The Yemeni community in the northern English port city of Liverpool is one of the longest-established Arab communities in Britain. It dates back to the late 19th century when Yemeni seamen and their families arrived, and the Arab population of the city is still predominantly Yemeni. It was among the Yemeni community that the Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival (LAAF) began in a modest way 12 years ago. The festival has since developed into a vibrant and diverse annual celebration of Arab culture that attracts thousands of enthusiastic visitors, and last Thursday it was awarded the 2010 Arab British Culture & Society Award. The award, consisting of 5,000 pounds and a trophy, was presented by the chair of the judging panel Dr. Shelagh Weir to LAAF chairman, Yemeni-born Taher Qassim, and festival manager, Ngozi Ikoku, at a ceremony at the Arab British Center in central London. In his acceptance address Qassim said: “I'm very emotional because this award means a lot to me. I am passionate about what we do and I am grateful to the fantastic team that I'm working with.” He praised the people of Liverpool, and the Arab community in Liverpool and beyond, for making possible the LAAF's achievements despite the challenges faced by the festival organizers, particularly after the 9/11 attacks. Ngozi Ikoku pointed out that LAAF is “the only festival of its kind in the UK”. The annual Arab British Culture & Society Award was inaugurated in 2008. It goes to an individual or organization judged to have made an outstanding contribution to the British public's knowledge and understanding of the life, society and culture of the Arab people. Dr. Weir, a research associate at London University's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) is an authority on Palestinian and Yemeni culture. In announcing the award to LAAF she said: “This remarkable annual festival began as a grass-roots initiative in 1998, and has since grown into a major cultural event on the national scene. Its aims chime closely with those of this award: to increase public understanding of Arab arts and culture, and to challenge prejudice.” To achieve these ends, the festival organizes and supports a remarkable array of activities in July each year, including plays, concerts, dance, exhibitions and outreach programs. Dr. Weir noted that Taher Qassim was awarded an MBE honor in 2008 in recognition of his work for the festival and for the Arab community in Liverpool. (Qassim, who has lived in Liverpool since 1995, was a founder of, and is chairperson of, the Liverpool Arabic Center set up in that year. He works full time in the National Health Service as a public health neighborhood manager). The judges unanimously chose LAAF from a shortlist of 10 candidates. In all there were 34 qualifying nominations for the award from which the events committee of the Arab British Center selected the shortlist submitted to the judges. In addition to announcing the awarding of the prize to LAAF, Dr. Weir named three candidates that the judges had selected for special commendation. They were Palestinian artist Kamal Boullata, author of the landmark book “Palestinian Art: From 1850 to the Present”; director of the Middle East Center at Oxford University, historian Dr Eugene Rogan, author of the ‘ambitious and compendious' book “The Arabs: A History”, and the charity UNIPAL which sends British volunteer teachers to Palestinian refugee camps and invites Palestinian teachers to the UK. Three of the judges had been honored at previous Arab British Culture & Society Award ceremonies. Heather Masoud is co-director of Zaytoun CIC, which won the award in 2009 for the inspirational way it markets Palestinian olive oil and olives in the UK. Tim Niblock, Professor of Arab Gulf Studies at the University of Exeter, was a specially commended candidate in 2009. Margaret Obank, founder and director of Banipal magazine of modern Arab literature and of Banipal Books, was specially commended in 2008. The other judges were Professor Maisa Farid, Cultural Counselor and Director of the Egyptian Cultural center and Educational Bureau in London; editor and journalist Malu Halasa; and the Jordanian actor Nadim Sawalha. The award ceremony included the screening of a short film on LAAF, shot in 2008, the year in which Liverpool was European Capital of Culture. The film conveyed the warm flavor of the festival, with many non-Arabs among the crowds enjoying Arab food, poetry readings, dancing and the work of musicians and avant garde artists from various Arab countries. This year's festival will be held from July 2 to 11. Highlights include an exhibition of six thought-provoking artists from across the Arab world, “Arabicity: ‘Such a Near East'”, which will run at the Bluecoat Arts Centre from July 3 to Sept.
