A Window on Arab Culture
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FILM MUSIC A WINDOW ON LITERATURE CONTEMPORARY VISUAL ARTS PERFORMANCE ARAB CULTURE SHUBBAK.CO.UK 28 JUNE - 14 JULY CONTENTS WELCOME TO SHUBBAK 2019! Our fifth festival brings exciting, bold, poignant Arab artists are creating dynamic and vital and urgent work by Arab artists to London’s works across a huge diversity of styles, PERFORMANCE 4 stages, concert halls, cinemas, outdoor artforms and approaches to audiences. As chair locations, galleries and museums. of London’s largest festival of contemporary This year’s programme champions artists Arab culture, I am delighted to present our 2019 OUTDOORS & WORKSHOPS 15 who embrace questioning the norm. With programme. Shubbak has become a magnet for sometimes joyful - sometimes sombre; audiences, artists, programmers and media to sometimes mischievous - sometimes discover the vibrant, thoughtful, inspirational, comforting; sometimes loud - sometimes internationally-connected and also often VISUAL ARTS 16 whispering works, these artists comment challenging sector in which Arab artists operate. powerfully on the world we live in. In Shubbak 2019, along with those with a In times when political alliances are shifting, specialist interest in contemporary culture or MUSIC 26 definitions of gender are broadened, divisions politics, Arab artists will reach passers-by in our between generations are interrogated, and free outdoor events, and children and families in hierarchies of power are exposed, the voices our family-friendly shows. We are also proud to LITERATURE 31 of these artists take us to new and unexpected extend out national reach by touring more works realms of possibilities, a realm where empathy to different locations across the UK. and freedom dare to live. On behalf of Shubbak’s Board of Trustees, I Shubbak 2019 features over 150 artists based hope you join me in being inspired and moved FILM 34 in the Arab region, in Europe and in the UK. As by this year’s festival programme. the UK’s relationship to Europe is at a moment MAYSOON PACHACHI, CHAIR of change, we welcome the many participating CALENDAR 38 artists from across Europe, and especially our Paris / London exchange. We are also proud to announce a new partnership with the Gate Theatre this year, with whom we co-present a two-week season of international performance and play readings. And you’ll find that we have broadened our family programme with more family-friendly shows and PRINCIPAL PARTNERS an expanded workshop programme. With gratitude to our principal partners and all our festival partners, Immerse yourself in Shubbak 2019. without whose support the festival would not be possible. THE SHUBBAK TEAM SHUBBAK.CO.UK SHUBBAKFESTIVAL THE UPSIDE DOWN MAN X-ADRA PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE (THE SON OF THE ROAD) RAMZI CHOUKAIR MOHAMED TOUKABRI SAT 29 JUNE | 7.45PM PURCELL ROOM AT SOUTHBANKCENTRE.CO.UK TUE 2 & WED 3 JULY | 7.30PM BATTERSEA ARTS CENTRE BAC.ORG.UK QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL 020 3879 9555 Lavender Hill 020 7223 2223 Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX £15* London SW11 5TN £18 | £12.50 concs “I am not one story, I am many stories.” UK PREMIERE Ayat, Hend, Ali (formerly Ola), Mariam, Rowaida and Kenda are Syrian UK PREMIERE TUNISIA | BELGIUM activists who have been held in the notorious Adra prison. Their periods SYRIA | FRANCE Mohamed Toukabri’s autobiographical solo delves deeply into the IN ENGLISH of imprisonment range from the 80s to more recent ones since the IN ARABIC WITH experience of a young man finding himself in dance and in Europe. From POST-SHOW TALK revolution in 2011. Using their own words, each person takes us right into ENGLISH SURTITLES discovering street dance as a 12-year old in front of the railway station SHUBBAK ON TOUR the heart of prison life. With simple gestures and quiet intensity they tell POST-SHOW TALK in Tunis to his 10 years of performing with renowned choreographers WED 3 JULY 21 JUNE | JERWOOD DANCE HOUSE of tender moments between women and children, confessional letters like Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Jan Lauwers, DANCE EAST, IPSWICH Presented with additional support from a donor 26 JUNE | PAVILION DANCE to loved-ones and small acts of kindness. who chooses to remain anonymous. his movements and reflections resonate with sharp insight to explore Image: Ahmed-Naji. SOUTH WEST, BOURNEMOUTH They speak of the strengths they drew on to survive and their a personal yet universal migrant experience. Subtle video projections 28 JUNE |THE LOWRY, SALFORD determination to resist. Their personal stories are of violence and pain, from his family home, stories of casual racism and subtly humoured *Transaction fees apply: £3 online, but also of solidarity, hope and an unshakable faith in freedom. observations blend into a richly textured experience of being in-between £3.50 over the phone. No transaction two countries, two cultures, two traditions. With thoughtful reflection as fees for in-person bookings, Southbank With great delicacy and simple direction, director Ramzi Choukair and Centre Members and Supporters Circles. well as a candid irony, he takes us to what he calls ‘the splendour of this dramaturg Wael Kadour allow the women to present their lives and touch Presented with additional support from Qatar mysterious zone‘. Foundation International. us with their deep humanity and dignity. Mohamed Toukabri is a Tunisian artist based in Brussels. He performed in Image: Emilie Jacomet. Singer Hala Omran is the seventh character, uniting the production with Shubbak 2017 in Cie Chatha’s outdoor performances of Sacré Printemps! haunting sounds of traditional Arab song and opera. Ramzi Choukair is an actor and director, based in Marseille. He performed in London in the National Theatre production of Salome in 2017. 4 SHUBBAK.CO.UK SHUBBAK.CO.UK 5 MAY HE RISE AND HALKA PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE GROUPE ACROBATIQUE DE TANGER SMELL THE FRAGRANCE PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE ABU DHABI FESTIVAL, AND IN ASSOCIATION WITH CRYING OUT LOUD ALI CHAHROUR THU 4 & FRI 5 JULY | 8PM LILIAN BAYLIS STUDIO SADLERSWELLS.COM THU 11 JULY | 7.30PM SOUTHBANK CENTRE’S SOUTHBANKCENTRE.CO.UK SADLER’S WELLS 020 7863 8000 QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL 020 3879 9555 Rosebery Avenue, EC1R 4TN £17* Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX £20* FAMILY FRIENDLY AGES 6+ Lebanese choreographer and performer Ali Chahrour brings the final part UK PREMIERE There is a long tradition of acrobats performing on Moroccan beaches “…as simple as it is of his acclaimed trilogy exploring mourning rituals for the first time ot the LEBANON and in village squares, creating spectacles for the public with astounding ingenious...creating magic UK. May he rise… is a dance performance and a ceremony where death SOME ARABIC WITH human pyramids, cartwheels and somersaults, always accompanied by out of nothing but human in all its primitiveness emerges from the depth of the earth to become ENGLISH SURTITLES music and song. wit, daring and imagination” POST-SHOW TALK a rite for life. A mourning woman acts as a priestess, summoning the For the past 10 years the highly skilled acrobats of Groupe Acrobatique JUDITH MACKRELL, FRI 5 JULY THE GUARDIAN (CHOUF OUCHOUF) three men to experience grief and loss with her. Tapping into stories and de Tanger have travelled the world with their contemporary shows. Using Production contains female nudity. legends summoned from deep cultural memory, this piece calls upon our powerful and unique physical skills, they have breathed new life into this MOROCCO Presented in partnership with Sadler’s Wells collective human experience. with additional support from British Council popular practice. SHUBBAK ON TOUR and Drosos Foundation. May he rise… is a collaboration with great talent including the Syrian 6 JULY | THE LOWRY, SALFORD *A transaction fee of £3 applies to phone and online In Halka, the 14 acrobats and musicians create an energetic spectacle 9 JULY | LIGHTHOUSE, POOLE actress Hala Omran (star of the filmBab El Cham by Yousry Nasrallah) bookings – no fee in person. which hums with the sights and sounds of Moroccan street life. Acrobatic and Lebanese musicians Ali Hout and Abed Kobeissy aka Two or The Image: Zyad Ceblany. *Transaction fees apply: £3 online, tricks and stirring music mix the world of old traditions with exuberant £3.50 over the phone. No transaction Dragon, an up-and-coming electro-acoustic duo revisiting traditional parties and modern visual humour to paint a vivid picture of life in the fees for in-person bookings, Southbank instruments. An affecting and daring work that places the living body Maghreb today. By turns the stage is transformed into the middle of the Centre Members and Supporters Circles. centre stage. desert, to a crowded public square, a magical night-time dance and a Presented with additional support from British Council. Image: Richard Haughton. crier calling the faithful to prayer. Halka is an invitation to let yourself be captivated by this vision of communal life captured by the boundless energy and humour of these incredible acrobats. 6 SHUBBAK.CO.UK SHUBBAK.CO.UK 7 SHUBBAK @ GATE PERFORMANCE A TWO WEEK SEASON OF BOLD GATE THEATRE GATETHEATRE.CO.UK ARAB THEATRE, CO-CURATED 11 Pembridge Road, 020 7229 0706 AND PRODUCED WITH THE GATE Notting Hill Gate, W11 3HQ £24 | £16 concs | £12 Under 26 METTE LOULOU VON KOHL CHRONICLES OF MAJNUN LAYLA & DIMA MIKHAYEL MATTA AMER HLEHEL PERFORMS QASSIM HADDAD’S MASTERWORK IN DEVELOPMENT: TWO BOLD WORKS ON QUEERNESS PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE BAGRI FOUNDATION SHUBBAK COMMISSION METTE LOULOU VON KOHL DIMA MIKHAYEL MATTA A classic love story re-told by Amer Hlehel in a contemporary bilingual MON 1 - WED 3 JULY | 7PM NO ONE LIKES AN UGLY REVOLUTIONARY THU 4 JULY | 7PM rendering with live music. METTE LOULOU VON KOHL WORLD PREMIERE LEBANON | PALESTINE With frank honesty Palestinian/Danish/US-based artist Mette Loulou von The actor and writer of five-star Taha (Shubbak 2017, Young Vic) BAHRAIN | PALESTINE USA | DENMARK Kohl delves into her infatuation with Palestinian freedom fighter, hijacker transforms poet Qassim Haddad’s powerful rendering of the classic tale of IN ENGLISH & ARABIC IN ENGLISH Majnun Layla into a live experience.