The Distant Here - Shubbak Festival

The Distant Here was a three-week walking exhibition curated and co-produced by Zain Dada between Thur 24 June–Sat 17 July 2021 which takes the writing of two Palestinian authors, Heba Hayek and Yara Hawari, into the public realm.  The exhibition was commissioned and formed part of Shubbak Festival 2021 - Europe’s largest biennial festival of contemporary Arab culture.  

The exhibition featured a PDF guide to find typographical quotes in Arabic and English designed by Farah Fayyad in Shepherds Bush, Ladbroke Grove, Chelsea and Park Royal. Each beautifully designed excerpt was from Heba Hayek and Yara Hawari’s novels (Sambac Beneath Unlikely Skies and The Stone House) published by Hajar Press. 

Each quote occupied a culturally significant location for the Arab diaspora in West London. In cafés, cultural spaces and bookshops, visitors and passersby were able to find the quotes on billboards, posters and even postcards in shops. These site specific spaces included Bush Theatre, Mr Falafel (Shepherds Bush), Jerusalem Lounge (Shepherd’s Bush) Levant café (Park Royal) and Maramia Café (Golborne Road).  

Co-produced with Youcef Hadjazi and Taghrid Choucair-Vizoso.  Read more about The Distant Here.

Photos of the spaces, quotes and a map can be seen above.