WASHINGTON — Lebanese dancers, a Shakespeare production from Kuwait portraying Saddam Hussein as “Richard III” and incredible wedding dresses from the Arab world — including the Rashaydah bridal costume at left — are showcased in an unprecedented arts festival at the Kennedy Center.
The $10 million, three-week festival, “Arabesque: Arts of the Arab World,” began Monday. It features 800 artists from 22 countries, including Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Somalia and Sudan. Organizers say it is the largest presentation of Arab arts ever in the United States.
The artists, hailing from well-established theaters as well as more isolated places, “are excited that America is going to take their cultural work seriously,” said Michael Kaiser, president of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The goal, he said, is “to get to understand Arabs as people, as opposed to Arabs as political entities.” The Associated Press
