London to Host 'Shubbak': A Window on Contemporary Arab Culture

London is set to host the city's first ever celebration of contemporary culture from across the Arab world, according to a statement released by the British Embassy on Monday.

The festival has been in the planning stages since Autumn 2010 but will have a special resonance in light of the extraordinary changes that have swept the region in past month. For the Foreign and Commonwealth Office the festival is an opportunity to celebrate Arab youth empowerment and freedom of expression through the arts.

Shubbak: A Window on Contemporary Arab Culture, will encompass over seventy events in more than thirty key cultural venues throughout the city for three weeks from 4 – 24 July 2011, organized by the Mayor of London and sponsored by HSBC.

Shubbak (the Arabic word for 'window') will feature a wide-ranging program of visual arts, film, music, theatre, dance, literature, architecture, lectures and discussion, many of them free, hosted by leading London cultural organizations.

Presenting organisations include: Arab British Centre, Arab New Trends, Arts Canteen, Barbican Center, The British Museum, Brunel Institute of Contemporary Middle-Eastern Music, Cadogan Hall, Café Oto, Dash Arts, Delfina Foundation, English Chamber Orchestra, Foyles Bookshop, Freeword, Gate Cinema, ICA, The Idler, iniva, Land in Focus, Leighton House Museum, LIFT, London Review of Books, London Walks, MICA Gallery, The Mosaic Rooms, Museum of London, Musicstage Promotions, Nous, Poet in the City, The Prince's School of Traditional Arts, Resonance FM, Rich Mix, Royal Institute of British Architects, Sadler's Wells, Saqi Books, Scoop at MORE London, Selma Feriani Gallery, Serpentine Gallery, Six Pillars, SOAS, Sotheby's, Southbank Centre, Tate Modern, V&A, Young Vic, Westfield Shopping Centre, Zenith Foundation.