Celebrating Syria

Angela Hatherell writes:

It has been my pleasure and honour to be involved in Celebrating Syria: a festival of art and culture since its inception in 2017. The festival, organised by Manchester based charity Rethink Rebuild Society, is completely free and all online this year because of the pandemic, which means that both audience and performers can take part from wherever they are in the world. Rethink Rebuild's mission, as well as to improve the lives of refugees and asylum seekers in the UK, is to keep Syria alive in the public consciousness, especially at this time when the pandemic has distracted the global community and media from the issues surrounding conflict zones around the world. The Celebrating Syria festival showcases Syrian talent and brings people together to experience Syrian arts and culture, and hopefully changes people's perception of Syria as being merely another war torn region of the Middle East. 

Highlights of this year's festival include Cartooning Syria, an online exhibition and panel discussion with the artists, DJ performances by Hello Psychaleppo and Boshoco, a film screening and live discussion of We Are Not Princesses, a documentary about the incredible strength and spirit of four Syrian women living as refugees in Beirut as they come together to tell their stories of love, loss, pain and hope through the ancient Greek play, Antigone, and, the event I'm particularly looking forward to, SYRIAous About Comedy!