Introduction to 2022 Festival
Building on 4 years of success, culminating in an entirely virtual festival in December 2020, Rethink Rebuild Society persists with its creative mission, showcasing the talent and creativity of Syrian artists in the UK and presenting a truly bright image of Syria and its culture and heritage, an image that has long been neglected amidst the war and the refugee crisis.
The 5th Celebrating Syria Festival will take place from 11-26 March 2022 and will be a hybrid of events held online and in person. It will feature, among other activities, an art exhibition, a theatre performance, live music, films, panel discussions and interactive art workshops, and will end with a family fun day. There will be something for everyone.
The theme of this year’s festival is ‘Distance’, or Masafat مسافات in Arabic, a title that is ‘inspired’ by social distancing measures imposed on us all as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, where isolation and distance became the norm and many people stayed away from loved ones. ‘Distance’ also sums up the experiences of many Syrian and non-Syrian people, forcibly displaced, exiled or refugees around the world as a result of injustice.
With this theme in mind, the festival uses arts and culture to challenge physical, emotional and cultural distance and barriers, bringing people closer to one another, reducing isolation, alienation and marginalisation and reinforcing dialogue and integration in the multicultural society of Manchester and the UK at large.
We are committed to making Celebrating Syria accessible to everyone. For each ticketed event three different prices are available, following the ‘solidarity economy’ approach. The highest price is intended for high waged, the middle price for low and medium waged and the lowest price (always £1) for unwaged. This means you can choose the price that suits you. By choosing a higher price, if you can afford it, you are supporting the festival and enabling lower earners to attend festival events. We base our ticketing structure on trust, so no evidence of income is required. As usual, asylum seekers can attend all events for free. If you require free tickets, please contact info@rrsoc.org or on 0161 222 9779.
This festival has been possible through generous funding from Arts Council England.
Peace by Chocolate: Tribute to Hatem Ali
Mar 21, 2022, 7:00 PM – 8:45 PM GMT Chapeltown Picture House , 50 Red Bank, Cheetham Hill, Manchester M4 4HF, UKFamily Day: Miles Apart, Still in the Heart
Mar 26, 2022, 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM Brunswick Parish Church, Brunswick St, Manchester M13 9SX, UKTootArd present Migrant Birds
Mar 23, 2022, 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM GMT TriBeCa, 50 Sackville St, Manchester M1 3WF, UKAssad’s Prisons: The Narrative of Resistance in Lived Experience and in Literature
Mar 22, 2022, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM GMT Online EventAssad’s Prisons: The Narrative of Resistance in Lived Experience and in Literature
Jaber Baker introduces us to prison literature in Syria in a rare opportunity to have a closer look at the experience of detention and forced disappearance in this country, itself a huge prison, as represented in literature.
On Remembering and Forgetting
Mar 20, 2022, 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM GMT Rethink Rebuild Society , Unit 7, Longsight Business Park, Hamilton Rd, Longsight, Manchester M13 0PD, UKIn the Eyes of Syrians: Double Vision and Sugar Cage Screening
Mar 19, 2022, 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM GMT Contact Theatre, Oxford Rd, Manchester M15 6JA, UKDabke: Learn to Dance Like a Pro
Mar 19, 2022, 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM GMT Contact Theatre, Oxford Rd, Manchester M15 6JA, UKMade with Magic: Music Concert
Mar 18, 2022, 8:00 PM – 9:30 PM GMT Contact Theare, Oxford Rd, Manchester M15 6JA, UKSyria: The Making and Unmaking of a Refuge State. A Conversation with Professor Dawn Chatty
Mar 15, 2022, 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM GMT University of Manchester, Oxford Rd, Manchester M13 9PL, UKSyria: The Making and Unmaking of a Refuge State. A Conversation with Professor Dawn Chatty
Professor Dawn Chatty examines the history of Syria in the late Ottoman Empire and since World War One as it welcomed refugees from across the region, drawing conclusions regarding displaced Syrians’ contemporary welcome in neighbouring states.
A Comedian in a Syrian Tragedy: Film Screening + Q&A
Mar 14, 2022, 6:00 PM – 8:10 PM GMT HOME, 2 Tony Wilson Pl, Manchester M15 4FN, UKHow to Write a War: the Story of a Narrative Journalist from Syria
Mar 13, 2022, 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM GMT Rethink Rebuild Society , Unit 7, Longsight Business Park, Hamilton Rd, Longsight, Manchester M13 0PD, UKHow to Write a War: the Story of a Narrative Journalist from Syria
AlJumhuriya Collective and Celebrating Syria Festival invite you, in this hybrid event, to discuss the work of Mona Rafea, pseudonym, a rare and critical voice that has been telling stories, from inside Homs, of those who have stayed in the city.
Dounia: Film Screening + Q&A
Mar 13, 2022, 4:00 PM – 5:15 PM GMT Rethink Rebuild Society , Unit 7, Longsight Business Park, Hamilton Rd, Longsight, Manchester M13 0PD, UKWeaving: Using Poetic Patterns in Long Form Narrative with lisa luxx
Mar 13, 2022, 12:00 PM – 3:00 PM GMT HOME, 2 Tony Wilson Pl, Manchester M15 4FN, UKEating the Copper Apple + Q&A
Mar 12, 2022, 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM GMT HOME, 2 Tony Wilson Pl, Manchester M15 4FN, UKWriting in the Time of War: a Conversation with Khaled Khalifa
Mar 12, 2022, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM GMT Contact Theatre, Oxford Rd, Manchester M15 6JA, UKWriting in the Time of War: a Conversation with Khaled Khalifa
Khaled Khalifa was our guest at the first Celebrating Syria Festival 2017 on skype from Damascus. Five years on, and he will be with us again, in person this time, to tell us about his experience of writing in the time of war, or writing the war.