Liverpool Arab Arts Festival (LAAF) is the longest running and most successful UK Arab arts festival. This year, four powerful and diverse female artists will form part of the programme – award-winning Palestinian writer, performer and activist, Dana Dajani, Palestinian dancer and choreographer, Farah Saleh and spoken word artists Amina Atiq and Lisa Luxx.
The line-up of inspirational and ground-breaking women artists from across the Arab diaspora has been curated in support of RISE, Liverpool’s season of extraordinary female artists, thinkers and leaders.
You can find the full listings for the event via arabartsfestival.com and check out our highlights below.
LAAF 2019 Launch: Juliana Yazbeck
Friday 5 July, 7:45 pm
Royal Court Studio
£7/£5
Liverpool Arab Arts Festival launches with the UK Premiere performance of Juliana Yazbeck’s debut record SUNGOD. Unapologetic and raw, Juliana’s lyrics challenge the effects of colonisation on cultural identities, the current state of love & relationships and gender inequality.
SUNGOD is a call to all women and cultures to shed internalised shame and to remember, reawaken and reclaim our inherent and divine beauty, both as women and as autonomous peoples.
Book tickets by clicking here.
Gesturing Refugees
Saturday 6 July, 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm
Bluecoat
£7/£5
Created and choreographed by Palestinian dancer and choreographer, Farah Saleh and collaborators, this interactive performance intends to archive hidden stories of refugeehood using the bodies of refugee artists and audience members, while playing with other archive material, testimonies and imagination.
Book tickets by clicking here.
They Write the Shadows into Light
Saturday 6 July, 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Toxteth TV
£5.92
Bringing together three Spoken Word artists of diverse heritage and influence, Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival’s Artist in Residence, Dana Dajani, will be joined on stage by Yemeni-Scouse poet, Amina Atiq and queer British-Syrian writer and activist, Lisa Luxx.
Book tickets by clicking here.
Write Yourself with Dana Dajani
Sunday 7 July, 2:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Bluecoat
£5
A two-and-a-half hour session is centred around a series of introspective questions from LAAF artist-in-residence, Dana Dajani’s guided journal, “Write Yourself”. The workshop will allow participants to deepen their self-awareness through writing, review, and reflection.
Book tickets by clicking here.
Find Your Voice – The Art of Spoken Word Poetry with Dana Dajani
Tuesday 9 July, 12:00 pm
Bluecoat
£5
A workshop for poets and writers, this two-and-a-half hour session with LAAF artist-in-residence, Dana Dajani, will reveal techniques to express your unique voice as a writer and performer. Participants will learn how to channel their artistic mission along with their values and style, to express any emotion through poetry, prose, or song.
Book tickets by clicking here.
ēvolvō and One Day and One Night in Beirut
Thursday 11 July, 7:30 pm
Unity Theatre
£9/7
ēvolvō is a complex, magical delight from visual artist and performer, Yara Boustany.
Following a journey from idyllic nature in the mountains of Lebanon, to the busy street-life of Beirut with its startling roofscapes and noisy traffic, ēvolvō is filled with wondrous images and optical illusions.
A strange creature invades the city, is it an ancient monster or an image of the city drowning in plastic pollution? Like an open-ended riddle, ēvolvō can be read in many ways.
ēvolvō is performed alongside the shorter work One Day and One Night Beirut, depicting 24 hours from sleep to wake – a journey from dreaming to reality.
Book tickets by clicking here.
Heroine with a Thousand Dresses
Saturday 13 July, 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Bluecoat
£5 – £7
A one-woman show written and performed by Dana Dajani, Heroine with a Thousand Dresses is a journey through the diverse and eclectic wardrobe of Dana’s grandmother- a boutique owner in Jerusalem, whose love of fashion was her mode of self-expression.
Book your tickets by clicking here.