Amin Abbas

Japanese musical opera show “Scary Beauty” gave the audience in the UAE an unusual experience as the show featured a robot with artificial intelligence singing along with a human orchestra.

The performance, which took place Jan. 31, showcased composer Keiichiro Shibuya’s music. This one-of-a-kind performance explored the relationship between terror, beauty and humanity's fear of being made redundant in the future.

Keiichiro Shibuya said: “I was at Abu Dhabi art festival few years ago for a music performance which was a wonderful experience. I love the UAE because people here like new things such as technology.”

“The concept of the performance is the metaphorical relationship between technology & human. People use technology in many ways in their life and this relationship is difficult as technology becomes sort of slave to humanity and this is why is called Scary Beauty,” he added.

Shibuya said that many people told him they enjoyed the show, even though he felt most of the audience was quiet during the performance.

Shibuya released Android Opera “Scary Beauty” in 2018 and worked on the concept with many researchers and artists.

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The show was part of the on-going exhibition 'Inter-Resonance: Inter-Organics, Japanese Performance and Sound Art' at Sharjah Art Foundation.

The exhibition is the second iteration of Sharjapan, a four-year-long collaboration with curator Yuko Hasegawa, which focuses on performances and sound-based installations exploring interactions between nature, technology and human life.