From Palestine to Sudan, the sounds of Shubbak grapple with a world in turmoil
Musicians at the London-based cultural festival respond to themes of war and violence with humanity, unity and imagination
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Founded in 2011 as a one-off, three-week event celebrating contemporary Arab culture in London, Shubbak festival has transformed over the past 15 years into a biennial showcase of Arab and Swana region arts in the UK.
Taking over venues across the capital from 23 May to 15 June, including concert halls such as the Barbican and Southbank Centre and small-scale rooms such as the New Cross Inn and Kunstraum, 2025’s wide-ranging programme features more than 42 events encompassing music, performing arts and theatre.
This year, the festival’s musical programme is addressing a particularly fraught series of global events that affect the communities it represents.
“We show up every two years to raise awareness about the richness and diversity of Arab and Swana cultures,” says Shubbak chief executive Alia Alzougbi. “This year, more than half of our programme is focused on Palestine because there’s a question for humanity right now about how we meet this moment. What is the role of art and the imagination as we witness this untrammeled brutality?
“A possible answer to that question is that our featured artists are all historians, processing and archiving what is happening through their work as well as rehearsing a liberated future at a time when that might feel impossible.”
Palestinian poet Farah Chamma and Brazilian electronic producer LIEV will directly take on that responsibility in their performance as chamaeleon on 31 May. After responding to an open call from Shubbak in 2024 for artist-researchers to document the atrocities occurring in Gaza, the pair began to work on an album and accompanying website, An Artist’s Manual Against Apartheid, which combines ambient synth pads, electronic drum programming and atmospheric field recordings with text and projected imagery.
“We have so much despair because nothing changes, no matter what the global response is — we don’t know how we can make a difference but this is our effort,” Chamma says. “It’s not a project that’s meant to entertain but one to bring people together and ground us in community, rather than anger.”
During her time living and studying in London at Goldsmiths in 2019, Chamma attended Shubbak multiple times. “Shubbak has always been important and has introduced me to so many different artists I never would have known otherwise,” she says. “It’s always felt like a passion project to showcase the artists they love and in taking part this year, it’s been reassuring to know you can do something and still have a voice when a genocide is happening.”
For Palestinian rap originators DAM, their 6 June showcase alongside singers Rola Azar and Dana Salah offers an equally important opportunity to express humanity in the face of atrocity.
“Culture and music is our way to say that we are here and we matter — it’s one of the only tools left for Palestinians to practise our freedom,” says DAM co-founder Tamer Nafar. “A lot of Palestinians haven’t been able to perform since 7 October, so even if it’s just for one night we’re excited to share the stage with other Palestinian artists. It’s bittersweet because it isn’t happening at home but we’re excited to be at an event like Shubbak where people from different backgrounds will be coming together to dance and express themselves without restriction or danger.”
Alzougbi echoes the importance of welcoming communities not just from the Arab and Swana diaspora to the Shubbak programme. “We are making a defiant statement of our existence but we want to include everyone to take part and experience these cultures,” she says. “We’re using art as a tool of connection and want audiences to take away a sense of love and care for each other, as well as holding themselves accountable at such a difficult moment.”
Promoter Theo Araby’s Punks for Palestine showcase on 26 May promises to be a particularly loud event aiming to bring disparate musical communities together under the auspices of positive change. Running for the past five years at south-east London’s New Cross Inn, the gig has platformed London’s punk and hardcore groups to raise funds for Palestinian causes. In 2024 they took more than £3,000 in donations and even created Fractured, a new band from audience members, who will play on the 2025 lineup alongside two-piece hardcore group Death Goals, south London outfit leather.head and metalcore band Not Without Punishment.
“This year is our first working with Shubbak and it’s been a great way to show that this is more than just a gig, but something that can have an impact on the wider world instead,” Araby says. “We’re expecting our most mixed lineup of hardcore, experimental punk and DIY hip-hop, which is music that Shubbak hasn’t showcased before. It’s opening our respective communities up to new sounds and experiences.”
Outside of the Palestinian focus, Shubbak’s three-week programme includes a performance and panel discussion on 24 May exploring traditional Syrian music, as well as a night of experimental electro-pop from Kuwaiti vocalist Etaf and Scottish producer Howie B on 1 June. On 10 June, the For Sudan event showcases the country’s rich musical heritage and artists from its diaspora, combating perceptions of Sudan as a place solely defined by conflict that has been ongoing since 2023.
“We want to keep Sudan in our consciousness as it undergoes civil war and move away from the image of it only as a place of violence and crises,” Alzougbi says. “This showcase will remind audiences of Sudan’s global art tradition and celebrate its joy.”
To close the festival on 15 June, Iraqi oud maestro Naseer Shamma will perform with a new group at the Barbican. “I’ll be presenting a programme that highlights the voice of the oud in dialogue with other musical worlds and cultures,” he says. “The UK has always felt like a generous space for this dialogue and each time I’m here I am deeply moved by the attentiveness and openness of the audiences. They have a sincere desire to listen beyond borders and hear something that resonates across differences.”
Throughout the 42 performances at Shubbak festival 2025, Alzougbi highlights that it is this capacity to hear difference and still find unity that makes the event so special. “Everyone is warmly welcomed to be loud and be kind to each other,” she says. “We’re just a small team putting this together every two years but the impact is undoubtedly going to be big.”
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