I’m Sara, I’m currently an MA Comparative Literature student at SOAS, and this summer I was a curatorial intern at the Arab British Centre, facilitated by the SOAS summer internships scheme. When I first saw the job description, it was a perfect intersection of my British Iraqi identity, my experience teaching arts and music in […]
3oubour, A River Between Mountains invites artists to critically consider the concept of technical knowledge and innovation, not just as something which always has to be ‘new’, but also as existing within the realm of inherited and locally bound practices that go back several centuries, and how these revelations could illuminate ways of being. Across […]
For the Who am I? North African Narratives Q&A on the 17th June, our curator, Jessica El Mal interviewed artist Hannaa Hamdache as part of the Leeds International African Arts Festival The LIAAF was established in 2023, with the aim of supporting multidisciplinary artists from the African Diaspora communities within West Yorkshire, through collaboration […]
We’re pleased to introduce the brilliant participants selected for this year’s Arab Film Development Workshop as part of SAFAR Film Festival. Over a two-day workshop, SAFAR has the privilege of welcoming six early-career filmmakers to develop their projects connected to or inspired by the Arab world, with support from SAFAR co-founder, educator and filmmaker Saeed […]
In collaboration with the SAFAR Film Festival, Palestinian-British artist/filmmaker Saeed Taji Farouky will lead a free two-day project development workshop on 7 and 8 June 2025 for up to six early-career Arab filmmakers (or filmmakers working on projects connected to or inspired by the Arab world. Please see below for elaboration on the term “Arab”). […]
For writer and artist Ali Al-Jamri, storytelling has always been a medium to intertwine the myths and stories of childhood into the complexities of history and the present day. Al-Jamri, born in London in the 1990s, grew up within a Bahraini community woven together by exile. His understanding of Bahrain was shaped heavily by stories […]
A Knock on the Roof is about Mariam, a mother from Gaza training for war. She's living her regular life, when another war breaks she remembers, from previous wars, that the Israeli military had started using a technique called a knock on the roof, where they alert residents of a building with a small bomb on the roof to give them 5 to 15 minutes to escape.
Art has the power to transcend time, geography, and history, creating bridges between the past and the present. Monya Riachi’s latest exhibition, Safe Waters, is a testament to this. Opened on 7th February 2025 at Lewisham Arthouse, this exhibition marks the culmination of her time on the Lewisham Arthouse Graduate Residency Award. Safe Waters is […]
Music holds different meanings at different times in our lives. In the Listening In podcast series, created in partnership with the Arab British Centre, Yasmeen Soudani of SouqSounds sits down with three incredible guests to explore how their love of music shapes who they are. Spanning inherited family favourites, hype songs, dancefloor staples and much […]
Films, films everywhere! Here’s our round-up of what’s screening at BFI London Film Festival 2024 this October. THANK YOU FOR BANKING WITH US (2024) Laila Abbas’ gripping tale of two sisters racing against time to assure their inheritance is an inspiring story of unity against unfair patriarchal systems. TO A LAND UNKNOWN (2024) Mahdi Fleifel’s […]