As part of a special commission and production, and with the sponsorship of its lead partner, Mubadala Investment Company (Mubadala), the 18th edition of Abu Dhabi Festival (ADF), held under the theme ‘The Future Starts Now’, streamed the final episode of the Global Oud Forum across its digital channels, featuring Arab oud master and UNESCO Artist for Peace, Naseer Shamma, with three exclusive oud performances by Shamma himself.
In the episode finale, Shamma spoke about the challenges and reasons for hosting the forum virtually and the value of research presented by experts in music and the arts industry, in addition to how the participants for this year’s edition of the forum were chosen.
Shamma said: “At the Global Oud Forum a group of creatives come together to present their visions, ideas, music and innovations in the world of the oud. It is an attempt to bring together musicians, oud makers, researchers and critics in one arena, where they exchange advice, experiences, ideas and methodologies from around the world.
He continued, “We held the first Global Oud Forum in Cairo in 2010. It was a collaboration between the Egyptian Opera House (the Egyptian Ministry of Culture) and Abu Dhabi Festival, and with our shared vision, we were able to offer a variety of events, that included all the parties that are part of the world of the oud, and now the second session of GOF is held virtually."
"The aim is to preserve the musicians’ and audiences’ access to concerts, and this will be the case in future gatherings of the Forum. We ensured that the content of the performance is of high quality with dedicated specialists to record the programme in 23 locations globally, where 27 musicians from various nations took part.”
“With Abu Dhabi Festival, we have a relationship that spans 25 years since the Festival’s first edition. We have worked together on several big dreams most of which were unprecedented. This is the 15th project that we have worked on with the Festival, and all were new experiences that were open to the public, where the artist was able to present their best. Abu Dhabi Festival has done everything to continue this relationship, which is based on mutual respect and understanding, to crystalise many ideas and realise ways to implement each idea,” he added.
GOF announced in the finale that print and online publications from participating authors are made available on the website. These publications form a reservoir of information about the oud instrument and a reliable reference for future musical projects.
Across its seven TV-format episodes, GOF2021 shed light on the work of oud makers, innovations in the musical instrument industry, the history and present of the oud in the Gulf region and the means of its globalisation, the pioneers of the modern musical instrument industry, how to leverage digital technologies in oud music and the influence of digital music on the arts.
