London’s Shubbak Festival adopts hybrid approach to reach a global audience
Hip-hop, spoken word and karaoke are on offer at this year’s Shubbak Festival. A decade on from its launch, the biennial festival returns to London for its sixth event, with a programme packed with Arab art, film, music, theatre, dance and literature.
Organisers say most of the work was commissioned or conceived especially for Covid19 compliant conditions, including the use of outdoor spaces, digital programming and live streaming.
Eckhard Thiemann, Shubbak’s artistic director, says the festival tapped into an extensive network of international locations to bring audiences a wide range of performances. “This year’s festival programme transcends the borders of all our previous editions,” says Thiemann. “As our world opens up again post-pandemic, Shubbak offers opportunities to reconnect, share and explore our new local and global realities.”
Some of the UK organisations that have partnered with the festival include Glasgow’s Dardishi, a platform for Arab and North African women’s contributions to contemporary art and culture, and the Safar Film Festival, the UK’s only festival dedicated to Arab cinema. Safar will put on a special hybrid event at Shubbak, with its curated selection of films mirroring 10 years of the Arab uprisings, on the big screen and at home.
Shadia El Dardiry, Shubbak’s recently appointed chairwoman, says the ability to put the festival on this year was the result of “brave and inspiring responses to a radically disruptive year”.
“It has forced artists and curators to think of new ways of collaborating, creating and presenting art. While the festival will retain its roots and a physical presence in London, it will, for the first time in its history, be open to a global audience through a series of online and international initiatives,” she says.
The festival said it received vital support from the UK’s £1.57 billion ($2.18bn) Culture Recovery Fund to help businesses face the challenges of the pandemic.
Shubbak’s special commissions include a collaboration between two of the most sought-after Arab hip-hop artists. Palestinian-Jordanian rapper The Synaptik and American-Egyptian artist Felukah will be combining their dynamic music on stage together for the first time, in a live-streamed event that will globally premiere two new songs. Felukah says she was itching to tour once restrictions eased.
Another Shubbak commission focused on the music genre comes from Dubai filmmaker Philip Jamal Rachid (aka Soultrotter), who used dance, spoken word and street art in his film It Ain’t Where You From to explore the Gulf’s burgeoning young hip-hop scene.
Other works include a live and experimental digital performance retelling the history of the legendary Egyptian cabaret Cairo KitKat Club and a specially curated selection of works by female Saudi artists who intermix movement, live performance and choreography.
Organisers say many works were conceived especially for Covid-19 compliant conditions
Shubbak Festival will run from Sunday, June 20, to Saturday, July 17