'Longest-running' festival returns to city in summer

The event dedicated to Arab culture has been running since 1998

'Longest-running' festival returns to city in summer

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Liverpool Arab Arts Festival is returning to the city this summer.

Founded in 1998, LAAF, the longest-running festival of Arab arts and culture in the UK, began with a vision to keep Arab heritage alive. For more than two decades now it has “brought diverse groups of people together in Liverpool, increasing public knowledge and understanding of the richness of Arab culture, growing into a platform for Arab artists locally, nationally and internationally”.

This year is said to be no different as more Arab artists join to celebrate Liverpool's unique identity - “a city, with a global community and brimming with artistry, that looks outwards across the world”.

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LAAF Chair Afrah Qassim said: “I want to begin by acknowledging and recognising the devastating situation across our Arab world due to war and violence. This year’s festival is dedicated to the memory of the countless lives lost to relentless conflict, which includes many artists, creatives and communities. We stand in solidarity with those who continue to endure pain and loss.

“As the longest-running annual festival of Arab arts and culture, LAAF is one of the few prominent platforms in the UK for Arab artists to present their artistic works to mainstream audiences.

“Our mission is to keep Arab arts, heritage and culture alive, creating, supporting and championing creatives from across the Arab region and its diaspora. We believe that art and creativity has the power to express our shared humanity and that artists play a vital role in documenting their lived experiences."

Port Cities, a new visual arts project, will premiere newly commissioned artwork by four Arab artists exploring the social, historical and cultural links between Liverpool and the Arab region. The first staged performance of Chambers of the Heart will explore the stories of three women as they confront love, desire and memory in stories spanning East to West.

Comedy night Arabs Are Not Funny will also return to the festival. Closing out the festival’s musical offerings, award-winning instrumentalists The Ayoub Sisters present an evening of live music at the Liverpool Philharmonic Music Room.

Afrah Qassim added: “This year’s festival features work by Palestinian, Yemeni and Sudanese artists, amongst many others, that express creativity, hope and resilience. Art can give a voice to the unheard, tell untold stories and offer new perspectives. Creativity is a universal language that transcends all borders and barriers.”

More information about the festival's events can be found here.

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