Alserkal Arts Foundation presents On Translucency, a performance essay by Himali Singh Soin with David Soin Tappeser and Byron Wallen

Alserkal Arts Foundation presents On Translucency, a performance that evolved from an essay by Himali Singh Soin, accompanied by percussionist David Soin Tappeser and conch player Byron Wallen. First developed and presented as a live work during Soin and Soin Tappeser’s residency at Alserkal Arts Foundation in Dubai in the spring of 2024, the performance will now debut in London in October, in partnership with Delfina Foundation.

The essay is part of Himali’s collection of emergent manifestos, each spiralling around a central metaphor, that respond to our changing times. In Himali Singh Soin’s words:

“On Translucency is a mytho-poetic manifesto about the space between the shore and the tide, the translucent shallow, visible and invisible, dense and sheer. It departs from Édouard Glissant’s notion of opacity and arrives in places where frosted windows keep the heat of the sun out, soften the detailed edges of bodies while holding on to the relational, letting light through and not shutting out the other. Translucency argues for a kind of not-knowing that allows for the [coexistence of the] private world of thought and the gregarious world of friendship, as island to archipelago. This manifesto is filtered through the translucent lenses of air, ice, skin, oil, and film. Translucency is both the right to illegibility and the desire for interpretation. Translucency is a zone of safety, a permeable way into our post-natural lifeways.”

Written and performed by Himali Singh Soin, the essay is accompanied by music by David Soin Tappeser. During their residency in Dubai, the artist and musician visited the intertidal sabkha areas around the UAE—ecologically vital zones, neither land nor sea, that form rich, porous buffers. Salvaging materials washed up in these areas, such as shells, salt-encrusted plastic bottles, as well as objects from local markets, David created musical instruments, their percussive qualities forming a contrapuntal dialogue with Himali’s text. Now for the iteration presented in London, the artists have invited conch player Byron Wallen to infuse the sound of water and its rituals of devotion to the performance.

Nearly a year later, this poetic and powerful manifesto still resonates, appealing to a softer, less alienated approach to cultural interaction and plantatory coexistence. Taking place at the close of a busy Frieze Week, in a time of deepening global chasms, On Translucency creates space for restorative contemplation and invites more fluid positions towards plural coexistence.

Nada Raza, Director of Alserkal Arts Foundation, says: “Friendship and alliance defines the spirit of the Alserkal family and Arts Foundation, where learning from and support for cultural practice are intertwined. Sharing this generous performative work that we helped develop Himali and David’s time at the Foundation in Dubai, a manifesto that urges that we profoundly reattune our modes of being, feels right for the devastation we face today.”

On Translucency will take place at Westminster Chapel in London on October 12, 2024.
-ENDS-

About Alserkal Arts Foundation

Alserkal Arts Foundation is a not-for-profit initiative supported by the Alserkal family, dedicated to hosting and enabling cultural producers to spark thought and debate.

Founded in 2019, the Foundation is committed to advancing scholarship and fostering dialogue across disciplinary boundaries. It invites artists, researchers, and scholars to engage with the key questions and issues of our time through its residency programs, research grants, symposiums, and public art commissions, offering the freedom to challenge conventions and share knowledge through new conversations. Situated within Alserkal Avenue in Dubai, the Foundation has a growing network of alumni and serves as a vital conduit to the region's thriving art scene.

The Foundation is part of Alserkal Initiatives—a cultural enterprise that includes Alserkal Avenue and Alserkal Advisory—dedicated to nurturing homegrown talent and developing sustainable creative businesses.

About the Artists

Himali Singh Soin is a writer and artist currently who works between New Delhi and London. Singh Soin's interdisciplinary work focuses on the nature of identity, environmental issues, and the notion of deep time. She works across film, spoken word, performance, epistolary poetry, ceramics, music, and embroidery, which allows her to interweave complex concepts and narratives together.

David Soin Tappeser is a drummer, composer and performance artist based between London and New Delhi. His practice explores socio-eco-spiritual-tempo-somatic dimensions of sound. His performances and compositions use rhythm to unearth, manipulate, and deconstruct linear perceptions of time, interdependence, and alterity. They hint at intercultural entanglements, parallel histories, and extra-human frames of reference while thinking about environmental destruction and sociopolitical fissures.

Byron Wallen was born in July 1969 in London, England while the Apollo 11 crew were on their way to the moon. Widely recognised as a seminal figure in world jazz, he is constantly travelling the world recording, teaching and performing. He has visited East Africa, Morocco, Nigeria, Indonesia and Belize (his parents' homeland). On tour Wallen often works with local musicians, developing new ideas for his performances and compositions. In 1992, Wallen formed Sound Advice touring the UK and playing in Syria in 1996 and the Czech Republic in 1997. The band also appeared at the North Sea Jazz Festival, gaining critical and audience acclaim. In 1995 Wallen played in South Africa, recording with Airto Moreira and Moses Moseleku. A documentary film, Travelling, traces his 1998 trip to Uganda. In 2001 he appeared at the Harare Jazz festival in Zimbabwe and at South Africa's ARTS Alive Earth Summit festival in 2002.

Produced by Holly Shuttleworth, HS Studio.

For press interviews, information or imagery:

Gautami Reddy | gautami@alserkal.online

Michela Simone | michela@alserkal.online

Instagram: @alserkalartsfoundation

Website: alserkal.online/foundation