Performance x Video Art | 2016

“It was a hot and sticky night but there was a wonderful energy in the air and what looked like an unprecedented number of people out for last night for Alserkal Lates — amidst that something wonderful and new happened at the Jean-Paul Najar Foundation: the RETROactive and INTERactive performance in conjunction with Judy Rifka’s video in partnership with AUD. I felt transported to summer events at the Brooklyn Museum and PS1!” – Mahnaz Fancy, Cultural Critic

In 2016, the Jean-Paul Najar Foundation (JPNF), a non-profit ICOM registered private museum of Contemporary Art based in Dubai, held a solo exhibition featuring the works of iconic postmodernist Judy Rifka.

Titled Judy Rifka: RETROactive, the exhibition included many of the works that Jean-Paul Najar collected from Judy since the 1970s as well as new works that she produced as part of her residency while in Dubai. In addition, the exhibition included archival material regarding the incredible relationship between the artist and collector over the decades.

During Judy’s tenure, JPNF and American University in Dubai (AUD) spearheaded a project to include a performance as part of the programming.

INTERactive stemmed out of this initiative. Realized in collaboration with Shereen Saif, INTERactive integrated a curated selection of Judy’s video art work into a site specific, immersive performance.

INTERactive premiered at AUD, followed by a second rendition at JPNF.

“At the beginning of the process, Judy made a short list of the video art creations she wanted to show. Looking through these, I picked 4 that really resonated with me. Studying these videos closely and capturing the free associations and immediate impressions they created in my mind, I developed the concept and narrative for each piece. Fortunately for me, Judy was very generous and open to the interpretations. From the concept grew a 20min (4-part) semi-improvised, semi-choreographed performance. Through introspection, interpretation and interaction, we (dancers) became a corporeal extension of the video fugues.”