ARAB WOMEN ARTISTS NOW Multi-Arts Festival Comes to the UK in March

Arab Women Artists Now or AWAN (1-30 March) is the UK's only contemporary multi-arts festival dedicated to showcasing Arab women's artistic work, taking place each March, to coincide with International Women's Day across venues in London.

The festival showcases work in venues across London. Celebrating and promoting high quality female artists from the Arab world and diaspora the cross-arts festival features music, comedy, literature, visual art, theatre and performance, along with a series of workshops and development opportunities for emerging artists.

AWAN is produced by Arts Canteen an arts organisation that empowers artists from the Arab world and beyond to tell their own stories, change perceptions, and tackle the big issues in the world.

AWAN FESTIVAL 2023 PROGRAMME

Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, London E16LA

Thursday 2 March @ 7pm, FILM SCREENING and Q&A

'Beirut, The Aftermath', directed by Fadia Ahmad

AWAN Festival 2023 opens with a film screening of 'Beirut, The Aftermath', followed by an in-person Q&A with the Lebanese award-winning Director, Fadia Ahmad. A month after the August 4th blast, an artist returns to Beirut to help rebuild what she can of her broken city. Retracing her usual itinerary of 10452 steps through the streets of Beirut, she seeks to portray the aftermath of the explosion that shook Lebanon to its core.

A journey that once fulfilled the goal of self-discovery now gives both Beirut and the blast's survivors a voice. Raw testimonials and powerful scenes recount the day everything collapsed all while showing the resilience of a people who don't want to give up. Individuals from all walks of life finally open up after what seemed like a lifetime of silence.

Friday 3 March @ 8.30pm, MUSIC

Double bill: Samah Mustafa & Jana Saleh

Samah Mustafa is an Arab Palestinian singer. Her musical journey was influenced by oriental classic singing and folk Arabic music, which she combined with modern music to develop her unique music style. She was the main vocalist for various musical projects including Arab Baroque Music Project, Jawa Tour, New Star Competition and Yabous Palestinian Festival. Jana Saleh is an active member of the Dj scene, with more than a decade of playing in clubs and parties in Lebanon, the Levant as well as Europe. Jana co-founded Lazarus Arts and Culture - a platform dedicated to promoting and programming music and artistic events from the Levant region.

Saturday 4th March @ 4pm, FESTIVAL TALK

SARD, Libyan oral history, storytelling & memorialisation

Sard (meaning 'narrative' in Arabic) is a project that seeks to collect and preserve the experiences of individuals who have lived through periods of political and cultural significance in the country's recent past. Through recording, compiling and archiving people's personal recollections, Sard seeks to build trust and facilitate dialogue between different communities and contribute to a more inclusive and democratic society.

Saturday 4th March 8pm, CIRCUS

Ariel Emotions, with Danielle Adourian

Enjoy a spellbinding evening of aerial hoop performance from Danielle Adourian.

Danielle uses her performances to explore how expression through movement can be healing and emancipatory, drawing on inspiration from dance, burlesque and drag.

Saturday 4 March @ 9,30pm, MUSIC

Habibti Nation X AWAN

A phenomenal line-up of rappers, sound artists and DJs playing a range of percussive club sounds in addition to your favourite party classics from the Arabic-speaking world. Featuring:

Iraqi-British LUMA, a DJ from SE London. Her DJ career kickstarted after playing at Greenbelt at the age of 16. Her Arabic heritage and urban London roots have influenced her approach to DJing.

Emerging from a tangled background, Bint7alal is a rapper and producer now based in London. Her music career was launched in 2020 and her music relies heavily on her ever-present voice - often molded past human through auto-tune - drenched in an indignant seriousness reflecting the nature of her life. This Palestinian artist is now working on a record that promises to bring together the likes of Julmud, Al Nather, Onsy, and other prominent names of the Arab music scene.

Psi.KO is a 21 year old Iraqi rap artist and creative based in London, who keeps her anonymity by not showing her face so much. This rising talent is steadily developing a blueprint for her sound behind her artistic identity in the wake of her 2022 release 'To Me, From Me.'

Saturday 11 March @ 5.30pm, FILM SCREENING & Q&A

'Our River... Our Sky'

Director:Maysoon PachachiUK/France/Germany/Kuwait/Qatar/UAE/Iraq2021 117 minutes

The screening will be followed by a Q&A moderated by film programmer Abla Kan.

Set against the backdrop of intense sectarian war, Our River... Our Sky follows the stories of a small Baghdad community trying to find some semblance of normality and hope despite unpredictable violence, turmoil, and loss. Dedicated to the youth of Iraq, Maysoon Pachachi's film offers a glance at the realities of ordinary life in Baghdad, a stark contrast to past Western media portrayals of the 2006 US-led invasion. A raw and powerful display of humanity, Pachachi's film explores identity and nationalism, and what it means to belong. Sara, a struggling writer and anxious mother played by Darina Al Joundi, is the heart of the community.

Unable to write surrounded by trauma and devastation, she frantically monitors the death toll and uses her literacy skills to help her neighbours translate their pleas to the Americans. Her story is interwoven with those of her neighbours - Dijla who suffers from depression, Mona who lost her children in a past abusive relationship, and a grieving Haider falling into bad company - to name a few. Through the chaos and destruction, the residents never let their ambitions and desires for the future fade. Yet, they can't help but contemplate leaving Iraq, and are forced to ask a painful question - who does Baghdad really belong to?

Abla Kandalaft is a film programmer and journalist with a Syrian and Lebanese background.

Friday, 17 March @ 7.30pm, COMEDY

Cockney Stacking Doll with Fatiha El Ghorri

Fatiha is a British-Moroccan writer, actor, and regular on the UK comedy circuit. Her observational stand-up and wonderful witticism take you on a whirlwind journey that pulls apart Muslim stereotypes and challenges people's views on Islam, Muslims, and Muslim women. She tackles some tough subjects like Islamophobia and dating by sharing her own experiences which are funny, thought-provoking and honest. When she is not doing stand up you may see Fatiha on your tv screens, where she has made TV appearances on shows including The Jonathan Ross Show and Russell Howard Comedy Hour.

Grand Junction, Rowington Close, London W2 5TF

Thursday 9 March @ 8pm, CABARET

ASWAT, Cabaret with a Middle Eastern and North African twist.

Celebrate the festival's ninth anniversary, with an unmissable evening of cabaret featuring London's most talented, emerging female artists from the Middle East and North Africa.

Sunkissed Child (Yasmina) is a Leeds and London-based artist from Lebanon. Through her music and captivating lyrics, she shares pieces of herself and her life story through a mix of cultures, languages and genres. Her sound takes influences from Neo-soul, R&B and Hip-Hop as well as from Lebanese, Arabic and Middle Eastern cultures. Yasmina has just released a new single with hip-hop star Otis Mensah - LOVE N ATTENTION.

Amal Khalidi is a multi-disciplinary, poet, musician, and storyteller born and raised in London. Amal's work takes inspiration from their experience of being a part of the North African diaspora, and the cultural fluidity of London and attempts to understand the absolute silliness of the everyday.

Tasneim Zyada is a British Palestinian spoken word artist, published poet and voice over actor. A perfectly calm storm on the spoken word scene, her performances have featured in the likes of Shubbak, Bloomsbury and AWAN festival, and most recently headlining at the first festival for showcasing Palestinian artists in London, PalArt Festival. Her work explores themes of identity, displacement, mental health and faith.

Sana El Wakili is a multidisciplinary artist based in London with North African heritage. Sana's poetry, writing and acting are influenced spoken word and contemporary circus, music, visual art, as well as lived experience. A true cross-arts maker with bold artistic vision, Sana explores truth through experimentation, innovation and poignancy. She creates work for radio, theatre, film and television.

Chifaa Khelfaoui is a spoken word artist, actor and writer. She's currently training at Kingdom Drama School and is part of the Theatre Makers cohort at the Old Vic. She uses poetry to express her thoughts and emotions on the complications of life - particularly those faced by Arab women. Her work takes inspiration from hip-hop and conscious rap. In the future, she hopes to incorporate different languages in her work for the purpose of connecting to a global audience.

Heba Alhayek is a London-based Palestinian author, communication consultant, and facilitator. Her first book, Sambac Beneath Unlikely Skies, won the 2022 Palestine Book Awards and was chosen as a 2021 Book of the Year by The White Review, Middle East Eye and The New Arab.

Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, South Kensington London SW7 2AP

Thursday 16 March @ 9.30pm, COMEDY

Arabs Are Not Funny with Ella Al-Shamahi, Celya Ab, Janine Harouni and Nadz with MC Farah Sharp

Farah Sharp (MC)
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.

Ella Al-Shamahi
Yemeni British, Ella is a National Geographic explorer, TV presenter on the BBC & Channel 4, and Neanderthal specialist fossil hunting in caves in unstable and hostile territories... she also happens to be a stand-up comic.

NADZ
Palestinian and Irish comedienne Nadz brings hilarious real-life experiences to the stage, following performances across the UK and Los Angeles.

Celya AB
Originally from Paris, France and of Algerian origins, Celya has been making a huge impression on the UK comedy scene. With her sharp writing and likeable stage presence Celya is destined for the top. She has written for the News Quiz on BBC Radio 4 and Comedy Central, and recently appeared on BBC 2's Funny Festival Live.

Janine Harouni
An award-winning comedian who's 'ready for her Netflix special' (★★★★★ The Times). Her critically-acclaimed debut Edinburgh hour 'Stand Up with Janine Harouni (Please Remain Seated)' was nominated for the prestigious 'Best Newcomer' award at the Edinburgh Fringe and recommended by the critics at The New York Times.

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