Five events to look out for at the Liverpool Arab Arts festival
The yearly festival celebrating Arab culture and literature returns this week
The Liverpool Arab Arts festival, the longest-running event of its kind in the UK, returns to the city this month for nine days packed with theatre performances, music and workshops. The festival first took place in 1999 and has since brought together artists and communities from across Britain and overseas in celebration of Arab art, culture and identity.
Here are five events to check out.
Penguin
Friday 11 July 7.30pm, Unity Theatre
In a one-man play, Hamzeh Al Hussien takes his audience on a tour of the places he knows best: his home village in the Syrian mountains, the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan, Gateshead where he settled five years ago — and his own mind.
Al Hussien was first introduced to performance during the six years he spent in a refugee camp in Jordan, where a Spanish NGO offered training in physical theatre. After arriving in the UK in 2018, via the government’s Syrian resettlement programme, he has been able to continue his theatre work.
Penguin, a deeply personal play, explores themes of memory, fantasy and self-acceptance.
Limbs of the Lunar Disc: Break the Clocks
Saturday 12 July 1pm, World Museum Liverpool
Sarah Al-Sarraj is a visual artist whose practice spans painting, comics and immersive technologies through which she builds portals to alternate worlds.
Al-Sarraj’s video installation, Isthmus Ancient River invites viewers to follow an ancestor on a journey down the river of time. It will be on display in the World Museum Liverpool for the duration of the festival.
On Saturday 12 July, the artist will give a lecture, Break the Clocks, inviting the audience to join her on a simulation of a spaceship hurtling through time, incorporating concepts of quantum physics, liberation theory and the work of Black Quantum Futurism and scholar Jackie Wang.
Jordanian Food & Cultural Experience with Yamama
Tuesday 15 July 12pm-8.30pm, Yamama Café and Bar
Yamama Café & Bar was opened in 2024 by artist Futoon Qusairy and her sister Noura, quickly winning the hearts of Liverpool locals and visitors.
For the festival, Yamama will host a lunch and supper club on Tuesday 15 July. For £17, guests will be able to enjoy dishes from Futoon and Noura’s family recipes and watch a short film.
Palestine Minus One
Sunday 16 July 7pm, Bluecoat, 8 School Lane
Writers Mazen Maarouf and Anwar Hamed will join editor and translator Basma Ghalayini to discuss the launch of a new anthology, Palestine Minus One, by Manchester-based Comma Press.
The short story collection, edited by Ghalayini, asked 10 Palestinian writers to re-imagine the run up to the 1948 Nakba and its immediate and long-term repercussions, using fantastical, supernatural and speculative tropes.
Although Maarouf and Hamed belong to different generations, both were born in the aftermath of the Nakba, experiencing first hand the effects of displacement on them and their families.
The discussion will be chaired by Comma Press founder Ra Page.
Family Day — with music, crafts and food
Sunday 20 July 12pm-5pm, Sefton Park Palm House
The festival will close with a free family event in Sefton Park, featuring craft stalls, workshops and food.
Visitors can look forward to performances by the Tunisian composer and musician, Farah Fersi, known for her kanun music, The Egyptian Jazz Projekt, headed by vocalist Ahmed Harfoush, as well as the return of the Al Awadhel Band from Yemen.
Younger guests will also have the opportunity to enjoy a calligraphy workshop delivered by artist Hafifa Ahmed, or join Palestinian storyteller Elias Matar as he weaves a rich tapestry of Levantine and Palestinian folk tales.
The Liverpool Arab Arts festival runs from 11-20 July.
