Shubbak in Arabic signifies a ‘window. Shubbak is a large scale biennial festival of Arab culture. It promotes events, exhibitions and performances of Arab artist across the world. Shubbak offers a wide-ranging program of visual arts, film, music, theatre, dance, literature, architecture, lectures and discussion. Founded in 2011, Shubbak connects London audiences and communities with the best of contemporary Arab culture.
Shubbak has become a key moment in the arts calendar of the UK and the Arab World, bringing new and unexpected voices alongside established artists to new audiences every two years. Announcing their 2015 festival, featuring over 60 events taking place across London, 11-26 July 2015. The two-week extravaganza begins on Saturday, it’s fair to say it will be a truly global celebration.
Dance:
This collaboration between a cutting-edge Belgian dance company and 10 Palestinian performers is everything a modern festival celebrating 21st-century Arab culture needs to be. Badke has mainly toured in France, Belgium and the Netherlands – and, happily, shows in Nazareth, Jerusalem and Ramallah. In London they are going to perform on July 14, 2015 7:30 pm at Southbank Centre.
Theater:
Shubbak is bringing an enticing masterpiece of theater. The show will feature dramatic monologue – in Tunisian Arabic with projected English surtitles – dance and physical performance as a wooden plank takes the place of Sisyphus’s perpetually rolling stone in the Greek myth. This emotional and engaging theatre will take place on July 18 and 19, 2015 7:30 pm at Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road.
Music:
Shubbak features a Beirut based music group dedicated to melding contemporary sounds with more traditional Arabic music. After experiencing wonderful magic of the Asil Ensemble last year in Abu Dhabi, they are all set to bring them to London this year. Asil uses the beautiful sounds of the 20th-century Egyptian singer/songwriter Umm Kulthum and their own Beirut-based Egyptian virtuoso. The event will commence on 11 July, 2015, 7:00 pm at The Barbican, Silk Street.
Art:
Another Abu Dhabi Festival collaboration is a fascinating art installation by the increasingly popular Dubai-based designer Khalid Shafar. He has often employed traditional forms, bending them to shape his ideas. On July 20, Shafar will also take part in a discussion on traditional arish architecture with architect, author and researcher Sandra Piesik – who has literally written the book on the form. The exhibition of the artwork will take place from July16-27, 7:00-9:00 pm at Chelsea College.
With all this, the other highlight of the Shubbak’s festival includes film, literature and opera. The film is curated by Palestinian director, which will showcase Arab world in European cinemas. And there’s plenty for families to enjoy, too. On The Square, Shubbak launches the festival with music and art, while the Eid Festival on Trafalgar Square on July 25 should be a great way to round off two tremendous weeks of Shubbak.
The festival scope is ambitious aiming to transform expressions of varied regions with a thriving and a vibrant festival. Immerse yourself in an amazing experience of Arab culture brought to you by Shubbak.
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