of the Pyramids area in 2026. Fakhri El Ghezal presented "People of the Cave," tracking rappers "Jojo M" and "Gala" through feelings of memory and nostalgia. Haig Aivazian presented an animated short "You May Own the Lanterns but the Light is Ours," depicting a city in darkness. The program also included six performance shows: Taus Makhacheva explored the relationship between personal and public memory regarding her grandfather, poet Rasool Gamzatov; Alaa Younis interacted with reader drawings in Majid magazine; Marwa Arsanios searched for the roots of "property" in Arabic in "Owned – Commons"; cartoonist "Andeel" gave a satirical look at future products in "Our Future"; Lawrence Abu Hamdan re-enacted the contrast between technological speed and the human mind's comprehension; and Mahmoud Tarek presented "Connection/Asymmetry" with drum accompaniment showing scenes from recurring dreams.