ARTification presents.... in partnership with Asmahan Alkarjosli ‘The Magic of the East in the Fashion of the West’ exhibition opening event. In this exhibition, Asmahan is showcasing her solidarity with the children of Gaza who have tragically lost their lives in the recent conflict. Through a fusion of Palestinian and Western fashion in her designs, she aims to convey a message of empathy and unity. All proceeds from this exhibition will go towards helping the children of Gaza. Asmahan Alkarjosli is a visual artist from Syria. A former journalist, broadcaster, and producer for The Middle East Broadcasting Centre MBC And Senior Promotion Producer at BBC News Arabic. Studied BA Fine Art at the University of Damascus and PGCert Animation at Saint Martins for Design and Arts London. Winner of the award for Best Arab Ceramic Artist in the World from The Arabs Groups 2021.

We are happy to welcome musician Dr Amar Alaw. Amar is a self-motivated saxophonist channelling his life experience of war, sanctions and migration into music - specifically Sufi-jazz {Sufi-Jazz is a style of music that reflects the devotional nature of the Sufis. It is characterised by a unique tempo and improvisation based on the oriental melodies. The Sufi-Jazz is also inspired by the works of many Sufi poets, such as Mansur al-Hallaj and Jalaluddin Rumi. ©️ Amar Alaw}. He traveled with his family as a refugee on foot from Turkey to Germany. He left many things behind, but he always carried his saxophone with him.  With age 13 years old, he started my music career with Mr. Abdul Razak Abdul Wahab in Baghdad-Iraq, where he had been enchanted by the non-traditional musical instrument – the saxophone. Later (with a age 19) he was taught by Mr. Monty Waters in Munich, who introduced him to Jazz music. He played the saxophone for more than three decades and developed my own technique for performing Sufi-jazz using quartertones. This invites more traditional Eastern music to be performed on a typically Western instrument. And he has published a book titled “The saxophone and Quarter Tones”, see here and here. He has worked in several refugees projects and he has published a music album see here.  He has performed in several countries (Germany, and the UK), both as a solo musician and as part of a band (e.g. The Refügees, The Nomaden, The Baghdad Band and The Niederlasser). This has included a wide variety of charity concerts (see here), ceremonies, and as an accompaniment to poetry and pantomimes.  Amar plays several music forms, his most popular being Oriental Sufi-Jazz based on the Sufi-jazz; and I love playing in church, see here and here. Amar understands his situation as an opportunity and obligation to mediate between different cultures and habits of thought and he firmly believes that art (in all areas and in a broad sense) is the language that can bring people and their planet to peace.

Oud musician Saife Alnaffakh will join us.  He was born in Baghdad/Iraq and had a great passion for Arabic music. His first instrument was piano, which he studied under the supervision of Egyptian music teacher Afaf Almasri. He conducted many concerts when he moved to  London starting in 1997. In 2009, he began taking oud lessons with Iraqi musician Ehsan Emam, which included Arabic music scales and solfege. For the past 15 years, he conducted many concerts around the globe, such as Qatar, UAE, Iraq, Egypt, and many more. Also, he contributed to many debates about Iraqi and Arabic music. He also composed many music pieces that he is planning to include in his album, which is due to be released soon under the name 'Journey from Iraq.'

Poetry courtesy of Amir Darwish.  "Amir is a British Syrian poet & writer of Kurdish origin who lives in London. Born in Aleppo in 1979, he came to Britain as an asylum seeker in 2003. He has a BA in history from Teesside University, UK, MA in International Relations of the Middle East from Durham University, UK, and an MA in creative and life writing from Goldsmiths University, UK. He is currently a PhD student at the University of Northampton, UK. As a poet, his work has been published and anthologised worldwide. His poetry was translated into Arabic, Bengali, Estonian, Finnish, Italian, Spanish, and Turkish, amongst other languages. He was part of several radio programmes, including BBC 4, BBC World Service and Refugee Radio. Amir was invited and attended literary and poetry festivals worldwide, including Finland, India, Italy, Turkey, Morocco, and Estonia. His two collections of poetry are Dear Refugee (Smokestack, 2019) & Don’t Forget the Couscous (Smokestack, 2015).”

Poetry from Hafiza Ibrahim, a key member of CPFP who is a published Palestinian. Hafiza grew up as a refugee in Lebanon and emigrated to the UK in the 1990s. Her poems tackle a range of issues relating to Palestinian identity, desire for repatriation, & convey the courage and spirit of the Palestinian people. Hafiza writes in both Arabic and English. She was nominated ‘Best Arab Female Poet by the Arabs Group Achievement Award for the best Creative Arab in the world in 2020.’