The Fifth Edition Of The Shubbak Festival Starts On The 28th June

The fifth edition of the Shubbak Festival starts on the 28th June bringing exciting, bold, poignant and urgent work by Arab artists questioning the norm to London's stages, concert halls, cinemas, outdoor locations, galleries and museums.

In times when political alliances are shifting, definitions of gender are broadened, divisions between generations are interrogated, and hierarchies of power are exposed, the voices of these artists take audiences to new and unexpected realms of possibilities, a realm where empathy and freedom dares to live.

Eckhard Thiemann, artistic director, said: This year's festival has the widest range of artists, venues and artforms since we started from family-friendly circus to performance in museums, from poetry readings to outdoor DJs, from murals to film screenings. Our ever-growing range of partners in London and beyond shows there is a real hunger and interest to hear Arab artists' take on our times and the world we live in. The beauty of our festival is that we can boldly show many of these views, often creatively contradicting each other, but enriching us with powerful emotion and sharp insights.

As the UK's relationship to Europe is at a moment of change, participating artists from across Europe are welcomed. This year's festival features over 150 artists based in the Arab region, in Europe and in the UK. Furthermore, this year an exciting new partnership with The Gate Theatre will showcase the best of international performance and readings with 11 artists and seven full productions taking to the stage as a part of Shubbak@Gate festival. Ellen McDougall, Artistic Director, Gate Theatre said: Shubbak@Gate is our jointly curated programme of exceptional theatre by artists from across the Arab world and the diaspora. It includes work for schools and young people, and features work in both English and Arabic. We are so proud, and excited, to be presenting the work of these artists at the Gate.

Other highlights include contemporary belly-dance, drag and Middle Eastern avant-pop electronica from Lebanese performer Mo Khansa; Kabareh Cheikhats from Casablanca reinventing traditions of drag and gender ambiguity; X-Adra featuring Syrian activists who have been held in the notorious Adra prison; a tribute to the much loved Palestinian singer, songwriter and activist Rim Banna, who died aged 51 in 2018; the latest show from Groupe Acrobatique de Tanger; a pop-up created by Bricklab, Jeddah-based designers of the first Saudi pavilion at Venice Architecture Biennale; French-Moroccan journalist, commentator and Prix Goncourt-winning novelist Le la Slimani discussing what it means to be an Arab feminist in 2019 and the UK premiere of the debut documentary 'Of Sheep and Men' by multi-award winning Algerian director, Karim Sayad.

The Gate Theatre will be home to a diverse range of ground-breaking artists and productions, many of whose work has never been shown in the UK before, alongside a day of play readings by leading MENA playwrights. Award-winning Palestinian actor Amer Hlehel, the actor and writer of five-star Taha (Shubbak 2017, Young Vic) transforms poet Qassim Haddad's powerful contemporary rendering of the classic love story of Majnun Layla into a live experience. Chronicles of Majnun Layla, a story of boundless love, mythical passion, eroticism and desire, often described as the Arab Romeo and Juliet, is radically reinterpreted with an original soundscore and accompaniment from Rihab Azar and Kareem Samara on electronic and acoustic oud. In partnership with the Bagri Foundation.

In two bold explorations of queerness Palestinian / Danish / US-based artist Mette Loulou von Kohl delves into her infatuation with Palestinian freedom fighter, hijacker and icon Leila Khaled in No One Likes An Ugly Revolutionary and writer, professor, actor and spoken word artist Dima Mikhayel Matta draws a searing picture of her queer existence in relation to Beirut in this is not a memorized script, this is a well rehearsed story.

volv and other works is a magic visual delight from one of Beirut's freshest young talents, Yara Boustany. Conjuring up complex and wondrous images and optical illusions, volv follows a journey from idyllic nature in the mountains of Lebanon, filled with birdsong and the buzz of insects, to the busy street life of Beirut with its startling roofscapes and noisy traffic. The city is haunted by animal spirits. volv is performed alongside the shorter work One Day and One Night Beirut.

A Creative-Europe Shubbak co-commission with nine European partners Under A Low Sky by Wael Ali, a leading Syrian writer, dramaturg and director now based in France, is the story of 40-year-old Syrian cinematographer, Jamal, who is obsessed with the idea of losing his past. He has been living in France for more than a decade and is now confronted by so many places from his memory being abandoned or destroyed, and his friends being scattered all over the world. In order to reconnect with his present life he starts researching the period of the birth of the Syrian state in the early twentieth century.

At Sadler's Wells, Lebanese choreographer and performer Ali Chahrour makes a rare UK appearance. Part of a trilogy exploring mourning rituals, may he rise and smell the fragrance is a dance performance and ceremony where death in all its primitiveness emerges from the depth of the earth to become a rite for life.

At the Southbank Centre, Shubbak & Crying Out Loud present Halka by Groupe Acrobatique de Tanger, in partnership with Abu Dhabi Festival. Halka, the latest production from this hugely popular North African company, is a homage to their home city, Tangier. Halka, the Arabic word for the circle formed by a crowd gathered around street performers, goes right back to the roots of their lives and works and is the first production the group has directed as a collective.

Also at the Southbank Centre Tunisian dancer Mohamed Toukabri's autobiographical solo The Upside Down Man (the son of the road) delves into the experience of a young man finding himself in dance and in Europe. The piece follows him from discovering street dance as a 12-year old in front of the railway station in Tunis to his ten years of performing with renowned companies like Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, and Jan Lauwers.

Moroccan artist Youness Atbane's The Second Copy 2045 is set in 2045, a time when current conflicts have ended, and artists' archives become a source of knowledge for a new generation. Atbane's performance at the British Museum features in a new documentary film by a young film maker about the history of Moroccan art and the role of the artist in the early 21st century. The film includes footage of the very performance we are watching. With lucid clarity and deadpan humour, The Second Copy takes a look at the dynamics of contemporary art, the role of institutions and the telling of history.

Battersea Arts Centre is the venue for X-Adra. Ayat, Hend, Ali (formerly Ola), Mariam, Rowaida and Kenda are Syrian activists who have been held in the notorious Adra prison. Using their own words, each person takes us right into the heart of prison life. They speak of the strengths they drew on to survive and their determination to resist. Their personal stories are of violence and pain, but also of solidarity, hope and an unshakable faith in freedom. Directed by Syrian actor / director Ramzi Choukair and dramaturg Wael Kadour accompanied by the haunting sounds of Hala Omran. Ramzi Choukair, who performed in the National Theatre production of 'Salome' in 2017, is an actor and director based in Marseille.

Every summer, the National Theatre puts on a free outdoor arts festival outside its doors right on the south bank of the Thames. This year, Shubbak takes over the stage for a weekend, offering a rich and varied programme of music, performance, workshops and installations. Mixing family activities with music bands, spoken word and late DJ sets, the programme brings the best of London's and international Arab cultural scene to this free and iconic setting. Presented in partnership with AMAL (A Sa d Foundation Programme).

Shubbak on Tour will see the following productions and installations tour to other venues outside London: Chronicle of Majnun Layla, Halka, The Upside Down Man (the son of the road), volv and other works and Bricklab's installation Geographical Child's Play.

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