Sadaka is a renaissance woman: A vocalist, artist and creature of infinite creativity.

With a strong passion for music, she is able to paint the world using the medium of her old-soul voice. Her artwork serenades a stoical portrait of the world, but one that is true to the artist’s organic perspective.

“I consider myself a singer, artist and stage coach in that order,” revealed Lebanese-born Sadaka. “I suppose I can only convey the coaching thanks to the experience I have on stage. Renewing the experience constantly feeds the coaching in a very positive way.”

The concept behind “Showcase” is to combine all these talents. “It’s a gathering of all my identities,” she explained and admits that it is a quest that has not always been easy for her. “It’s like never knowing on which chair to sit down.” Sadaka feels a pressure from the world to always label oneself. “We feel the need to reassure ourselves and the people around us with a title on what we do,” she said. She confessed that it took her a while to quit pursuing a false sense of security. “I finally was able to give up the need to feel ‘safe’ with a label, and accept singing, writing, and drawing as parts of one mother expression.”

Sadaka began her career in the late 1990s in Paris, France, where she first began to perform on stage. Her experience and various influences have manifested themselves into a unique fusion of trilingual compositions.

“Billie Holiday is my all time favorite singer,” proclaimed Sadaka. “I fell in love with her voice at a very young age and thus, developed my curiosity for Jazz through her.”

Yet, at home, she was exposed to the popular recordings of Fairuz and the less mainstream, Ima Sumac. “I am very grateful for my father for having introduced me to different styles.” It wasn’t until later that Sadaka discovered the classical musings of Um Kalthoum. “For me, all these divas come from the same mud, as we say, and I relate to that,” she said with a grin.

Her heritage also helped shape her creatively. Having grown up in Lebanon during the war, she didn’t leave to Paris until she was 19 years old. “My experience of the war was very difficult. And, to witness such horrors and not be able to scream and shout about them for the whole world to hear, was even more painful,” stated Sadaka.

Although she admitted that her artwork and music do not directly tackle the war, she sometimes feels that her art takes the perspective of a little girl whose childhood was wrongly stolen by war. Consequently, she craves to fill that void that is left from it by conveying love and beauty.

Sadaka explained that her artwork and singing complement one another. “I am talking the same language, but using different tools,” she stated. “Creating art is like singing with my fingers.”

She feels that whether she is bending wire for a sculpture or performing a dance on stage, all are made of the same intimate essence and all are part of her being. A true woman of many talents, Sadaka’s vocal presence emanates from her both her visual installations and intoxicating voice.

For more info visit The Shelter: www.shelter.ae