SIKKA 2013 - The Culturist at House 9
Following up on my post about SIKKA, here's a separate post with more information about my involvement in this year's fair. I am happy and proud to say that The Culturist is taking part in SIKKA this year.
Yours truly was commissioned to put together a project related to this blog and during the fair, from 14th-24th March, I will have a house (House no. 9) that will be an extension of the blog, a physical presence of the blog.
House 9 will cover major themes from the blog such as films, music, travel, photography and the 1980s in three different rooms:
Screen | Travel | Reminisce
Here's the write up by SIKKA:
The Culturist.com is an independent blog run by Hind Mezaina that offers a unique voice in the cultural sphere of Dubai and the region. It contains visually stimulating images, videos and sounds. It also aims to showcase creative talent and inspire its readers.
The Culturist is creating an offline experiential transformation of the blog in House 9 that will allow visitors to interact with the space and each other. House 9 will cover major themes from the blog such as films, music, travel, photography and the 1980s.
During the 10 days of the fair, you can expect the following:
Room 1 - Screen
A selection of short films and featurettes, (that have been shared on this blog or clips I recently found online or through friends) will be screened in a dark room, where you can sit comfortably and switch off from everything else around you. I hope the clips you will see will bring you joy and inspiration as they did to me.
Room 2 - Travel
This room will feature ephemera that I've collected from my travels over the past few years.
Room 3 - Reminisce
This room will feature more ephemera, but this time, from Dubai. See a selection of posters, flyers, ticket stubs from events dating back to 2004. It's to showcase the cultural scene has been active for a while - even if it has been a slow moving scene at some times. Digging these items that have been stored all over the place in my room was a joy, because it brought back lots of good memories. I really do hope you will like what you see.
The room will also have some old music clips (Khaleeji, Egyptian, Lebanese, European and Bollywood), screening on a wall. It's some of the music I remember listening to and watched on TV in the late 1970s/early 1980s. It was great fun finding these clips online. Here's one example. You've got to come to the house to see more.
Dalida - Salma Ya Salama
I've been busy trying to set up the house for the past few days, and testing equipment like projectors and DVD players. Here's what the house looks like from the open courtyard. I will share more photos when everything is set up.
I am quite excited (and nervous) about this project. If you are in the neighbourhood, please drop by and say hello.
SIKKA will be on from 14th - 24th March. There are several options on how to get there, metro, bus, taxi - location map and details can be found here.
Fair timings:
Thursday 14 March 18:00 – 00:00
Friday 15 March 16:00 – 00:00
Saturday 16 March 12:00 – 00:00
Sunday 17 March 14:00 – 22:00
Monday 18 March 14:00 – 22:00
Tuesday 19 March 14:00 – 22:00
Wednesday20 March 14:00 – 22:00
Thursday 21 March 14:00 – 00:00
Friday 22 March 16:00 – 00:00
Saturday 23 March 12:00 – 00:00
Sunday 24 March 18:00 – 00:00