London's Shubbak festival to include Egyptian artists

'Shubbak: A Window on Contemporary Arab Culture' will take place at several venues in London between 22 June and 6 July, giving platform to a wide range of artists from across the Arab world. 16 countries – including Egypt, Palestine, Morocco, Tunisia, Syria and Saudi Arabia, among many others – will participate in this year's festival, now in its second edition. For 15 days, artists will showcase a variety of arts through exhibitions, film screenings, music concerts, theatre performances and fashion shows. The festival will also include roundtables and discussions. According to the festival's official press release, talks and discussions will include an international conference on contemporary art in the Middle East, along with a discussion on the 'conservative chic' trend as expressed by young Muslim women who have taken the hijab. From Egypt, the festival will include an exhibition entitled 'Mr. President's Circus' by British photographer John Perkins and supported by Egyptian artist and journalist Mona Abouissa, who have been following the circus around Egypt for four years. Perkins has taken a series of photographs depicting circus performers' lives, both on and off the stage. The Shubbak festival will employ several venues, including the Barbican Centre, the British Museum, the Tate Modern, the Mosaic Rooms, the Arab British Centre, Asia House, ICA, Serpentine, Gallery, Rich Mix and the London College of Fashion, among others. The Egyptian Culture Centre, for instance, will host a musical event. "Set in the newly-restored baroque splendour of the Nasser Hall in Mayfair, the acclaimed contemporary ensemble Notes Inégales plays some of the most innovative and evocative works of contemporary Arab composers," according to a press release for the event. The El-Alfy Theatre Company, meanwhile, will present 1970 stage play 'The Comedy of Oedipus' by Egyptian playwright Ali Salem.