Nahla Ink Online Journal

Exhibition Dates: 12 October, 2021—30 January, 2022

‘Stateless Heritage’ sets out to challenge mainstream narratives of refugee experience, of humanitarian crises, victim-hood and suffering. In this exhibition, artist and architectural collective DAAR proposes exile as a radical perspective which can take us beyond the limitations of the nation state. Stateless Heritage also interrogates Western definitions of heritage.

The works in the exhibition focus on Dheisheh refugee camp in Palestine. The camp traces its history back to 1949, at the time of the start of the Nakba, when Palestinians were displaced by the founding of the state of Israel. A large light box installation will show photographs of the camp by Luca Capuano. Capuano had previously photographed Italy’s world heritage sites for UNESCO. In 2016 DAAR commissioned him to take the same care to document Dheisheh, as a living monument of ‘permanent temporariness’. A series of photo-books show the 44 villages the refugees of Dheishah originally came from.  

DAAR will present their proposal to recognise the camp as a UNESCO world heritage site, in a call for official international recognition of the cultural heritage of the refugee. A space alongside will host events by activists, artists and thinkers. 

These works are part of a wider movement to use heritage to resist colonialism and occupation which continues in Palestine, and to expose colonial and imperial legacies more widely. Stateless Heritage will raise issues of migrant justice at a time when the right to claim asylum is under threat in the UK and internationally.

DAAR (Decolonizing Architecture Art Research) is an architectural collective that combines conceptual speculations and pragmatic spatial interventions, discourse and collective learning. The artistic research of Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti are situated between politics, architecture, art and pedagogy. In their practice art exhibitions are both sites of display and sites of action that spill over into other contexts: built architectural structures, the shaping of critical learning environments, interventions that challenge dominant collective narratives, the production of new political imaginations, the formation of civic spaces and the re-definition of concepts.

For more: https://mosaicrooms.org/event/daar-stateless-heritage/

The Mosaic Rooms announces ‘The Living Room’ (Al-Madafeh), the new event series for the exhibition ‘Stateless Heritage’ by DAAR – Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti. It is inspired by The Living Room (Al-Madafeh) in the exhibition, a space of conviviality and generosity in the spirit Dheisheh refugee camp’s culture, for people to meet, discuss ideas and create solidarity.

This programme of online and in person events features artists, activists, collectives and thinkers who expand on the themes of the exhibition. There are conversations around subjugated forms of heritage, statelessness, activism in architecture and resistance to contemporary forms of colonial oppression.

The programme launches with DAAR – Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti in residency in The Living Room (Al-Madafeh). Throughout the exhibition Omar Hmidat will host weekly Sunday drop-ins just as he used to gather people when he lived in Dheisheh refugee camp.

In other events Danah Abdulla and Sarona Abuaker will introduce a new game to develop ideas around Palestinian futures. Jad Tabet and Laura Searson lead a discussion on world heritage. Emilio Distretti discusses other modes of heritage thinking and making. Mahmood Mamdani will speak about the difference between historical and colonial constructions of immigrant, settlers, native.

A series of workshops will unravel notions of statelessness, community heritage and challenge immigration politics. Failed Architecture will explore strategies to re-appropriate heritage erased by nationalist ideas. Migrants in Culture will lead two design workshops on challenging the Government’s new immigration bill. Okra Studio discuss resistance with residents and activists from South London’s Central Hill Estate which awaits demolition. Learn how to make Afghan kites with Ahmadzia Bakhtyari. Khaled Malas and Nadine Fattaleh’s three-day workshop is based on talismanic objects collected by Palestinian physician Tawfiq Canaan. Learn about rituals and make your own talisman with Jumana Emil Aboud.

Discussions will shed light on architecture in relation to activism and heritage. Sofia Karim‘s An Architecture of Disappearance illustrates the cases of political prisoners she campaigns for. Noora Aljabi, Arinjoy Sen and Léopold Lambert discuss architecture in contested landscapes.

In partnership with the Architecture Foundation we present three recorded discussions Refugee Heritage, Restoration as Resistance and Architectural Models and the Refugee Camp. Speakers include DAAR – Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti, Dana Abbas, AAU Anastas, Anita Bakshi, Corinna Gardner, Wafa Hourani, Stephan Mörsch, Robert Mull, Adrian Lahoud and Dima Srouji.

New projects in music, language and performance address notions of belonging and alliances. A listening session with Sound Advice explores sound and solidarity. Mo’min Swaitat will pre-launch the first Majazz release with The Intifada EP based on a 1987 cassette, and presents monthly Palestinian tape selections. Murat Adash investigates questions of non-belonging in a new, all-day performance. Discover the friendship of vernacular Turkish and Palestinian Arabic, in a storytelling workshop with Ulufer Çelik and Alaa Abu Asad.

Diana Allan and contributors Salman Abu Sitta, Lena Jayyusi and Mahmoud Zeidan discuss their new book Voices of the Nakba. Join a monthly Palestine book club, initiated by Gentle/Radical. Karim Kattan will lead a writing workshop to explore political situations through the horror genre. Writer and activist from Gaza, Nayrouz Qarmout will be in residence at The Mosaic Rooms in autumn 2021, in a writing residency in collaboration with English PEN.

A monthly film programme features fictional and documentary pieces on statelessness, resilience, archaeology, threatened ecosystems and ecofeminist resistance. It includes films by Dima Srouji and Marwa Arsanios as well as collaborations with Temporary Art Platform Beirut and London Migration Film Festival.

Families can explore the exhibition with an activity guide by artist Jumana Hokan and join monthly family fun workshops around creative play, led by artist Elias Matar.

Online Presentation: Hatim El-Hibri (George Mason University) on Visions of Beirut

In ‘Visions of Beirut’, Hatim El-Hibri explores how the creation and circulation of images has shaped the urban spaces and cultural imaginaries of Beirut. Drawing on fieldwork and texts ranging from maps, urban plans, and aerial photographs to live television and drone-camera footage, El-Hibri traces the histories of how the technologies and media infrastructure that visualize the city are used to consolidate or destabilize regimes of power.

Throughout the twentieth century, colonial, economic, and military mapping projects helped produce and govern its spaces. In the 1990s, the imagery of its post-civil war downtown reconstruction cast Beirut as a site of financial investment in ways that obscured its ongoing crises. During and following the 2006 Israel/Hizbullah war, Hizbullah’s use of live television broadcasts of fighting and protests along with its construction of a war memorial museum at a former secret military bunker demonstrate the tension between visualizing space and the practices of concealment.

Outlining how Beirut’s urban space and public life intertwine with images and infrastructure, El-Hibri interrogates how media embody and exacerbate the region’s political fault lines.

Hatim El-Hibri is Assistant Professor of Film and Media Studies at George Mason University, where he is also affiliated with Cultural Studies, and Middle East and Islamic Studies. He earned his Ph.D. in Media, Culture, and Communication from New York University, and previously was a faculty member at the Media Studies Program at the American University of Beirut. His book is now out from Duke University Press.

Chair: Dina Matar (SOAS) and Narguess Farzad (SOAS)

Organiser: SOAS Middle East Institute

Contact email: smei@soas.ac.uk

This webinar will take place online via Zoom.

To register: https://www.soas.ac.uk/smei/events/cme/26oct2021-visions-of-beirut-the-urban-life-of-media-infrastructure.html

P21 Gallery Exhibition Dates: 28 October-6 November 2021

Artists: Leila Gamaz, Sabrina Mumtaz Hasan, Fatima Zohra Serri, Ismail Zaidy, 560Zoom Collective

Curator: A.MAL Collective

Exhibition Coordinator: Mishelle Brito

Over a period of three months, A.MAL Collective ran a research residency with two UK-based artists and three Morocco-based artists. Together they explored the algae as a material in itself; but also looking at the social and economical factors at play connected to its sale (e.g. global demand for ‘sustainable’ or ‘vegan’ material, exploitation of algae and labour in Morocco, etc). To do this A.MAL facilitated a series of online workshops, talks and classes ran by industry professionals in both countries. The results are the new body of work which will premiere at the P21 Gallery. The works include essay films, recorded performances, a sound installation and photography. A series of four online public events are also being hosted by Dardishi throughout November 2021 in conjunction.

About A.MAL Residency

In 2021 A.MAL started a residency funded by The British Council Morocco and Arts Council England, exploring ecology and ethics within global relations between Morocco and the UK through the motif of algae. This residency was run by artist and curator Jessica El Mal.

Algae has been sourced from the shores of El Jadida as a sustainable material (as an alternative to plastics or nylons) and as a vegan substitute. But as the demand for vegan and sustainable material grows in the West, the shores of El Jadida have become massively over-exploited – it has even been nicknamed ‘red gold’ algae and there is a threat of extinction.

A.MAL is an artistic research collective exploring ecology, migration and post-coloniality through speculative projects.

About the artists:

Fatima Zohra Serri, 26 years old, born in Taza, raised in Nador, Morocco.

“I started photography in the summer of 2016 out of curiosity. I started shooting with the simple lenses of a mid range phone, a year later I decided to take my hobby to the next step and bought an affordable camera that I still shoot with until this day. I started with self portraits at home trying to express what I am feeling through photographs. I use photography to highlight some of the issues that concern women in our society and the conservative side of it in particular, keeping the Moroccan touch but with a sense of originality.”

Leila Gamaz is an Algerian-English artist and writer whose work celebrates the complexity of being mixed race. Through a combination of interviews and archival research she explores inherited trauma, ancestral wisdom, and the politics of place and belonging. Her work has been published by Vittles, Shado magazine, Azeema magazine, and Dardishi.

Sabrina Mumtaz Hasan MA, FHEA works within the mediums of scripted text, sculpture, performance and moving image. Her practice is stimulated by her writings on materialising the positive aspects of a parasite, in favour of catalysing sociological change; situated in contemporary philosophy and legacy activation. Mumtaz Hasan’s colour palette is recognisably a very close selection of browns, oranges, aubergines and yellows. Working against the pejorative perception of parasite-host relationships, she coined the term Socio-Parasitology. Her focus is on the interruptive stage and the first act of contact made between a parasite and host coupling; as an activity that releases a productive change. She explores the positive acts of interruption through temperature, immigration policy, diagram, scale, bio-matter, ethics and various states of displacement, arrival, transit and diverse bodies in flux.

Mumtaz Hasan has exhibited work as part of Cluttered (2010) was exhibited at Saatchi Gallery for “Imagine a World Without Prejudice” curated by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), COLOURED at Willesden Green Gallery (2018), Tate Exchange: Studio Complex (2018), commissioned by Small Green Shoots for National Storytelling Week (2018), Metaphonica IV: The House of Beyond Sound (2018), Nom, The Laundry Arts (2018), Us Bodies, A Socio-Parasitology Manifesto at Hundred Years Gallery (June 2018), Refugee Week (2019) and Slipstream Refugee Week (2020), Victoria and Albert Museum (2019) and Raw Labs for Newham Word Festival (2019) commissioned by Sonic Gaze for an evening of politicised performances. Artist in Resident at The Cube (Neuroscience) facilitating MY COGNITIVE PARASITE MADE ME DO IT! a round table discussion (2018) and Haramacy Residency at The Albany Theatre funded by Arts Council England. Mumtaz Hasan has led and curated The Socio-Parasitology Manifesto Exhibition focusing on Media, Migration and News Broadcasting to do with Brexit, supported and funded by University of the Arts London in January 2019 at Nunnery Gallery, Bow Arts Trust.

Ismail Zaidy is a photographer based in Marrakech.

“Photography is a family affair to me, and in 2018 I started a project named ‘3aila’, family in English, with my younger brother othmane @3outmane and sister Fatima @fatimazahrazaidy . They both play a huge part in developing the ideas behind the pictures and we also support each other in developing different concepts for new stories. I mainly use photography to express my inner point of view on some of the topics that I can’t express through words. Most of the time I am a person who doesn’t like to talk too much so the best medium that I have explored and found to express myself is through photography and imagery.”

560Zoom Collective is an interdisciplinary collective based in Casablanca, linking media art and research with regards to Morocco’s sociocultural context. The collective’s members Elodie Sacher (media scholar focusing on visual and media cultures) and Younes El Hossaini (media artist, DV camcorder videographer) participate in A.mal’s residency to explore the sonic qualities as well as visual aesthetics of algae as living organisms. Furthermore, they take a special interest in the relation between the city El Jadida and its natural resource of red algae through archives from the French protectorate, footage and interviews.

P21 Gallery is an independent London-based charitable trust established to promote contemporary Middle Eastern and Arab art and culture.

For more: https://p21.gallery/exhibitions/red-gold

Join cookbook author, MasterChef contestant, and Guinness World Record Holder Raheel Mirza at this special cook-along fundraiser, co-hosted by Zaytoun! Raheel, who has broken the Guinness World Record for the biggest ever cook-along, will be guiding us through the process of cooking his Butter Chicken recipe, with veggie and vegan alternatives available.

He will be joined by Palestinian chef Maha Salah, who will be sharing her traditional family recipe for Kayket Joz El Hind for dessert. The evening will feature speakers as well as a performance by Palestinian Oud player Saeid Silbak.

Register now for an unforgettable evening of delicious food for a fantastic cause. This event is a fundraiser, with proceeds going to PSC, the fastest growing campaign for Palestinian human rights and justice.

You also have the option to purchase a  spice pack which will include all spices required for the dish for £9.95 incl. postage and packaging – simply add it as you make your donation!

Once you have successfully registered for the event, you will receive an ingredients list and Zoom link via email.

Date: Friday 29th October
Time: 5:30pm (BST)
Suggested Donation: £15 per household or screen

All proceeds go to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), the fastest growing campaign for Palestinian human rights and justice.

For tickets and more information: https://www.palestinecampaign.org/events/cook-along-with-masterchef-contestant-raheel-mirza/

Exhibition Dates: 12 October, 2021—30 January, 2022

‘Stateless Heritage’ sets out to challenge mainstream narratives of refugee experience, of humanitarian crises, victim-hood and suffering. In this exhibition, artist and architectural collective DAAR proposes exile as a radical perspective which can take us beyond the limitations of the nation state. Stateless Heritage also interrogates Western definitions of heritage.

The works in the exhibition focus on Dheisheh refugee camp in Palestine. The camp traces its history back to 1949, at the time of the start of the Nakba, when Palestinians were displaced by the founding of the state of Israel. A large light box installation will show photographs of the camp by Luca Capuano. Capuano had previously photographed Italy’s world heritage sites for UNESCO. In 2016 DAAR commissioned him to take the same care to document Dheisheh, as a living monument of ‘permanent temporariness’. A series of photo-books show the 44 villages the refugees of Dheishah originally came from.  

DAAR will present their proposal to recognise the camp as a UNESCO world heritage site, in a call for official international recognition of the cultural heritage of the refugee. A space alongside will host events by activists, artists and thinkers. 

These works are part of a wider movement to use heritage to resist colonialism and occupation which continues in Palestine, and to expose colonial and imperial legacies more widely. Stateless Heritage will raise issues of migrant justice at a time when the right to claim asylum is under threat in the UK and internationally.

DAAR (Decolonizing Architecture Art Research) is an architectural collective that combines conceptual speculations and pragmatic spatial interventions, discourse and collective learning. The artistic research of Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti are situated between politics, architecture, art and pedagogy. In their practice art exhibitions are both sites of display and sites of action that spill over into other contexts: built architectural structures, the shaping of critical learning environments, interventions that challenge dominant collective narratives, the production of new political imaginations, the formation of civic spaces and the re-definition of concepts.

For more: https://mosaicrooms.org/event/daar-stateless-heritage/

The Mosaic Rooms announces ‘The Living Room’ (Al-Madafeh), the new event series for the exhibition ‘Stateless Heritage’ by DAAR – Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti. It is inspired by The Living Room (Al-Madafeh) in the exhibition, a space of conviviality and generosity in the spirit Dheisheh refugee camp’s culture, for people to meet, discuss ideas and create solidarity.

This programme of online and in person events features artists, activists, collectives and thinkers who expand on the themes of the exhibition. There are conversations around subjugated forms of heritage, statelessness, activism in architecture and resistance to contemporary forms of colonial oppression.

The programme launches with DAAR – Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti in residency in The Living Room (Al-Madafeh). Throughout the exhibition Omar Hmidat will host weekly Sunday drop-ins just as he used to gather people when he lived in Dheisheh refugee camp.

In other events Danah Abdulla and Sarona Abuaker will introduce a new game to develop ideas around Palestinian futures. Jad Tabet and Laura Searson lead a discussion on world heritage. Emilio Distretti discusses other modes of heritage thinking and making. Mahmood Mamdani will speak about the difference between historical and colonial constructions of immigrant, settlers, native.

A series of workshops will unravel notions of statelessness, community heritage and challenge immigration politics. Failed Architecture will explore strategies to re-appropriate heritage erased by nationalist ideas. Migrants in Culture will lead two design workshops on challenging the Government’s new immigration bill. Okra Studio discuss resistance with residents and activists from South London’s Central Hill Estate which awaits demolition. Learn how to make Afghan kites with Ahmadzia Bakhtyari. Khaled Malas and Nadine Fattaleh’s three-day workshop is based on talismanic objects collected by Palestinian physician Tawfiq Canaan. Learn about rituals and make your own talisman with Jumana Emil Aboud.

Discussions will shed light on architecture in relation to activism and heritage. Sofia Karim‘s An Architecture of Disappearance illustrates the cases of political prisoners she campaigns for. Noora Aljabi, Arinjoy Sen and Léopold Lambert discuss architecture in contested landscapes.

In partnership with the Architecture Foundation we present three recorded discussions Refugee Heritage, Restoration as Resistance and Architectural Models and the Refugee Camp. Speakers include DAAR – Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti, Dana Abbas, AAU Anastas, Anita Bakshi, Corinna Gardner, Wafa Hourani, Stephan Mörsch, Robert Mull, Adrian Lahoud and Dima Srouji.

New projects in music, language and performance address notions of belonging and alliances. A listening session with Sound Advice explores sound and solidarity. Mo’min Swaitat will pre-launch the first Majazz release with The Intifada EP based on a 1987 cassette, and presents monthly Palestinian tape selections. Murat Adash investigates questions of non-belonging in a new, all-day performance. Discover the friendship of vernacular Turkish and Palestinian Arabic, in a storytelling workshop with Ulufer Çelik and Alaa Abu Asad.

Diana Allan and contributors Salman Abu Sitta, Lena Jayyusi and Mahmoud Zeidan discuss their new book Voices of the Nakba. Join a monthly Palestine book club, initiated by Gentle/Radical. Karim Kattan will lead a writing workshop to explore political situations through the horror genre. Writer and activist from Gaza, Nayrouz Qarmout will be in residence at The Mosaic Rooms in autumn 2021, in a writing residency in collaboration with English PEN.

A monthly film programme features fictional and documentary pieces on statelessness, resilience, archaeology, threatened ecosystems and ecofeminist resistance. It includes films by Dima Srouji and Marwa Arsanios as well as collaborations with Temporary Art Platform Beirut and London Migration Film Festival.

Families can explore the exhibition with an activity guide by artist Jumana Hokan and join monthly family fun workshops around creative play, led by artist Elias Matar.

P21 Gallery Exhibition Dates: 28 October-6 November 2021

Artists: Leila Gamaz, Sabrina Mumtaz Hasan, Fatima Zohra Serri, Ismail Zaidy, 560Zoom Collective

Curator: A.MAL Collective

Exhibition Coordinator: Mishelle Brito

Over a period of three months, A.MAL Collective ran a research residency with two UK-based artists and three Morocco-based artists. Together they explored the algae as a material in itself; but also looking at the social and economical factors at play connected to its sale (e.g. global demand for ‘sustainable’ or ‘vegan’ material, exploitation of algae and labour in Morocco, etc). To do this A.MAL facilitated a series of online workshops, talks and classes ran by industry professionals in both countries. The results are the new body of work which will premiere at the P21 Gallery. The works include essay films, recorded performances, a sound installation and photography. A series of four online public events are also being hosted by Dardishi throughout November 2021 in conjunction.

About A.MAL Residency

In 2021 A.MAL started a residency funded by The British Council Morocco and Arts Council England, exploring ecology and ethics within global relations between Morocco and the UK through the motif of algae. This residency was run by artist and curator Jessica El Mal.

Algae has been sourced from the shores of El Jadida as a sustainable material (as an alternative to plastics or nylons) and as a vegan substitute. But as the demand for vegan and sustainable material grows in the West, the shores of El Jadida have become massively over-exploited – it has even been nicknamed ‘red gold’ algae and there is a threat of extinction.

A.MAL is an artistic research collective exploring ecology, migration and post-coloniality through speculative projects.

About the artists:

Fatima Zohra Serri, 26 years old, born in Taza, raised in Nador, Morocco.

“I started photography in the summer of 2016 out of curiosity. I started shooting with the simple lenses of a mid range phone, a year later I decided to take my hobby to the next step and bought an affordable camera that I still shoot with until this day. I started with self portraits at home trying to express what I am feeling through photographs. I use photography to highlight some of the issues that concern women in our society and the conservative side of it in particular, keeping the Moroccan touch but with a sense of originality.”

Leila Gamaz is an Algerian-English artist and writer whose work celebrates the complexity of being mixed race. Through a combination of interviews and archival research she explores inherited trauma, ancestral wisdom, and the politics of place and belonging. Her work has been published by Vittles, Shado magazine, Azeema magazine, and Dardishi.

Sabrina Mumtaz Hasan MA, FHEA works within the mediums of scripted text, sculpture, performance and moving image. Her practice is stimulated by her writings on materialising the positive aspects of a parasite, in favour of catalysing sociological change; situated in contemporary philosophy and legacy activation. Mumtaz Hasan’s colour palette is recognisably a very close selection of browns, oranges, aubergines and yellows. Working against the pejorative perception of parasite-host relationships, she coined the term Socio-Parasitology. Her focus is on the interruptive stage and the first act of contact made between a parasite and host coupling; as an activity that releases a productive change. She explores the positive acts of interruption through temperature, immigration policy, diagram, scale, bio-matter, ethics and various states of displacement, arrival, transit and diverse bodies in flux.

Mumtaz Hasan has exhibited work as part of Cluttered (2010) was exhibited at Saatchi Gallery for “Imagine a World Without Prejudice” curated by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), COLOURED at Willesden Green Gallery (2018), Tate Exchange: Studio Complex (2018), commissioned by Small Green Shoots for National Storytelling Week (2018), Metaphonica IV: The House of Beyond Sound (2018), Nom, The Laundry Arts (2018), Us Bodies, A Socio-Parasitology Manifesto at Hundred Years Gallery (June 2018), Refugee Week (2019) and Slipstream Refugee Week (2020), Victoria and Albert Museum (2019) and Raw Labs for Newham Word Festival (2019) commissioned by Sonic Gaze for an evening of politicised performances. Artist in Resident at The Cube (Neuroscience) facilitating MY COGNITIVE PARASITE MADE ME DO IT! a round table discussion (2018) and Haramacy Residency at The Albany Theatre funded by Arts Council England. Mumtaz Hasan has led and curated The Socio-Parasitology Manifesto Exhibition focusing on Media, Migration and News Broadcasting to do with Brexit, supported and funded by University of the Arts London in January 2019 at Nunnery Gallery, Bow Arts Trust.

Ismail Zaidy is a photographer based in Marrakech.

“Photography is a family affair to me, and in 2018 I started a project named ‘3aila’, family in English, with my younger brother othmane @3outmane and sister Fatima @fatimazahrazaidy . They both play a huge part in developing the ideas behind the pictures and we also support each other in developing different concepts for new stories. I mainly use photography to express my inner point of view on some of the topics that I can’t express through words. Most of the time I am a person who doesn’t like to talk too much so the best medium that I have explored and found to express myself is through photography and imagery.”

560Zoom Collective is an interdisciplinary collective based in Casablanca, linking media art and research with regards to Morocco’s sociocultural context. The collective’s members Elodie Sacher (media scholar focusing on visual and media cultures) and Younes El Hossaini (media artist, DV camcorder videographer) participate in A.mal’s residency to explore the sonic qualities as well as visual aesthetics of algae as living organisms. Furthermore, they take a special interest in the relation between the city El Jadida and its natural resource of red algae through archives from the French protectorate, footage and interviews.

P21 Gallery is an independent London-based charitable trust established to promote contemporary Middle Eastern and Arab art and culture.

For more: https://p21.gallery/exhibitions/red-gold

Online Event Description: Zay Initiative Founder Dr. Reem El Mutwalli will be in conversation with Dr. Salam Fakih, a Lebanese Professor, Researcher, and Interior Architect.

In addition to her 20 years’ experience in the field of design, and 14 years in educational teaching, Dr. Fakih is also a member and Head of Specialized Technical Committee at General Directorate of Vocational and Technical Education in Lebanon, where she constructs and periodically updates the curriculum of the fashion design. They will be discussing Dr. Fakih’s research on the correlation between Architecture & Clothing in Damascus.

Date: 2^nd November 2021

Time: 4 pm (London), 8 pm (Dubai)

Tickets: Donation

Registering will not only give you access to the live session but also a recorded version to catch up on in your own time.

For more: https://thezay.org/event/architecture-clothing-case-study-damascus/

The Zay Initiative was founded by Dr. Reem Tariq El Mutwalli, a published author with over 40 years of experience in art and cultural heritage.

An evening of combined arts performances prescribed by artists from BIPOC communities
Haramacy acts as catalyst for cross-cultural engagement for artists from Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) communities. It creates a space for BIPOC artists to collaborate and create works that explore intersectional social issues (race, gender, class, and ethnicity) that exist within their communities and those of their peers.

Haramacy is comprised of an online residency program and an evening of combined arts performances; bringing together storytelling, music, visual, and more to celebrate outsider narratives.

The title Haramacy, is an amalgamation of the Arabic word ‘haram’, meaning indecent or forbidden, and the English word ‘pharmacy’, implying a safe, trustworthy space that prescribes the antidote to ailments caused by intersectional, social issues.

Now in its 3rd edition, Haramacy is presented by COMMUN in London, Bristol, and Birmingham to advocate for higher BIPOC participation in the Arts.

The earlier you book your tickets, the better the price will be!

Participating artists include:

Jamila Boughelaf

Jida Akil

John Antony

Kumail Rizvi

Nia Fekri

Nikta Mohammadi

Olivia Melkonian

Pritt

Rahemur Rahman

Sakina Saidi

About COMMUN: COMMUN is a combined arts co. and charity with a focus on community building for emerging and mid-career Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) artists. Through projects, events, and digital media, COMMUN creates opportunities for BIPOC artists to collaborate and create works to achieve a greater understanding for ‘othered’ people in our society.

For tickets: https://www.thealbany.org.uk/shows/haramacy-3/

Arabs Are Not Funny!… is back on stage with Maria Shehata , Fatiha El-Ghorri , Mo Magaleo and Farah Sharp.

You might have thought that Arabs couldn’t get any funnier. Think again. After over almost two years of hibernation, four of the funniest Arabs in London are back on stage, in the flesh, funnier than ever before.

Widely regarded as one of the hottest comedy nights among the Arab community and beyond, Arabs Are Not Funny! sees comedians with roots in the Arab world showcasing their talents and attempting to prove the naysayers wrong!

All acts in English.

Line up :

Farah Sharp

Farah is an English-Egyptian comedian based in London. She has performed around the UK as well as in Sydney, Australia. Her stand-up is a mix of quirky opinions and anecdotes, often based around her upbringing or relationships and what she has (…or hasn’t!) learnt from them.

Fatiha El Ghorri

Underneath Fatiha’s colourful hijab is a mind full of cutting observations and engaging witticism of the life and times of a British Muslim woman. Fatiha smashes the Muslim stereotypes and challenges people to think about what they think they know about Islam, Muslims, Muslim women especially. She tackles some tough subjects like Islamophobia and dating by sharing her own experiences which are funny, thought provoking and honest!

As seen on ITV’s ‘The Jonathan Ross Comedy Club’ 2020
As seen on Comedy Central’s ‘Comedy Central at the Edinburgh Fringe’ 2020

Mo Magaleo

A young comedian from Morocco, who grew up in the UK. On stage I talk about growing up in a council estate, having a Muslim background, growing up with Moroccan parent, and many more stories/ observations.

Performed at many big comedy clubs in the UK, Amsterdam, Portugal, Belgium and many more.

Maria Shehata

Multi-award winning, Egyptian-American comedian Maria Shehata is rapidly making a name for herself in the UK appearing on BBC, Comic Relief, Dave, and selected as Top 5 Best New Acts of the Edinburgh Fringe by the 99 Club, named Pick of the Fringe, showcased at Latitude, and was tour support for Bill Burr. Her writing has been featured in British Comedy Guide, Radio 4, and the New York Times. She is co-host of the weekly comedy podcast 2 Non Doctors.

Please note this show is 90 minutes long, with breaks between sets. Doors open from 7pm.

We are constantly monitoring the government’s COVID-19 guidelines. Should the situation change, the event will be postponed and bookers will be notified in regards to their options.

Supported by the Garfield Weston Foundation through the Weston Culture Fund

RUNNING TIME: 90 mins
AGE GROUP: 16+
TICKETS: £14
CONCESSIONS: £12

Tickets: https://www.canadawatertheatre.org.uk/2495/Arabs-Are-Not-Funny

‘For A Palestinian’ is Presented by Bilal Hasna and Aaron Kilercioglu

Renowned oud player and composer Adnan Joubran’s compelling career has spanned the globe from Palestine to Paris and New York. Hailing from a family synonymous with the oud, Adnan comes to the EFG London Jazz Festival with his new quartet project.

Joining his two older brothers in 2005 to form the now iconic Le Trio Joubran, the Trio have gone on to release award-winning albums, and compose for numerous films and documentaries, such as the Oscar-nominated ‘Five Broken Cameras’.

Nearly a decade later, Adnan marked the launch of his anticipated solo career in 2014 with his debut album Borders Behind. Whilst paying homage to the heritage of the oud, his journey takes him beyond the traditional music, creating a unity of compositions and modern sounds to create a new musical landscape. This arresting new sound has seen him open for international artists such as Ibrahim Maalouf and Rodrigo & Gabriela.

For this pulsing show, Adnan has followed his steadfast passion to propose something different and compelling incorporating Indian, flamenco, jazz and classical influences; it is his musical fingerprint, a complex yet inviting modern arrangement. Ranging from dark and dramatic, to cinematic, Borders Behind gives space to new classical compositions, stunning improvisation and an innovative meeting of the classical cello and the contemporary oud.

For more: https://marsm.co.uk/event/adnan-joubran-quartet-efg-london-jazz-festival/

‘Rumi: The Musical’ will get its world premiere at the London Coliseum on 23-24 November 2021. Dana Al Fardan and Nadim Naaman’s second musical follows ‘Broken Wings’, which premiered in the West End before touring The Middle East.

Based on a story about the 13th century philosopher and poet by Evren Sharma, ‘Rumi: The Musical’ will premiere as a semi-staged concert. The live premiere follows the release of a full-length concept album on Broadway Records.

Led by Ramin Karimloo (as Shams Tabrizi) and Nadim Naaman (Rumi), Casey Al-Shaqsy (Kimya), Soophia Foroughi (Kara), the London Colisseum cast will comprise entirely of performers of Middle Eastern, North African and South Asian heritage, and will also feature a 25+ piece orchestra, conducted by Joe Davison.

‘Rumi: The Musical’ features a grand score which combines Middle Eastern authenticity with classical influences and contemporary musical theatre, with lyrics derived from Rumi’s poetry; Orchestrated and Arranged by Joe Davison, with Vocal Arrangements by Nikki Davison.

More About the Show 

The legacy of 13th century philosopher and poet Rumi has touched millions around the world and continues to make an impact in its universality and utilitarian nature; a legacy which has lasted eight centuries and has inspired all nationalities, ages, faiths and backgrounds. But how did it all begin?

‘Rumi: The Musical’ examines the transformative and powerful relationship between Rumi and his mentor Shams Tabrizi, and how this extraordinary friendship, integral to Rumi’s development as both thinker and writer, impacted the lives of Rumi’s family, friends and followers, contextualising many of his popular words and work.

For more information and tickets: https://londoncoliseum.org/whats-on/rumi-the-musical/

PizzaExpress Jazz Club (Soho)

Arts Canteen proudly revives Egypt’s legendary vocalist Abdel Halim Hafez with a performance by the HarfousH Jazz Band, led by Ahmed Harfoush at the PizzaExpress Jazz Club, the award-winning London music venue in the heart of Soho.

The Harfoush Jazz Band was founded by Egyptian London-based jazz vocalist Ahmed Harfoush in October 2015, bringing a new sound to jazz through unique arrangements mainly inspired by 1950s Egyptian and American songs.

The Egyptian Jazz Projekt takes us back to the golden age of music with timeless classics by Egypt’s most popular performers such as Abdel Wahab and Abdel Halim skilfully blended with the music of American composers including Cole Porter, George Gershwin and Jerome Kern.

The project was performed in Paris, Berlin, Cairo, Vienna, Melbourne and recently at Royal Albert Hall’s Elgar Room and Dubai Opera.

Ahmed Harfoush is an Egyptian jazz vocalist based in London who appears at leading venues and events throughout Europe and the Middle East. His repertoire is extensive, including traditional American jazz and swing, musical theatre, Arabic songs and contemporary hits.

The Egyptian Jazz Projekt aims at exposing the Egyptian music legacy to the world with many collaborations of diverse jazz artists.

This will be a popular night, so grab your tickets fast!

For tickets: https://www.pizzaexpresslive.com/whats-on/halim-by-the-egyptian-jazz-projekt

Exhibition Dates: 12 October, 2021—30 January, 2022

‘Stateless Heritage’ sets out to challenge mainstream narratives of refugee experience, of humanitarian crises, victim-hood and suffering. In this exhibition, artist and architectural collective DAAR proposes exile as a radical perspective which can take us beyond the limitations of the nation state. Stateless Heritage also interrogates Western definitions of heritage.

The works in the exhibition focus on Dheisheh refugee camp in Palestine. The camp traces its history back to 1949, at the time of the start of the Nakba, when Palestinians were displaced by the founding of the state of Israel. A large light box installation will show photographs of the camp by Luca Capuano. Capuano had previously photographed Italy’s world heritage sites for UNESCO. In 2016 DAAR commissioned him to take the same care to document Dheisheh, as a living monument of ‘permanent temporariness’. A series of photo-books show the 44 villages the refugees of Dheishah originally came from.  

DAAR will present their proposal to recognise the camp as a UNESCO world heritage site, in a call for official international recognition of the cultural heritage of the refugee. A space alongside will host events by activists, artists and thinkers. 

These works are part of a wider movement to use heritage to resist colonialism and occupation which continues in Palestine, and to expose colonial and imperial legacies more widely. Stateless Heritage will raise issues of migrant justice at a time when the right to claim asylum is under threat in the UK and internationally.

DAAR (Decolonizing Architecture Art Research) is an architectural collective that combines conceptual speculations and pragmatic spatial interventions, discourse and collective learning. The artistic research of Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti are situated between politics, architecture, art and pedagogy. In their practice art exhibitions are both sites of display and sites of action that spill over into other contexts: built architectural structures, the shaping of critical learning environments, interventions that challenge dominant collective narratives, the production of new political imaginations, the formation of civic spaces and the re-definition of concepts.

For more: https://mosaicrooms.org/event/daar-stateless-heritage/

The Mosaic Rooms announces ‘The Living Room’ (Al-Madafeh), the new event series for the exhibition ‘Stateless Heritage’ by DAAR – Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti. It is inspired by The Living Room (Al-Madafeh) in the exhibition, a space of conviviality and generosity in the spirit Dheisheh refugee camp’s culture, for people to meet, discuss ideas and create solidarity.

This programme of online and in person events features artists, activists, collectives and thinkers who expand on the themes of the exhibition. There are conversations around subjugated forms of heritage, statelessness, activism in architecture and resistance to contemporary forms of colonial oppression.

The programme launches with DAAR – Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti in residency in The Living Room (Al-Madafeh). Throughout the exhibition Omar Hmidat will host weekly Sunday drop-ins just as he used to gather people when he lived in Dheisheh refugee camp.

In other events Danah Abdulla and Sarona Abuaker will introduce a new game to develop ideas around Palestinian futures. Jad Tabet and Laura Searson lead a discussion on world heritage. Emilio Distretti discusses other modes of heritage thinking and making. Mahmood Mamdani will speak about the difference between historical and colonial constructions of immigrant, settlers, native.

A series of workshops will unravel notions of statelessness, community heritage and challenge immigration politics. Failed Architecture will explore strategies to re-appropriate heritage erased by nationalist ideas. Migrants in Culture will lead two design workshops on challenging the Government’s new immigration bill. Okra Studio discuss resistance with residents and activists from South London’s Central Hill Estate which awaits demolition. Learn how to make Afghan kites with Ahmadzia Bakhtyari. Khaled Malas and Nadine Fattaleh’s three-day workshop is based on talismanic objects collected by Palestinian physician Tawfiq Canaan. Learn about rituals and make your own talisman with Jumana Emil Aboud.

Discussions will shed light on architecture in relation to activism and heritage. Sofia Karim‘s An Architecture of Disappearance illustrates the cases of political prisoners she campaigns for. Noora Aljabi, Arinjoy Sen and Léopold Lambert discuss architecture in contested landscapes.

In partnership with the Architecture Foundation we present three recorded discussions Refugee Heritage, Restoration as Resistance and Architectural Models and the Refugee Camp. Speakers include DAAR – Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti, Dana Abbas, AAU Anastas, Anita Bakshi, Corinna Gardner, Wafa Hourani, Stephan Mörsch, Robert Mull, Adrian Lahoud and Dima Srouji.

New projects in music, language and performance address notions of belonging and alliances. A listening session with Sound Advice explores sound and solidarity. Mo’min Swaitat will pre-launch the first Majazz release with The Intifada EP based on a 1987 cassette, and presents monthly Palestinian tape selections. Murat Adash investigates questions of non-belonging in a new, all-day performance. Discover the friendship of vernacular Turkish and Palestinian Arabic, in a storytelling workshop with Ulufer Çelik and Alaa Abu Asad.

Diana Allan and contributors Salman Abu Sitta, Lena Jayyusi and Mahmoud Zeidan discuss their new book Voices of the Nakba. Join a monthly Palestine book club, initiated by Gentle/Radical. Karim Kattan will lead a writing workshop to explore political situations through the horror genre. Writer and activist from Gaza, Nayrouz Qarmout will be in residence at The Mosaic Rooms in autumn 2021, in a writing residency in collaboration with English PEN.

A monthly film programme features fictional and documentary pieces on statelessness, resilience, archaeology, threatened ecosystems and ecofeminist resistance. It includes films by Dima Srouji and Marwa Arsanios as well as collaborations with Temporary Art Platform Beirut and London Migration Film Festival.

Families can explore the exhibition with an activity guide by artist Jumana Hokan and join monthly family fun workshops around creative play, led by artist Elias Matar.

Exhibition Dates: 12 October, 2021—30 January, 2022

‘Stateless Heritage’ sets out to challenge mainstream narratives of refugee experience, of humanitarian crises, victim-hood and suffering. In this exhibition, artist and architectural collective DAAR proposes exile as a radical perspective which can take us beyond the limitations of the nation state. Stateless Heritage also interrogates Western definitions of heritage.

The works in the exhibition focus on Dheisheh refugee camp in Palestine. The camp traces its history back to 1949, at the time of the start of the Nakba, when Palestinians were displaced by the founding of the state of Israel. A large light box installation will show photographs of the camp by Luca Capuano. Capuano had previously photographed Italy’s world heritage sites for UNESCO. In 2016 DAAR commissioned him to take the same care to document Dheisheh, as a living monument of ‘permanent temporariness’. A series of photo-books show the 44 villages the refugees of Dheishah originally came from.  

DAAR will present their proposal to recognise the camp as a UNESCO world heritage site, in a call for official international recognition of the cultural heritage of the refugee. A space alongside will host events by activists, artists and thinkers. 

These works are part of a wider movement to use heritage to resist colonialism and occupation which continues in Palestine, and to expose colonial and imperial legacies more widely. Stateless Heritage will raise issues of migrant justice at a time when the right to claim asylum is under threat in the UK and internationally.

DAAR (Decolonizing Architecture Art Research) is an architectural collective that combines conceptual speculations and pragmatic spatial interventions, discourse and collective learning. The artistic research of Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti are situated between politics, architecture, art and pedagogy. In their practice art exhibitions are both sites of display and sites of action that spill over into other contexts: built architectural structures, the shaping of critical learning environments, interventions that challenge dominant collective narratives, the production of new political imaginations, the formation of civic spaces and the re-definition of concepts.

For more: https://mosaicrooms.org/event/daar-stateless-heritage/

The Mosaic Rooms announces ‘The Living Room’ (Al-Madafeh), the new event series for the exhibition ‘Stateless Heritage’ by DAAR – Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti. It is inspired by The Living Room (Al-Madafeh) in the exhibition, a space of conviviality and generosity in the spirit Dheisheh refugee camp’s culture, for people to meet, discuss ideas and create solidarity.

This programme of online and in person events features artists, activists, collectives and thinkers who expand on the themes of the exhibition. There are conversations around subjugated forms of heritage, statelessness, activism in architecture and resistance to contemporary forms of colonial oppression.

The programme launches with DAAR – Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti in residency in The Living Room (Al-Madafeh). Throughout the exhibition Omar Hmidat will host weekly Sunday drop-ins just as he used to gather people when he lived in Dheisheh refugee camp.

In other events Danah Abdulla and Sarona Abuaker will introduce a new game to develop ideas around Palestinian futures. Jad Tabet and Laura Searson lead a discussion on world heritage. Emilio Distretti discusses other modes of heritage thinking and making. Mahmood Mamdani will speak about the difference between historical and colonial constructions of immigrant, settlers, native.

A series of workshops will unravel notions of statelessness, community heritage and challenge immigration politics. Failed Architecture will explore strategies to re-appropriate heritage erased by nationalist ideas. Migrants in Culture will lead two design workshops on challenging the Government’s new immigration bill. Okra Studio discuss resistance with residents and activists from South London’s Central Hill Estate which awaits demolition. Learn how to make Afghan kites with Ahmadzia Bakhtyari. Khaled Malas and Nadine Fattaleh’s three-day workshop is based on talismanic objects collected by Palestinian physician Tawfiq Canaan. Learn about rituals and make your own talisman with Jumana Emil Aboud.

Discussions will shed light on architecture in relation to activism and heritage. Sofia Karim‘s An Architecture of Disappearance illustrates the cases of political prisoners she campaigns for. Noora Aljabi, Arinjoy Sen and Léopold Lambert discuss architecture in contested landscapes.

In partnership with the Architecture Foundation we present three recorded discussions Refugee Heritage, Restoration as Resistance and Architectural Models and the Refugee Camp. Speakers include DAAR – Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti, Dana Abbas, AAU Anastas, Anita Bakshi, Corinna Gardner, Wafa Hourani, Stephan Mörsch, Robert Mull, Adrian Lahoud and Dima Srouji.

New projects in music, language and performance address notions of belonging and alliances. A listening session with Sound Advice explores sound and solidarity. Mo’min Swaitat will pre-launch the first Majazz release with The Intifada EP based on a 1987 cassette, and presents monthly Palestinian tape selections. Murat Adash investigates questions of non-belonging in a new, all-day performance. Discover the friendship of vernacular Turkish and Palestinian Arabic, in a storytelling workshop with Ulufer Çelik and Alaa Abu Asad.

Diana Allan and contributors Salman Abu Sitta, Lena Jayyusi and Mahmoud Zeidan discuss their new book Voices of the Nakba. Join a monthly Palestine book club, initiated by Gentle/Radical. Karim Kattan will lead a writing workshop to explore political situations through the horror genre. Writer and activist from Gaza, Nayrouz Qarmout will be in residence at The Mosaic Rooms in autumn 2021, in a writing residency in collaboration with English PEN.

A monthly film programme features fictional and documentary pieces on statelessness, resilience, archaeology, threatened ecosystems and ecofeminist resistance. It includes films by Dima Srouji and Marwa Arsanios as well as collaborations with Temporary Art Platform Beirut and London Migration Film Festival.

Families can explore the exhibition with an activity guide by artist Jumana Hokan and join monthly family fun workshops around creative play, led by artist Elias Matar.