Intercultural Journeys | Schools' webinar | Arab arts and culture

Shubbak's series of interactive, educational webinars for children and young people aged 12 years which highlight the creativity and innovation of Arab artists, are available to watch again.

Intercultural Journeys is the third in the series. Over 45 minutes the rapper Felukah, playwright Mudar Alhaggi and director Omar Elerian explore how they use language in their work, with particular focus on their areas of specialism; music and theatre.

Felukah raps in both Arabic and English. It's called code-switching. She is known for exploring multi-culturalism and self empowerment in her lyrics and poetry. In this webinar, she will talk about why she writes and performs in Arabic and English.

Mudar Alhaggi is an Arab and English speaking Syrian playwright, living and working in Germany. He recently worked with director Omar Elerian on The Return of Danton, a play performed in Arabic. They talk about authenticity and representation from the perspective of an artist living and producing work outside their country of birth.

The webinar includes:

  • Clips of their work and creating in action
  • Live activities for students to join (all abilities)
  • Live Q&A for students to ask questions

Hosted by Alia Alzougbi.

The webinar ties in with curriculum subjects: English Literature, Drama & Theatre Arts, PSHE & Citizenship, Humanities, Geography, Sociology, Anthropology, Modern Foreign Languages (Arabic).

What to expect

Participating students will:

  • Find out more about 3 inspirational Arab artists and how they use Arabic and English in their work.
  • Engage in exciting activities, using languages of your choice.
  • Have the opportunity to ask the artists questions about their art, their inspiration and how they made a career from being an artist.

Participating teachers will:

  • Gain new ideas for KS3 & KS4 classroom activities using Hip Hop, languages and writing.
  • Familiarise themselves with the work of the artists and their collaborators and how their artistic practice can stimulate classroom activities.
  • Bring a global perspective to the curriculum by exposing students to artists of colour.

Felukah switches seamlessly between Arabic and English in her performances and she is known for exploring multi-culturalism and self empowerment in her poetry and lyrics. She entered the music scene in 2018 with her EP Yansoon. In 2019 she released her debut album Citadel - a comment on the infrastructure of being, and of creating a citadel for the self through rap music.

Scene Noise has dubbed her as, 'the neo-soul artist bringing the Nile to New York' and she has been described by Azeema magazine as 'the rapper inspiring a new wave of Egyptian women'.

Since then Felukah has released a second album, Dream 23, with Abu Recordings and an EP, Kawkab, that looks beyond the Hip Hop scene to other schools of music.

Mudar Alhaggi studied theatre studies at The Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in Damascus. Alhaggi works as an author and dramaturge, he writes for the radio and TV, pens scripts and leads writing workshops for refugees. He staged Footfalls by Samuel Beckett and the production One Thousand and One Tents, which was developed in a workshop with refugees in Lebanon. In 2013 the production Now T-Here, in which he was involved as author and director (in collaboration with Stella Cristofolini) was presented in Oberhausen and Berlin. Since 2015 he manages Future Stages: A Creative Programme for Emerging Syrian Writers in Lebanon together with Erik Altorfer. In 2015 and 2016 he developed 41 Stunden with Kopp / Nauer / Praxmarer / Vittinghoff, a co-production with Schlachthaus Theater Bern. With Erik Altorfer, he presented another work with adolescent refugees and young people from Graz at Schauspielhaus Graz. Mudar Alhaggi lives in Berlin since summer 2015. He was appointed as the artistic director of Collective Ma'louba in 2017.

Omar Elerian is a freelance theatre director, writer and dramaturg. Of Italian/Palestinian descent, Omar trained in Italy and then graduated from Lecoq International Theatre School in Paris in 2005. He’s based in London since 2009. He was the resident Associate Director at the Bush Theatre from 2012 to 2019, where he commissioned and directed some of the theatre’s most successful shows. As sole director for the Bush, his credits include smash-hit Misty by Arinzé Kene (Bush and West End), NASSIM by Nassim Soleimanpour (Bush, Traverse Theatre and world tour), Going Through by Estelle Savasta and Islands by Caroline Horton. As Associate Director working alongside Madani Younis, his credits include The Royale by Marco Ramirez, Leave Taking by Winsome Pinnock and Perseverance Drive by Robin Soans. Outside the Bush, he directed Olivier nominated show You’re Not Like The Other Girls Chrissy by Caroline Horton and co-created acclaimed site-specific show The Mill: City of Dreams with Madani Younis for Freedom Studios. In 2020 he co-created Autoreverse with Florencia Cordeu, which opened the Going Global season at Battersea Arts Centre in February. Omar is currently developing projects with the Almeida, National Theatre, Manchester HOME, Staatstheater Mainz, Collective Ma’louba and The Shed in New York. 

Details

Duration: 45 minutes
The event is BSL interpreted

Practical information

Suitable for KS3, KS4, college and ESOL students, youth and community groups in the UK and internationally. The webinar is in English.

Hosted on Zoom, the webinar follows the latest safeguarding requirements.

Participants do not need to prepare but please ensure they have pens and paper to hand for the activities.

Extras

Watch Unearthing Heritage, the first in the Shubbak and QFI webinar series for schools and young people.

Watch Walk With Us, the second in the Shubbak and QFI webinar series for schools and young people.

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