DUBAI: The Liverpool Arab Arts Festival will return from July 17 to 26 across various venues in the British city, organizers announced this week.
Now in its 24th year, the UK’s longest-running annual festival dedicated to Arab arts and culture will present a wide-ranging program celebrating creativity from across the Arab world and its diaspora.
Founded in 1998, the festival has grown into a key fixture in the UK cultural calendar, with organizers revealing that this year’s theme will be “Home.”
According to a released statement, the theme will invite artists and audiences to reflect on ideas of belonging, identity and memory. Through performances and exhibitions, the festival will explore how “home” can be rooted in place or shaped by personal experience, relationships and movement across borders.
Among the first events announced is the world premiere of the second album by UK artist Tamsin Elliott and Egyptian musician Tarek Elazhary. The performance, scheduled for July 24 at the Philharmonic Music Room, will bring together Egyptian maqam traditions and English folk influences in a cross-cultural collaboration.
The aim, according to organizers, is “to find commonality, foster cross-cultural connection and help to heal the scars of a colonial past through meaningful and conscious collaboration.”
The pair’s first album, “So Far We Have Come,” scored them a spot on The Guardian’s Top 10 Folk Albums of 2023 list, as well as a nomination for Best Group at the Songlines Music Awards.
The festival will conclude with a Family Day on July 26 at Sefton Park’s Palm House, offering a free program of live performances, workshops and food stalls.
Recently nominated for an award recognizing outstanding contribution to culture in the Liverpool City Region, the festival continues to reinforce the city’s reputation as a global hub for arts and cultural exchange.
