10 Minutes Late - تأخرنا
10 Minutes Late is a night of poetry, performance, drag, and DJ-ing, in an epic hour of SWANA talent at Edinburgh Fringe. Featuring drag artist Caramella, DJ Hiba on the decks, performance artist Huss, and poets Janette Ayachi and Riwa Saab.
Programmed as part of Paines Plough's LATER programme at the Roundabout for Edinburgh Fringe.
When the Night Speaks - صوت اللّيل
A night of Arabic/SWANA techno, funk, and old time classics. Interlaced in the mixes were poetry/audio recordings from people of SWANA heritage expressing their various relationships to land and home. DJs included Luma (Habibti Nation, Balamii), Basma (NTS), Aisha Mirza (misery party), and Hiba (Radio Buena Vida, Radio Flouka).
Taking place at The Yard, this event sold out a capacity of 250.
Programmed as part of Shubbak Festival 2023.
When the Land Speaks - صوت الأرض
By connecting to the essential lifeforce of the land we reside on (plants and nature), does that help allievate the feeling of uprootedness that we experience as diaspora? Taking on from foraging practices, attendees walked through the Hackney Marshes getting to know the local plants and fungi, exploring sonic practices, and exchanging stories. After gathering at The Hall, we built a collective soundscape, wrote poems, and created zines.
The trail through Hackney Marshes was guided by sound artist and researcher, Bint Mbareh; visual artist and landscape architect, Juliette Mourad; and poet and electrical engineer, Ola Elhassan.
This event sold out a capacity of 50.
Programmed as part of Shubbak Festival 2023.
New Night 02
A fresh, multi-disciplinary evening of poetry, music and more, in the spirit of play and artistry. Curated by Gabriel Akamo and Riwa Saab, in partnership with Bermondsey Project Space, NEW NIGHT featured artists from across, between, and beyond creative practices, including a poetry and multimedia performance from Zia Ahmed, a musical performance from Kase, and short films from Gabriel Jones, Gabriel Akamo, and Riwa Saab
The performances were followed by relaxed games and creative experiments including shadow puppetry, photography, poem-generating exercises, theatre tableaus, and vocal looping.
This event sold out a capacity of 80.
Shadow puppetry
Collage-making
Zia Ahmed
Disposable camera shot
Polaroid shots of tableaus
Polaroid shots of tableaus
Disposable camera shot
Kase
Disposable camera shot
New Night 01
We love performances, we love games, so we’re bringing them together in – New Night. A fresh, multi-disciplinary evening of poetry, music and more, in the spirit of play and artistry.
Featuring Gabriel Akamo (poetry), Layla Assam (music), Jeremiah Brown (Sugar Shots), and Riwa Saab (poetry/sound), followed by relaxed games and creative experiments using image, words, and sound.
This event sold out a capacity of 60.
Photo by Daniaal K
Photo by Daniaal K
Photo by Daniaal K
Photo by Daniaal K
Photo by Daniaal K
Photo by Daniaal K
Sawa, Sawa
Sawa, Sawa is a digital, multi-artform gallery platforming the work of South-West Asian and North African (SWANA) artists between the ages of 16 and 26 who experienced lockdown in the UK and Ireland, and used art as a means to cultivate connections within their communities. It featured work from fourteen artists across the disciplines of visual arts, film, poetry, radio, and music.
Co-curated as part of Young Shubbak for Shubbak Festival 2021.
