set of portrait photos
(clockwise from top left) Amna Ali, Rayan Elnayal, Colette Dalal Tchantcho, Nareeman Dosa, Khalid Albaih.

The region of South West Asia and North Africa (SWANA) and its diaspora was never exclusively white or Arab but rather an extensively diverse region of races, languages, and culture. Black creatives have always contributed heavily to its arts and culture scene and yet they are continuously met with unfair treatment and representation, especially in mainstream media.

How has anti-Blackness in the region impacted those who continue to make great contributions?

Curated and moderated by Rayan Elnayal, Creating While Black welcomes a diverse panel of Black creatives from the region and its diaspora to share their thoughts and experiences.

The panel includes actor and theatre-maker, Colette Dalal Tchantcho, activist Amna Ali, creative cultural producer and artist, Khalid Albaih, podcaster and cultural manager, Nareeman Dosa.

This is a two hour webinar aimed to hold a safe space for a diverse panel of Black creatives to share insights into the experience of creating while Black.

لم يكن سكان منطقة جنوب غرب آسيا وشمال أفريقيا (الشرق الأوسط) والمهجر من البيض أو العرب فحسب قط؛ فهذه المنطقة متنوعة إلى حد بعيد بأعراقها ولغاتها وثقافاتها المختلفة، ولطالما ساهم المبدعون أصحاب البشرة السوداء بشدة في مشهدها الفني والثقافي، ومع هذا دائمًا ما يلقون معاملة وتمثيل غير عادلين، لا سيما في وسائل الإعلام الرئيسية.

فكيف أثرت العنصرية ضد أصحاب البشرة السوداء على من يواصل تقديم إسهامات كبيرة منهم؟

ترحب ندوة "إبداع أصحاب البشرة السوداء في ظل العنصرية" التي تنظمها وتديرها ريان النيال بمجموعة متنوعة من المبدعين من أصحاب البشرة السوداء من المنطقة والمهجر لمشاركة أفكارهم وتجاربهم.

تضم المجموعة الممثلة والمنتجة والمخرجة المسرحية كوليت دلال شنشو والناشطة آمنة علي والفنان والمنتج الثقافي المبدع خالد البيه والبودكاستر والمديرة الثقافية ناريمان دوسا.

هذه الندوة ندوة عبر الإنترنت (وبينار) مدتها ساعتان تهدف إلى توفير مساحة آمنة للمبدعين أصحاب البشرة السوداء لمشاركة أفكارهم حول تجارب إبداع أصحاب البشرة السوداء في ظل العنصرية.

Khalid Albaih is a Romanian born, Qatar raised, Sudanese creative cultural producer and artist who plans, designs, organises and manages artistic projects that have positive cultural impacts on the public. Khalid is also known for his political ‘Khartoons’ (a word play on cartoon and Khartoum) for which he was named one of the top 5 cartoonists in the world in 2018 by The Independent. a wordplay on cartoon and Khartoum, Sudan's capital. Khalid has also published two books ‘Khartoon’ in 2018 which showcases his political cartoons and ‘Sudan Retold’ in 2019 which showcases a diverse set of contemporary Sudanese artist. Khalid’s work has also been published widely in international publications including The New York Time, The Atlantic, PRI, and NPR, BBC, besides, Albaih has published his written social and political commentary in publications such as The Guardian, CNN and Al Jazeera. Khalid has been hosted in various TV shows and news programs worldwide as a trusted commentator on political events worldwide.

Khalid is also the founder of several cultural projects, such as getfadaa.com, the SudanArtistFund.com, the SudanArtanddesignlibrary.com and an Instagram account on fashion and migrant workers in Qatar @DohaFashionFridays.

Amna is a Somali-Yemeni activist who was born and raised in the UAE. She is the founder of the Black Arabs Collective which is a project of personal dedication to her community and to raise awareness about the Black movement in the Arab world. It is a platform created to bring light to the trajectory of the Afro Arab community/experience, and to combat the anti-Black racism persistent in the Middle East/North Africa/Southwest Asia. Amna holds an undergraduate degree in Business and Quality Management, two Master's degrees, and works in events and entrepreneurship.

Nareeman manages the Black Pearls section at Levantx, and co-hosts an Arabic podcast called Kalam Casual. Black Pearls was created to celebrate African descended people heritage in the North Africa, West and South Asia region, and amplify their voices. Nareeman holds a master’s degree in public Relations from Westminster University.

Rayan Elnayal is a Sudanese-British artist/designer based in London. She uses the skills she obtained from her architecture background to visualise and speculate on fictional spaces. She is interested in how magic realist techniques can aid in the production of ethnocentric futurisms in Sudan, the SWANA region and its diaspora.

Her interest in magic realism and the idea of Afrabia initially started as part of her architecture thesis project at the University of Greenwich and remains an on-going project. Since graduating Elnayal's work has been featured in several publications and exhibitions in Central London. Rayan also has experience working on architectural projects within the education sector.

Colette Dalal Tchantcho is a Cameroonian-Kuwaiti actor and theatre-maker. Her screen credits include Netflix’s hit show The Witcher, Domina (Sky Atlantic) and Dangerous Liaisons (STARZ). She has also worked with many theatres and companies including Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, National Theatre of Scotland, Bristol Old Vic, Royal Lyceum Edinburgh and a former member of Song of the Goat Theatre in Poland. In her own work as a theatre-maker, Colette is currently developing Dreamer, a semi-autobiographical solo piece that explores the experiences of Black Arab women and how issues around race, gender and sexuality manifest in modern Arab society. She boldly challenges LGBTQIA+ discrimination and anti-blackness in Arabia.

Details

Livestream

Mon 5 July 2021

6pm BST

90 minutes.
Suitable for 16 years+
BSL interpreted.

Tickets: £0, £3, £6

Online. Once you've booked your ticket, you will be sent a link and a pre-event reminder.

On demand

Tue 6 July–Sat 17 July 2021

Tickets: £0, £3, £6

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