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Artists come together for Reuse festival in Kuwait

The annual festival, built around an ethos of sustainability, was founded by Kuwaiti recording artist Zahed Sultan.

Reuse festival, Kuwait/Please Do Not Use
Kuwaiti multi-instrumentalist Salem al-Salem, aka Altersal, debuted his solo project at Reuse, alongside his brother, Bader al-Salem. [Eva Staber/Al Jazeera]
By Motez Bishara
Published On 15 Apr 2016

More than 50 artists representing 14 countries gathered in Kuwait this month for the annual Reuse festival, a live performance event founded nearly a decade ago.

The brainchild of Kuwaiti recording artist Zahed Sultan, the eclectic event was built around an ethos of sustainability, with several sound stages built from recycled material. One Dutch performer used more than 5,000 cassette tapes to construct a fluorescent green installation. 

“With this edition of Reuse,” Sultan said, “I aspired to create a space for artists and audiences to interact using digital media, with an emphasis on light, sound and physical performance.”

Reuse festival, Kuwait/Please Do Not Use
Indian duo Nicholson appealed to the audience with their intimate performance and haunting vocals. [Eva Staber/Al Jazeera]
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Reuse festival, Kuwait/Please Do Not Use
The Japanese-French duo Nonotak created an audio-visual installation called Daydream. [Eva Staber/Al Jazeera]
Reuse festival, Kuwait/Please Do Not Use
Through their live performance, Nonotak played with notions of perception, light, space and sound. [Eva Staber/Al Jazeera]
Reuse festival, Kuwait/Please Do Not Use
Fari Bradley of Iran and Chris Weaver of the United Kingdom investigated how acoustics could be used to explore the relationship between subjects and space. [Eva Staber/Al Jazeera]
Reuse festival, Kuwait/Please Do Not Use
Canadian Karim Sultan's performance took the audience on a journey across an audio-visual landscape of the Arabian Gulf. [Eva Staber/Al Jazeera]
Reuse festival, Kuwait/Please Do Not Use
Emma Czerny of Poland delivered an emotional and eclectic performance of her signature dream-pop solo project, Magic Island. [Eva Staber/Al Jazeera]
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Reuse festival, Kuwait/Please Do Not Use
Maotik of Canada performed two immersive audio-visual shows at Reuse. [Eva Staber/Al Jazeera]
Reuse festival, Kuwait/Please Do Not Use
Refunc, from the Netherlands, used more than 5,000 audio cassette tapes donated by a local distributor to construct an installation. [Eva Staber/Al Jazeera]
Reuse festival, Kuwait/Please Do Not Use
Several Kuwaiti culinary professionals formed a collaboration called Salt, which used the ancient technique of immersing poultry, fish and meat evenly before grilling it in a bed of salt. The collaborative adopted this same method to allow audiences to prepare their own legumes. [Eva Staber/Al Jazeera]
Reuse festival, Kuwait/Please Do Not Use
Reuse explored the experience of navigating and interacting with an online news feed by attempting to recreate this experience in an offline, physical space. [Eva Staber/Al Jazeera]
Reuse festival, Kuwait/Please Do Not Use
Nonotak has created light installations and immersive live spectacles everywhere from Texas to London to Hong Kong, and most recently contributed two pieces to the Reuse festival in Kuwait. [Eva Staber/Al Jazeera]
Reuse festival, Kuwait/Please Do Not Use
Reuse offered the audience a window into contemporary art and culture, fused with elements of traditional customs and values. [Eva Staber/Al Jazeera]
Reuse festival, Kuwait/Please Do Not Use
Maurice Mikkers of the Netherlands fused art and science in his work. His signature photography project is entitled Imaginarium of Tears. [Eva Staber/Al Jazeera]
Reuse festival, Kuwait/Please Do Not Use
Cheb Moha of Iraq used his travels as a tool to connect himself with the people around him. At Reuse, he welcomed people into a space so that they could see and feel his experiences. [Eva Staber/Al Jazeera]