Shubbak Team
Alia Alzougbi (she/her)
Artistic Director & CEO
Alia is a cultural strategist, artist and facilitator working at the intersection of art and social and environmental justice. Her practice uses the arts to interrogate the fundamental causes of inequality and explore alternative modes of understanding the world and being in it, foregrounding dignity for all beings and Earth, our only home.
She has worked with national and international organisations as an artist and storyteller to create critical encounters in education and the arts towards collective liberation, from local corner shops to world-renowned museums.
Alia is a Chevening Scholar, a Clore Fellow and Associate, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Prior to joining Shubbak, she was Director of the global citizenship education organisation Global Learning London.
Dr Dima Mekdad (she/her)
Executive Director
Dima returned to Shubbak after being the Executive Director of Candoco Dance Company. She has a PhD in Analytical Science from King’s College London. She used to be a project manager and a researcher at the UK National Measurement Laboratory for ten years. Dima is the co-founder and former director of Qisetna: Talking Syria. She is the co-founder and co-director of Zamakan CIC, the umbrella of SACF, London’s Syrian Arts & Culture Festival. Dima wears several hats, among them a storyteller, a politicised-somatics practitioner and a new writer. Dima is also the Co-Chair of Refugee Week.
Nick Anderson (he/him)
Executive Producer
Nick is a London-based festival producer who has developed festivals and tours across the world. His particular interests sit within counter-cultural and mainstream crossovers, and how best to present exceptional artwork. He has worked across multiple art forms, and with a specific interest in electronic music and experimental sonic artists. When developing programmes and events, he is focused on presenting work with highest possible production and access levels. Recently he produced Nelly Ben Hayoun’s Tour de Moon, which was a huge scale touring festival across England, which focused on creating many hundreds of opportunities for young creatives. He’s very happy to have joined the Shubbak team, as he was an audience at the 2019 festival, and it was a cultural highlight of the year for him.
Sukriti Sharma (she/her)
General Manager & Participation Producer
Sukriti is a culture and community engagement professional with a deep love and curiosity for working with people from diverse backgrounds. She has previously worked on the Jaipur Literature Festival and Should Art, amongst other multi-art form programmes in India. She has mentored a cohort of young leaders from India and the UK on the Pravah International Citizen Service programme, and has also co-developed arts practice learning programmes for young artists - including the Mumbai edition of Writer’s Lab with Soho Theatre and G5A. Trained as a community music facilitator with Musicians Without Borders, her background is in creating safe and inclusive creative spaces for reflection, expression, and collaboration through community arts practice and youth engagement. Her academic inquiries rest across political science, cultural studies and music & development, and she holds an MA in Cultural Policy, Relations and Diplomacy from Goldsmiths, University of London.
Our Wider Team
Our festivals are supported by a team of volunteers, freelance producers and partner organisations.
Website by Bullet Creative.
Shubbak Trustees
Andrew Marcus
Andrew is a communications, brand and marketing consultant, facilitator and coach. He was previously Chief Communications Officer at Executive Board level at the Museum of London responsible for PR, marketing, social media and public affairs. His focus was on redefining the museum’s brand and attracting greater numbers of people who are more representative of London.
Fady Alrayyes
Fady Alrayyes is a Principal at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), an institution established to help member countries develop their economies. In his role he covers the Arab countries, manages technical cooperation projects, and conducts policy dialogue on local currency and capital markets development. Before joining EBRD, he worked as a research analyst for Thomas Murray, a London based consulting firm specialised in providing information and risk rating of capital market institutions, primarily covering the Middle East and Africa desk and working on product development. Fady holds a bachelor in economics from London School of Economics, and a Master’s degree in investment and finance from University of Exeter.
Riwa Saab
Riwa is a Young Shubbak and Barbican Young Poets alumnus and interdisciplinary artist, specialising in theatre directing, poetry and singer songwriting. She recently completed a BA in Performance and Creative Enterprise at Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Elizabeth Briggs
Elizabeth Briggs is Editorial Director at Saqi Books. Her work in the publishing industry over the past decade spans agenting and the non-for-profit literary sector alongside eight cherished years at Saqi. She has collaborated with some of the industry’s most prominent voices and spoken at festivals including Hay-on-Wye, LBF and Essex Book Festival. She has recently participated in roundtables at the House of Lords and LSE regarding culture and artists in Palestine. Elizabeth’s first book Dissenters (longlisted for The London Library Emerging writers programme 2024) is forthcoming from Unbound. You can find her on Twitter @litfactivist.