Still from The Legitimated Body & the Navigated Listener, by Abdulisms

This opportunity is now closed!

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to work in the arts?

Do you wish to gain insight into the skills needed to curate and produce your own events?

Apply now to become part of Young Shubbak 2024!

Young Shubbak is a training and development programme for aspiring producers, curators, cultural workers and creative practitioners who are passionate about developing a career in the arts. This opportunity is open to anyone from SWANA or Arab/mixed heritage backgrounds aged between 18-25 years old and currently living in London.
We are especially interested to hear from applicants living in the Borough of Brent.

The Young Shubbak cohort will come together for monthly learning and collaboration sessions which offer the opportunity to learn, reflect and gain experience in: 

  • Visioning: reflect on aspirations, passions, ideas, and learning areas
  • Developing core skills: production, curation, budgeting, event management, outreach, community engagement, and more (tailored to the interests of participants)
  • Networking: develop personal connections and professional networks by discovering the Arab-SWANA cultural community and arts scene in London
  • Work Experience: Work with Shubbak (and partner organisations) to produce and curate events through short placements

Young Shubbak producers will be offered placement opportunities with partners to produce and curate events within the first nine months. At the end of the programme, members of Young Shubbak will have the opportunity to work with the Shubbak team to conceive and produce a strand of events as part of Shubbak Festival in 2025. Peer-led learning and collaboration will be a major aspect of the programme and participants will be encouraged to work together and draw on each others’ experiences and skills.

The programme runs across 15 months from March 2024 to June 2025.

Eligibility

  • For individuals aged 18-25 years who identify as SWANA-Arab or mixed heritage, and are based in London/Greater London.
  • Open to interests/backgrounds across any discipline: music, dance, theatre, literature, visual art, etc.
  • No previous professional experience is needed to apply, but we want to know what drives you towards the arts.
  • We encourage applications from young people who are not in full time education or university and can commit at least 10 hours per month to the programme.

Further information

  • Participants must be living in London and willing to commit to attending all in-person meetings and training sessions in London.
  • In addition to attending the sessions, you are willing to commit to self-led development time of approximately 4 hours per month.
  • Successful applicants will be offered a bursary £395 (equivalent to London Living Wage) for attending the training sessions. 

Next Steps - APPLY

We invite you to tell us about yourself and why you would like to be a part of Young Shubbak by filling out this application form by Friday, 23 February 2024 at 11:59 PM. If you'd like to attend an online/in person info session ahead of the deadline, please indicate this on your application. Info session details will be updated here in February.

Shortlist and selection

We will aim to notify selected participants by Friday, 1 March 2024. Due to limited capacity, we cannot notify unsuccessful applicants nor offer individual feedback. More information on the programme introduction and orientation session will be shared along with the offer to join the programme.

The programme introduction and orientation session is scheduled for an available date in the week of 7-15th March 2023. Session schedule may be subject to change, and any changes will be communicated in advance.

For any questions please contact, Engagement Producer - Sukriti Sharma at sukriti@shubbak.co.uk 

About Shubbak Festival

Shubbak is Europe’s largest biennial festival of contemporary Arab cultures. We connect London audiences and communities with the best of contemporary Arab cultures through ambitious festival programmes of premieres and commissions of visual arts, film, music, theatre, dance, and literature. This year’s festival featured 200+ artists across 40+ events from 23 June–19 July 2023.