Mughal magician aladin by Andrew Atkinson (2009; all rights reserved)
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“Theatrical poetry” (ICA,
London) “Mystical cardmeister” (The Times,
London) “Extraordinary magician” (The Sunday Times,
London) "Magic how it should be performed" (MagicWeek,
U.K.) "Master of sleight of hand” (Evening Standard,
London) “Virtuoso magic and visual poetry” (Time Out,
London) "Astonishing legerdemain and
prestidigitation” (Whitechapel Art Gallery,
London) "The highlight" (Brunei Gallery, SOAS)
Amongst other platforms
aladin’s projects have featured in the British Festival of Visual Theatre, the
London International Festival of Theatre, the National Review of Live Arts and
the Portobello Film Festival, U.K. Abroad his work has been associated with
interdisciplinary events including Minority Report, Aarhus/Denmark; Keeping it
Real, Reykjavik/Iceland; Under De-Construction, Helsinki/Finland and Norse Ferry Tales, Dale/Norway.
In the U.K. aladin’s
projects as curator-artist have taken place at sites including: the
Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA),
Hayward Gallery, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Whitechapel Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum (V+A), British
Museum, Natural History Museum, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, South London
Gallery, Jerwood Space, Chisenhale Dance Space, Battersea Arts Centre,
Bullion Room/Hackney Empire and Trafalgar Square, London. In 2009 aladin inaugurated the series mugh-al, which will unfold across locations and time.
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Finally, aladin is a renown magician
who has received great critical acclaim for his prodigious
sleight-of-hand skills – his work features in the Universal Pictures
motion picture ‘Magicians’ (2007); the globally award-winning Book of Cool
(2006) featuring two dozen of the world's greatest virtuoso
entertainers; a pop video for "Badder Badder Schwing" by DJs Freddy
Fresh + Fatboy Slim; the BBC1 TV pilot "The Shuffler” and the BBC1 TV
show "Late with Russell Peters". aladin has opened on-stage for Paul
Weller, Beth Orton and Mark E. Smith, entertained at Alexander
McQueen's official London Fashion Week after-party and also been
on-camera and on-stage host for a magic festival which had a combined
live theatre and television audience of hundreds of millions in
Bangalore, India.
aladin's 2008/9 article "Appearance, Reality and Truth in Magic" which appeared as a chapter in "On Appearance", [see citation for Performance Research earlier] is widely referenced: "an absorbing, beautifully written chapter about magic and conjuring, a seminal
contribution to the academic literature, succinctly mapping this live art form,
introducing theoretical discussions and benchmark definitions of the subject. A
greatly admired magician in his own right, the author obliquely makes the
argument for magic to be accorded its rightful place amongst the other
performing arts and generally 'elevates' magic discourse. A quite brief but
defining article, destined for inclusion in every reading list about ‘magic’". (MagicWeek 16 May 2009)
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aladin's genealogy and practice firmly sites him as a post contemporary artist with direct lineage to the great courtly entertainers in the retinue of the Mughal emperors. aladin has been magician to India's contemporary Mughals, including the Mittals, the Goyals, Shahrukh Khan, Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar. aladin's father is a Sufi, an eminent former diplomatist, ambassador, Foreign Secretary and statesman from South Asia; his mother pioneered broadcast journalism in Asia and the United States. Born in Washington D.C. aladin has also lived in Paris, Geneva, Prague, Baghdad, Algiers, Dhaka, Calcutta / Kolkata, New Delhi, Lahore and Karachi; he is based in London.
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Biographical data on aladin is available at the following websites:
