Shubbak Festival Will Return in May

Shubbak Festival, Europe's largest and most dynamic platform for contemporary Arab arts, will return from 23 May to 15 June 2025, promising its most expansive and thought-provoking edition to date. Spanning London and beyond, the festival will bring together established and emerging artists from across the Arab world and SWANA (South West Asia and North Africa) region, showcasing a bold programme of performances, exhibitions, and cultural events. Through world premieres, UK debuts, and pioneering commissions, Shubbak 2025 continues its mission to champion intersectional, inclusive, and forward-thinking artistic expression, amplifying Black & Afro-Arab voices from within the wider Arab world,  LGBTQI+, women, and disabled communities.

“In this time of unrelenting brutality, the role of art has never been more urgent. Shubbak Festival 2025 believes art can both hold the grief of the present and inspire us to imagine new possibilities. This year's programme is a testament to the power of collective creativity—bringing together builders, healers, disruptors, lovers, archivists, and dreamers. Through bold artistic expression, we reaffirm that only in unity can we envision and shape our shared future.” -Alia Alzougbi, Artistic Director & CEO

The festival launches at the Southbank Centre on 24 and 25 May with MILK مِلْك a visually arresting and politically charged performance by Palestine's Khashabi Ensemble. Directed by Bashar Murkus and Khulood Basel, MILK مِلْك is the largest Palestinian theatre production staged in the UK in over 25 years, delving into the rupture of disaster—how catastrophe fractures time, turning the past into an unshakable present and dissolving the future into endless repetition. Setting the tone for a festival committed to centering Palestinian artistry and cultural expression, this performance marks the beginning of Shubbak's powerful and transformative journey.

Festival Highlights: Groundbreaking Performances & Immersive Installations

Shubbak 2025 presents a lineup of artistic interventions, performances, and exhibitions across the city:

• The People's Catwalk (launch weekend): A revolutionary public fashion show by 3EIB, a SWANA creative platform reclaiming the word 3eib (عيب)—traditionally used to shame those who challenge societal norms—as a symbol of pride and defiance. Featuring models of all ages, shapes, and abilities, alongside a pop-up showcasing 50 independent SWANA fashion brands.
• Ali Chahrour's The Love Behind My Eyes (24 May, The Lowry & 28 May, The Place): A poignant exploration of love, loss, and longing, rooted in Arabic lyrical poetry and cultural traditions. This dance performance is inspired by a 9th century Arab legend, which recounts the tragic tale of Mohamed Ben Daoud and his lover Ben Jomea.
• Salim Djaferi's Koulounisation (23 & 24 May, Battersea Arts Centre): A powerful reflection on colonialism and language, blending storytelling, theatre, and visual art.
• Marah Haj Hussein's Language: No Broblem (13 & 14 June, Battersea Arts Centre & Bradford 2025): A witty, sharp, and theatrical dissection of language, power, and identity.
• SADA – Voices of Palestine (6 June, Barbican – in partnership with MARSM): A musical journey featuring DAM's hard-hitting hip-hop, Rola Azar's soulful folk melodies, and Dana Salah's genre-blending soundscapes, culminating in an electrifying DJ set.
• Naseer Shamma at the Barbican (15 June): The globally celebrated oud virtuoso and composer, with over 120 original compositions, takes centre stage for a mesmerizing finale.
• Reimagining Ibn Battuta's Travels (Grand Junction, W2): An epic community theatre production spanning five episodes across five countries, led by Tanushka Marah and Yasmeen Ghrawi, exploring migration, displacement, and the shifting meaning of borders.

Art, Resistance & The Digital Age

• Talking Textures (Coal Drops Yard, 23 May- 15 June) is a photo series curated by award-winning hairdresser and artist specialising in textured hair Yasemin Hassan, celebrates the cultural identities and experiences of people with textured hair through art. It highlights the challenges SWANA communities face in embracing natural hair and body hair while exploring the deep connection between hair and cultural identity through regional rituals.
• Lara Habib Kobeissi's Nazar (6–8 & 13–15 June, Live Art Development Agency): A 1:1 live performance exploring migration and memory through immersive digital reconstruction.
• Tania El-Khoury's Memory of Birds (14 & 15 June, Richmond Arts & Ideas Festival): A reflective sound installation on migration, trauma, and healing, featuring suspended pods among trees, blending poetic storytelling with meditative soundscapes.
• The Art of the Palestinian Poster (P21 Gallery): A unique, politically charged exhibition from the Zawyeh Gallery in Dubai  curated by Malu Halasa, tracing Palestinian resistance through poster art from the 1960s to the present day.
• An Artist's Manual Against Apartheid (AAMAA): In collaboration with Farah Chamma & LIEV (chamæleon), this open-source digital toolkit, supported by Amnesty International UK, Makan, PalArts, and Counterpoints Arts, equips artists with practical tools for cultural resistance.

• Application 39 a darkly comedic play by Gaza born, London based playwright and academic Ahmed Masoud (Go to Gaza, Drink the Sea, The Shroud Maker) imagining Gaza hosting the 2048 Summer Olympics.
• Manjal by Tarweedeh Collective, a captivating fusion of Palestinian folk and modern music, poetry, and stories of love, loss, and resistance.
• Merguez, a comedy play by Sami Abu Wardeh, telling the absurd and compelling story of a man mistaken for wanted assassin Carlos the Jackal. ****The Guardian
• Return to Palestine, a thought-provoking theatrical journey following Jad, a Palestinian-American, as he confronts the reality of his heritage, devised by The Freedom Theatre School based in Jenin Refugee Camp.

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