Sheba Arts Festival
Carmel Smickersgill, Tours & Activities Editor
After successful shorter runs and multiple successful online events in the past couple years, Sheba Arts CIC, a Manchester-based not for profit organisation, is hosting its first full week, in-person community festival. Sheba Arts festival will showcase the best of community migrant art that Greater Manchester and North England has to offer. Their programme has a strong focus on art playing a role within establishing communities. You can find events happening all over the city, with two days at Central Library in partnership with Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Centre, one in South Manchester’s Hulme Garden Centre, one in Stockport, and two days led by local community groups Everything Human Rights in Leigh and Doosti Community Group in Salford. Sheba is bringing art to the community, with a mixture fo music, art, spoken word and more.
Some of the festival’s highlights include, a dialogue between Iranian citar and Cameronian Jazz, Sufi music, Lanagualita, a play written by a Guatemalan artist, exciting multi-media monologues and spoken word by artists from a variety of styles and diverse perspectives. They are particularly excited to showcase the work to Greater Manchester residents.
They will also be holding workshops run by community groups in their local area. These groups have autonomy over planning activities and the art works. In addition to the performances, Sheba have commissioned two artists, one is Maram Al-Dalawi, a young woman based in Worsely, who is creating a piece of visual art responding to the theme of the festival. The second is Sally Hilton, a playwright whose work “La Nagualita” has been translated for performance at the festival. Sally joined Sheba Arts drama project in 2019 and since she has been involved in various arts projects, this is her first one person show inspired by Guatemalan folklore.
All events will include refreshments and time for people the audience to socialise and reconnect again after an isolated year, which has been particularly difficult for artists and migrants.
