Kaz Rahman Celebrates Success of Performances in Dubai
Digital Dervish + Flamenco Sonic: Dream Chamber in Dubai December 16-17 2022
UTK School of Art Lecturer Kaz Rahman went to Dubai in December with his wife, wearable tech designer and music composer Hedy Hurban, ( https://www.firoza.co.uk/profile/hedy-hurban/ ) to showcase their collaborative multi-media project Digital Dervish + Flamenco Sonic: Dream Chamber.
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/798547796
The venue was a high-profile Digital Art Museum in Dubai called TODA (Theatre of Digital Art) that had capacity crowds and consists of 13 screens to create an immersive experience. The venue programs work that touches on media such as fashion, costume, filmmaking, music and performance and Rahman’s company were the first foreign artists to have been invited to work with TODA. The Dervish performer Seyit Sercan Çelik https://www.firoza.co.uk/profile/seyit-sercan-celik/ and the Flamenco dancer Pepa Sanz https://www.firoza.co.uk/profile/pepa-sanz/ 
are both highly celebrated professionals who came from Turkey and Spain to perform.
Digital Dervish + Flamenco Sonic is a multimedia performance that combines original choreography and music with wearable technology and experimental filmmaking; Rahman’s role as filmmaker and production designer consisted of two films for variations of this performance- a 360 degree film that was done back in May and a newly completed one that comprises the first part of the show. Another key part of this project was tailoring both the performers, costume and most noticeably the film projection to the space. The venue had 13 screens which are both fragmented and immersive. This created a unique opportunity to push both the possibilities of the filmmaking/art direction as well as the limits of the space as there is no other venue like this.
Rahman was generously supported by UTK through the Office of Research, Innovation and Economic Development, the College of Arts and Sciences and the Center for Global Engagement.