Shubbak Announces Appointment Of New Executive Director

Shubbak has announced the appointment of Farès K Moussa as new executive director replacing Daniel Gorman who takes up the position of Director of English PEN in August.

Farès joins Shubbak from Strode Theatre in Somerset, where he has been director since 2017. Before that he worked across the Arab world running a cultural tour company, and as an impact mitigation consultant mainly in Libya until 2011. He was also an active board member of Leith Theatre Trust in Edinburgh. Prior to this he was a House Manager at the Royal Opera House and a councillor for London Borough of Sutton. Farès maintains active research interests in the Anthropology of arts practice, with a regional specialism in North Africa. He will start in mid-August, but will already be present during some of this year's festival.

Maysoon Pachachi, chair of the board of trustees says: Our current executive director, Dan Gorman, has worked tirelessly for Shubbak over the past few years. His commitment, ingenuity and energy have meant that Shubbak has grown significantly over this period. I am very much looking forward to working with Farès to build upon this success. He comes with a strong background in arts, heritage, academia and politics, and will bring new expertise into the organisation.

Eckhard Thiemann, Artistic Director & CEO says: As we are just about to kick off with Shubbak 2019, I am so pleased that Farès will join us to plan our future past this year's festival and into our 10th anniversary year 2021.

Farès Moussa says: Shubbak provides a platform in the UK for pushing boundaries through artistic exploration while bridging national cultural divides. It will be an honour to take up the role of Executive Director for such an important festival.

Shubbak, which runs from the 28th June to the 14th July, is the UK's premier festival of contemporary Arab culture presenting outstanding Arab artists to audiences in London and across England. Shubbak is the co-recipient of the 2018 UNESCO Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture.

For the fifth edition of the biennial Festival the programme includes UK premieres and new commissions from over 150 artists based in the Arab region, in Europe and in the UK, with both cutting-edge and celebrated names, through a mix of visual arts, film, music, theatre, dance, literature and debates. Shubbak 2019 principal partners are Arts Council England, A. M. Qattan Foundation, Bagri Foundation and British Council. Shubbak is a registered charity number 1150374.