As part of Shubbak Festival, The Mosaic Rooms in London presented a group exhibition by a new generation of artists connected to Beirut entitled I Spy With My Little Eye… Curated by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath of Art Reoriented, the exhibition explored a shift in artistic practice and individual concerns within a fiercely independent new generation. The accompanying programme saw a curator’s tour and artists’ talk as well as a panel discussion on the role of open submission exhibitions and awards for emerging artists in the region. There was also a special artists lecture by George Awde, one of the participating artists.
Shubbak 2015 paid homage to the celebrated Palestinian film director Michel Khleifi, as part of the season The Mosaic Rooms hosted a rare screening of all three parts of Kheifi’s seminal travelogue ‘Route 181: Fragments of a Journey in Palestine-Israel’. In addition ‘Canticle of Stones’ and ‘Forbidden Marriages in the Holy Land were also shown.
Anissa Helou hosted another sell out supper club, this time celebrating the delicious food of Lebanon. The gallery also hosted a very special showcase concert by winners of the Choir of London 2015 Bursary Scheme for young Palestinian musicians. The author Max Blumenthal launched his new book ‘The 51 Day War: Ruin and Resistance in Gaza’ and the award winning film ‘Teta, alf Marra (Grandma, a Thousand Times) was shown in August.
A day long symposium was organized and held at The British Museum exploring the topic of disappearing cities in the Arab World. It brought together writers, artists, historians, architects and urbanists to explore the complex space that is the contemporary Arab city.
Press coverage for I Spy With My Little Eye… included features in the Financial Times, Gulf News, Nafas, Art Asia Pacific (in print only) and ArtNet, as well as print coverage in the Independent magazine (i), Telegraph and Metro.
Shubbak festival was also covered widely in the media. Our PR team secured over 100 pieces of unique coverage in the UK and Arab press – in print, online and via the broadcast media.