Arts and entertainment venue The Fridge is a pillar of Dubai’s musical and cultural landscape, but it didn’t happen overnight. In fact, it took a whole decade.
This month, they celebrate a major milestone in a long line of them: They have officially crossed the 10-year mark of operating in the UAE.
The venue has a physical shape, sure — a warehouse tucked inconspicuously between various exhibitions and alleyways at Al Serkal Avenue — but The Fridge also operates as a team of ardent individuals, who produce shows around the rest of the city’s hotspots.
Founder Shelley Frost, a musician herself, has regularly taken risks and focused on innovation. But her tried and true mission statement of championing locally based artists hasn’t changed.
She looks back at The Fridge’s achievements, and gives Gulf News tabloid! a glimpse into its year-by-year history, beginning with the moment they opened their doors in Al Quoz.
1) 2007: The Fridge was founded
Musician and performer Shelley Frost founded The Fridge inside of a warehouse in Al Quoz 4. She had an ambitious vision to create a multi-purpose space where artists could meet, rehearse, and collaborate. The ultimate goal was to set the stage — literally — for more live artist performances, with an emphasis on original projects. The Fridge wanted to encourage a surge of creativity in the city.
2) 2009: Concert Series began
The Fridge began its Concert Series in the summer of 2009. It opened its doors to locally based musicians and artists to show their work in front of an audience for the first time.
The series, which continues to occur until today, is open to all genres and styles, from jazz and opera to dance, indie and hip hop. There are only three rules: artists must be based in the UAE, they must play original material, and as Frost puts it, “They gotta be good.”
3) Early 2011: Cirque Du Souq
Cirque Du Souq was The Fridge’s first original theatre production. The aerial show was written in Dubai and inspired by the region. Live musicians provided the backdrop for acrobatic performances, all the while incorporating an Arabic flair.
4) Late 2011: Alserkal Avenue welcomes The Fridge
The Fridge was invited to be a part of Alserkal Avenue, the arts district of Al Quoz. The Fridge accepted and made the move from Al Quoz 4 to Al Quoz 1, where it continues to reside today. Al Serkal Avenue is a bare-bones structure of warehouses incorporating art museums, theatres and other creative venues within walking distance of each other.
5) 2012: Kalubela
The Fridge decided to round up the UAE’s most talented creatives and put on its own aerial song-and-dance production. They staged Kalubela, a nod to Eartha Kitt and the music of the 20th century, at the Madinat Theatre in October of 2012. It brought together vocalists from Oman, the UK, South Africa, Colombia and Bulgaria. There was an 11-piece jazz band in the mix. Even the costumes were by Dubai-based designers from the Philippines: Ezra Santos and Michael Cinco.
6) 2013: ChoirFest Middle East
Shelley Frost and Joanna Marsh joined forces to create ChoirFestMiddle East. They wanted to showcase the regional and global choral community through a dedicated platform. It began humbly with 12 expat choirs in the UAE, competing for Choir of the Year, but eventually became a week-long festival of concerts, workshops and a gala. Competitions involved choirs from all over the world, including Afghanistan, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Palestine.
7) 2014: Pacha Dinner Shows
The Fridge worked together with Pacha Ibiza Dubai (a venue that once lived in Madinat Jumeirah, and is now permanently closed) on three productions: Viva, Deception and Ziya. The projects underwent several stages: concept development, casting, choreography, costuming and original music arrangements by The Fridge.
8) 2015: #ConcertSeries100
Six years on from the first-ever Concert Series at The Fridge, a special milestone edition came along: the Centenary Concert Series, celebrating 100+ shows at the venue. In true Fridge fashion, it took place in four musically diverse parts, starting with jazz and soul courtesy of Rachael Calladine and The Express Allstars, moving onto the Dubai Vocal Ensemble and AfroBeats, dabbling in analogue fusion from Aaron Kim and Fidgit, and wrapping with the EP launch of indie-folk outfit David Beats Goliath.
9) 2016: Mother of the Nation
The Fridge programmed entertainment across several stages at the inaugural Mother of the Nation Festival (MotN) in 2016. MotN is a multifaceted, family-friendly and interactive festival split into zones, including a Happiness Zone and a Progress Zone. The Fridge worked with more than 200 artists across 10 platforms spread over 4km, and once again participated this year, where they presented a 54-piece Pokemon orchestra and an 18-piece Arabic orchestra.
10) 2017: Mohammad Al Shehhi at Dubai Opera
Mohammad Al Shehhi, a rising UAE star known for his style of fusion Khaleeji music, performed a Dubai Opera show that was wholly produced by The Fridge. Al Shehhi’s contemporary sound calls upon traditional Gulf elements and sets him apart. His Dubai Opera show was his first production of that size, and it fit well into The Fridge’s longstanding tradition of championing locally based musicians.
Up next at The Fridge: Existing between Algeria, Ghana and Burkina Faso before settling in Ivory Coast, El Foukr R’Assembly are coming to town. A pre-album release event of the band’s latest effort, Accra Affair, takes place on November 21. Entrance is Dh80.
