Are you an Arab/SWANA artist, audio producer, creative technologist, or multi-disciplinary creative passionate about working in public spaces? We want to hear from you!
As part of our youth-led cultural memory archiving project, Shubbak is looking to commission an Arab/SWANA artist, audio producer, creative technologist, or multi-disciplinary creative team to design an interactive public realm installation that activates Arab & SWANA community memory across the boroughs of Brent and Westminster.
This commission will build on material collected and created with project participants and community groups through oral history interviews, creative arts workshops and reflection sessions.
We are looking for a creative intervention that brings these voices to the streets through sound, image, text, (including projection or audio visual installation, digital mapping, signage, or spatial activations and walking tours)—so that local residents and passersby can listen, learn, and reflect on Arab-SWANA heritage embedded in these neighbourhoods.
We’re open to proposals that are digital, physical, mobile, or hybrid— the key objective is to create a participatory experience in public space, shaped by and responsive to the archival material gathered through the project.
We are particularly interested in high-visibility, unusual ideas with a long life span.
We are seeking a creative practitioner or team with experience:
- Working across site-specific storytelling, oral history, digital mapping, sound art, or spatial design
- Engaging with themes of migration, belonging, memory, food heritage, and place-making
- Collaborating with young people, elders, and marginalised communities
- Designing inclusive, accessible, community-led experiences that are trauma-informed
The commissioned team will collaborate with the youth participants (aged 18–30), who are leading the oral history archival process, and will support the project through co-curation, outreach, and designing the final exhibition with a curator.
What to expect
- £3,000 as Artist commission fee
- £2,000 available as production budget for installation design, presentation, and technical delivery and documentation
Key Outputs
- Develop an interactive creative installation in public space(s) in Brent and/or Westminster
- Curate or co-design at least one guided walking tour or public engagement event during the exhibition period (March–April 2026)
- Collaborate with youth & community archivists and artist/facilitators on design, themes, outreach, and engagement
- Ensure documentation of the work (photo, video, description)
- Contribute to the archiving of final outputs via a Shubbak microsite or digital archive
Eligibility: We welcome applications from Arab-SWANA / mixed heritage creatives based in London / the UK as the project involves engagement with local neighbourhoods in London. International applicants will need to support their own travel, accommodation, and / or visa costs. If you are unsure, please reach out to us to clarify any questions.
Download the commissioning brief for more information
Send us your proposals
To apply, please complete the Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form and submit:
- A short creative proposal (max 2 pages or 8 min video) responding to the brief
- A CV and bio of lead artist(s), and working relationship if applying as a group
- Examples of previous relevant work (links or attachments)
- A simple budget breakdown showing how you would allocate the £2,000 production budget
Please send proposals to youngshubbak@shubbak.co.uk
Deadline: 11 November 2025
We welcome questions and conversations ahead of submission. Please contact sukriti@shubbak.co.uk to discuss access needs or collaborative ideas.
We look forward to hearing from you!
The "Voices of Resilience" project preserving Arab & South West Asian & North African (SWANA) cultural memory in London is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
