Amin Abbas

FUNN, a Sharjah-based organization, united passionate anime enthusiasts across Sharjah and the UAE at SHASHAH 2022, held from 11 – 13 March at Aljada, Sharjah.

The thrilling three-day event featured workshops, film screenings, music performances, competitions, and cultural activities for visitors and anime enthusiasts of all ages in the UAE.

Exclusively to Arab News Japan,  Sheikha Jawaher Bint Abdullah Al Qasimi, Director of FUNN, shared how the FUNN Foundation is known for working on filming, photography, animation, audio, among others. The event is held every two years under a different theme, with this year’s inspired by anime. 

SHASHAH, is dedicated to making learning fun, and “provides an inspiring platform for children and young people to enhance their creative talent and develop new artistic skills. We were surprised by the positive response of the community for the event who are passionate for anime in the country specially those who wanted to participate in the artist ally to showcase and sell their artworks and merchandise.” 

“SHASHAH (Anime) is a wonderful platform for all arts enthusiasts to expand their creativity and imagination through our wide range of educational workshops, films, music performances, and competitions that explore the rich and fantastic universe of anime through the three-day event,” she said. 

Several professional-led anime and manga workshops were open for all ages, some of the workshops included: Creating an Origami-Craft and Stop Motion, 2D Anime Sketching, Creating Visual Novels, and Coloring Manga and Anime.

Young children of diverse age groups experienced the joy of learning the Japanese art of origami at a workshop led by Sahar Abdalla, a visual artist animator and art director, who introduced children to the unique art of folding paper.

Following the step-by-step instructions, children learnt to make a sailboat using a square, solid color origami paper with just five easy folds. Crafting a whale without glue required more steps and included the addition of details like the flippers and a slit tail. The participants then decorated the paper whale with eyes and a mouth. The marine theme continued with a more complex origami turtle session for young teens.

Under the guidance of freelance artist and trainer Sarah Mohammed, young students were given a step-by-step tutoring in drawing stylized mini versions (chibi) of Japanese anime and manga characters defined by their large heads, tiny bodies and expressive eyes which makes them appealing. The Introduction to the Chibi Style workshop was a simple and fun introduction to drawing a Chibi character with the right facial proportions. 

Young artists at SHASHAH 2022 also benefited from another beginner’s workshop taught by the trainer Ali Ghareib, where participants learnt to draw and complete their first manga character, and as part of Create an Origami-Craft and Stop Motion, participants were introduced to the Japanese art of origami and learnt how to bring their figures to life through stop motion techniques. There were additional manga related workshops that took place that tackled the basics of anime and manga. 

At the SHASHAH event this year, a live musical performance took place featuring Japanese singer-songwriter Fae Miranda on March 11.

Two solo performances were scheduled for Saturday, March 12 with pianist Mahmoud Ihab taking to the stage followed by anime music guitarist ATS.  Anime lovers cheered, danced and swayed as the performers took to the stage to perform renditions of instrumentals from anime soundtracks on the second day of SHASHAH 2022. 

On March 13 talented singer M7MDX performed popular remixed Arabic cartoon songs on the stage and charmed audience members with an energetic performance of opening themes from Arabic-dubbed anime.

The anime event also featured kiosks selling Japanese pop culture trinkets and fantastic works of art, a sumo wrestling arena, a comics cartoon mashup portrait corner, games booths, and more, while fans dressed as their favorite characters from Japanese animation posed for photos with admiring fans.

On March 11, audiences watched “The Journey,” the first major animated feature between Manga Productions (Saudi Arabia) and Toei Animation (Japan), which tells the story of Aws who takes up arms against a ruthless invader threatening to enslave the people of Mecca.

To round off this year’s edition of SHASHAH on March 13, the anime movie ‘The Place Promised in Our Early Days’ was presented in collaboration with the Consulate General of Japan in Dubai. Set in an alternate timeline in post-World War II Japan, the movie is the directorial debut of critically acclaimed anime director, Makoto Shinkai.