Founded in 2011, and now existing as an independent charity, Shubbak is one of the world’s largest biennial festivals of contemporary Arab art and culture. Working with art institutions in London and beyond, the festival has an ambitious programme that ranges from special commissions of visual art to literature, music and debate.
The last festival included over 130 artists from 18 Arab countries, across 70 events in more than 40 venues across London. From the June 28 to July 14, the festival will once again showcase both established and emerging artists from the across region on a large scale. The festival includes both ticketed and free events, with a range of accessible workshops.
Some visual art highlights in this year’s diverse programme include the Raw Queens exhibition showcasing Morocco’s biggest female artists, and a unique visual art project by Hassan Al-Mousaoy entitled 10 to 10 that charts artwork by young immigrants who have recently arrived in the UK. Also worth catching is the UK premier of X-Adra, where performance artists and Syrian activists share their stories from incarceration in the notorious Adra prison. Another UK premiere is by Tunisian dancer Mohamed Toukabri in his show The Upside Down Man (The Son of the Road), a poignant autobiographical solo that delves deeply into the experience of a young man from Tunis finding himself in dance and Europe.
Not only does the festival create space for Arab artists in Europe, but it also acts as an alternative for Arab artists who cannot travel to the region’s major cultural festivals such as the Beiteddine Art Festival in Lebanon, or the Jerash Festival in Jordan.
Shubbak Festival, June 28 – July 14, London
To read the full programme and book tickets click here.
