The Mix: Introducing our Music Maestros Blog 24 Jul 2015 Described as “possibly the biggest Arab musical event of 2015”, The Mix is set to be a show-stopping finale as…
Karama – Dignity through Music: An Interview with Soufian Saihi Blog 21 Jul 2015 In this interview Soufian Saihi, founder of the band Karama who will be playing at the Shubbak Festival’s musical finale…
Shubbak Literature Festival Blog 20 Jul 2015 On Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 July 2015, the British Library will host the Shubbak Literature Festival as part of…
A Homage to Michel Khleifi: Review of Forbidden Marriages in the Holy Land Blog 17 Jul 2015 “The holy sites here are this country’s identity but they are also its curse,” says playwright Yehoshua Sobol, “Religion does…
D-Sisyphe / décisif: Constructing a Better Future for Tunisia Blog 16 Jul 2015 D-Sisyphe (pronounced as in the French ‘décisif’, meaning ‘decisive’ in English) is an important piece of performance, both as a…
Behind the Scenes: A Selection of Arab Theatre Blog 16 Jul 2015 This year’s Shubbak Festival offers a selection of Arab theatre works from the sublime to the ridiculous including comedy Love,…
An Interview with Masasit Mati of Top Goon Blog 15 Jul 2015 Holding up a Mirror to the International Community In this interview with the Shubbak Blog, Masasit Mati talk about their…
When The Arabs Used to Dance: A Celebration of the Past and a Warning for the Future Blog 14 Jul 2015 When the Arabs Used to Dance is a somewhat contradictory title for a dance performance, using the past tense for…
Arab Feminist Voices Blog 13 Jul 2015 Razor Sharp showcases three pieces of new writing by Arab women. The title can be taken to refer to an…
A Collaborative Home Video for ‘Shahba’: An Interview with Hello Psychaleppo Blog 13 Jul 2015 In this interview, Samer Saem Eldahr (aka Hello Psychaleppo) talks about his new video for Shubbak entitled Shahba; his upcoming…
A Dream-like Nightmare and a Painful Joy: An Interview with Badke Blog 13 Jul 2015 The Shubbak blog caught up with Badke’s dramaturg Hildegard De Vuyst ahead of their performance at the Southbank Centre on…
Shubbak ‘In-Situ’ – The Middle East: Coming to a Street Near You… Blog 10 Jul 2015 This church is in Syria. And this book warehouse is in Iraq. Don’t believe us? It’s true – from 11–26…
The Art of Imagineering: An Interview with Khalid Shafar Blog 8 Jul 2015 Khalid Shafar is a pioneer of Emirati design. Born in Dubai, the American University in Dubai business graduate studied furniture…
Forming a Harmonious Collective: Zahed Sultan Discusses his Barbican Residency Blog 8 Jul 2015 The multimedia artist Zahed Sultan on his upcoming live set especially created for the Barbican Art Gallery as part of Doug…
From the Soul and the Heart: An Interview with Karima Skalli Blog 7 Jul 2015 One of the first events for the Shubbak Festival, and the opening event for the festival’s music programme at the…
An Awakening Blog 1 Jul 2015 Sevan K. Greene on his play Nahda, whose characters are modern Middle-Easterners from the real world Nahda is an interesting…
Kissing Amnesia: the work of Raed Yassin Blog 24 Jun 2015 The work of Lebanese multimedia artist Raed Yassin relates to mass media, pop culture, urban life and history - themes…
Brewing ideas for Shubbak Blog 12 Jun 2015 Playwright Hannah Khalil reflects on writing for the 2015 festival Everyone knows the writer’s enemy - more than enemy, horror…