AWAN Festival 2023: Iraq in Focus

Join us on March 18th to celebrate the remarkable apprenticeship programme between five UK-based Arab creatives and emerging female artists from Baghdad.

During this event, you will see some of the artwork created by artists as part of the project so far, hear their stories and connect with them through a live stream at Rich Mix.

Duration: 2.5 hours

This year-long project, initiated by Arts Canteen and The Station (Baghdad), aims to empower Iraqi artists to take their practice to a new level. The project paired 5 Iraqi and 5 British artists together to create a mentorship programme which helped develop the skills of emerging Iraqi female artists and create new exciting work from a range of artistic practices including photography, music, animation, design and digital art.

The artists include:

(UK) Alaa Alsraji, Sally Souraya, Farida Eltigi, DJ Luma and Lara Kobeissi

(Iraq) Mena Asaad, Niga Salam, Mena Hadad, Yusur Mokdad and Raz Kamaran

The Station is an independent, non-governmental organisation in Iraq that helps young entrepreneurs and artists get their careers off the ground.

This project was funded by the British Council’s International Collaboration Grants, which supports UK and overseas organisations to collaborate on international art projects.

The evening is presented by Arts Canteen in collaboration with Rich Mix.

Supported by Arts Council England.

Arab Women Artists Now (AWAN) is the UK’s only contemporary multi-arts festival dedicated to showcasing Arab women’s artistic work, taking place each March, to coincide with International Women’s Day across venues in London. The festival showcases work in venues across London. Celebrating and promoting high quality female artists from the Arab world and diaspora the cross-arts festival features music, comedy, literature, visual art, theatre and performance, along with a series of workshops and development opportunities for emerging artists.

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£3 + BF
Event Details
  • Start Date
    March 18, 2023 1:00 pm
  • Address
    Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, London E1 6LA