Alia Alzougbi
Joint CEO
Alia is an award-winning producer, performer and facilitator. She has worked closely with national and international organisations including the British Museum, the National Theatre, Clore Leadership and the British Council to create high-profile, critical encounters that question the parameters of cultural representation and inclusion in education and the arts. Previous to joining Shubbak, she was Head of the cultural learning organisation Global Learning London. She is a Clore Fellow and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and she volunteers nationally and internationally to coach and mentor young people with reduced access to opportunities in the cultural industries.
She is a recipient of the Writer's Guild Olwen Wymark Award for the encouragement of new writing in 2019 and was nominated for a BAFTA Scotland in 2008.
Taghrid Choucair-Vizoso
Joint CEO (maternity leave)
Taghrid Choucair-Vizoso has been with Shubbak since 2018 where she is committed to forging more just cultural ecologies; developing collaborative and decolonial curatorial approaches and artistic development opportunities that reduce social inequality and access barriers to the industry.
She is co-director of At Home in Gaza and London, a telematic performance and exchange project bringing together artists and audiences across the divide. As a performance-maker, she has created work with companies in the UK, across the SWANA region, and beyond. As an associate with Kazzum, she has led education programmes with young people who are going through the asylum-seeking process. She has previously curated for AWAN Festival and Global Arab Female Voices.
Taghrid is currently a mentor on the Crossing Borders Programme at Scottish Refugee Council, a contributor with Culture Action Europe, and a steering group member of Global Voices Theatre.
Dima Mekdad
General Manager
Dr Dima Mekdad is a researcher, organiser, and a new writer. She has a PhD in Analytical Science from King’s College London. She was a project manager and a researcher at the UK National Measurement Laboratory for over nine years. Dima is the co-founder and former director of Qisetna: Talking Syria, a cultural project which focuses on using storytelling as a tool for personal empowerment, social engagement and cultural heritage preservation. She is also the co-founder of Zamakan, a nomadic non-profit platform that supports artists, cultural workers and creatives from West Asia and North Africa. Dima is the Co-Chair of Refugee Week.
Zeina Saleh-Ramadan
Marketing & Communications Manager
Zeina is an advocate for Arabic art & culture and an awardee of the renowned Chevening scholarship. She holds a master’s degree in MSc Creative Industries from Birkbeck University of London. Prior to relocating to the UK, Zeina held several roles as a digital community and marketing manager, from which her role with Kitab Sawti, one of the largest Arabic audiobooks startups. She also held different roles with Creative and artistic organisations, from which, her role as a project coordinator at Filmlab, Palestine’s leading film institute. Zeina’s most recent content production project is Al Feel (the elephant in the room), one of the first large-scale audio series that addressed mental health issues in Arabic.
Young Shubbak
Young Shubbak are a collective of 18-26 years old artists, curators, producers and creatives who programme multi-art form events that are relevant to young people’s cultural experience, and promote inclusivity in the arts.
Find out more
Our wider team
Our festivals are supported by a team of volunteers, freelance producers and partner organisations.
PR consultant Anna Arthur.
Website by Bullet Creative.
Shubbak Trustees
Shadia El Dardiry
Chair
Shadia El Dardiry is an employment lawyer at Clyde and Co. She previously worked at a charity law firm, where she regularly advised charities and creative organisations. Shadia comes from a human rights background, and has worked on migration issues in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. She has engaged in EU- and national-level advocacy as well as capacity building of local organisations. Alongside this, she has had a longstanding interest in the relationship between art and politics in the SWANA region, with a particular focus on 20th and 21st century literature from the region, and in art as a form of expression for migrants and refugees. Shadia holds a Masters in Political Science and a BA (Hons) in Political Science and Economics from McGill University.
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.
Lynn Gaspard
Lynn Gaspard is the Managing Director of Middle-East specialist press Saqi Books. A fiercely independent forum for writers and artists from around the world, Saqi has made its mark as a publisher unafraid of taking risks, championing works by minority writers from the Middle East and beyond. Gaspard is a member of English PEN’s Writers in Translation Committee and of the MFest Expert Advisory Group, and was previously on the Nour Festival of Arts Steering Committee. She is the editor of the satirical collection Don’t Panic, I’m Islamic.
Almir Koldzic
Almir is a Co-Founder and Co-Director of Counterpoints Arts - a leading national organisation in the field of arts, migration and social justice, supporting the arts by, about and with refugees and migrants. His experiences in this context include leading on developing strategy and identity for Refugee Week UK Festival; developing Platforma - arts and refugees national network; building meaningful and long term collaborations with leading inter/national arts, cultural and advocacy organisations; and producing a wide range of events and commissions relating to displacement.
Sumantro Ghose
Sumantro Ghose is an Arts Producer, Curator and Cultural Strategist with over 20 years’ experience in museums and exhibitions, festivals, audience development and cultural diplomacy. Most recently he has been Managing Director of the London Design Biennale, and was previously responsible for exhibitions and museum programmes at Dubai Culture and Arts Authority. Prior to joining Dubai Culture, Sumantro was Deputy Director, Cultural Diplomacy Programmes at Qatar Museums in Doha. In the UK, Sumi has worked and consulted for a range of cultural and educational institutions including Tate, National Portrait Gallery, Frieze, Sotheby’s Institute, Richmond University and the American Institute for Foreign Study and was Acting Chief Executive and Director of Cultural Programmes at Asia House.
Andrew Marcus
Andrew is Chief Communications Officer at Executive Board level at the Museum of London. He heads the team responsible for PR, marketing, social media and public affairs. His focus is on redefining the museum’s brand and attracting greater numbers of people who are more representative of London.
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.