Shubbak Festival 2025 – Opening Night

Join us to launch Shubbak Festival 2025 with 3EIB in collaboration with Creative Space Beirut, Nol Collective and Trashy Clothing & Nafs Space

We kick off with a celebration of the bold creativity of SWANA fashion with 3EIB in collaboration with Creative Space Beirut, Nol Collective and Trashy Clothing. The People’s Catwalk brings together SWANA designs showcased in an alternative public fashion show featuring members of the Arab and SWANA community of all ages, shapes, sizes, and (dis)abilities. Bodies and fashion come together in an embodied conversation around the role of design in preservation, education and intentional connection.

This event will also feature a performance choreographed by Fadi Giha, accompanied by a soundscape and video installation designed by Sarah Boom - curated by Dania Arafeh.

Following this is a night of music curated by NAFS نَفْس featuring sets from DJ Atrialia and HABIBTATI, and a contemporary cabaret performance from Narcissister.

NAFS نَفْس is a platform dedicated to celebrating and uplifting Queer SWANA (South West Asia and North Africa) creatives. Founded in 2019, NAFS was born out of the need for authentic representation in creative industries. Through exhibitions, workshops, and cultural events, we create spaces for our community to connect, express, and advocate for change.

Narcissister employs a spectacle-rich approach to explorations of gender, racial identity, and sexuality. Humor, pop songs, elaborate costumes, contemporary dance, and her trademark mask are her tools in deconstructing stereotypical representations. More information on the line up to come.

This performance includes partial nudity and the use of masks and prosthetics. It engages with salient themes around race, gender, and identity through humor and subversion. Viewer discretion is advised.