🚨 DALSTON SWANASTORE TAKEOVER 🚨
 
Your fave London/SWANA collectives are coming together for one night only 🥵🥵
 
Expect Arabic beats, electrifying vibes, and pure community magic as we showcase some of the most exciting talent from the region!
 
🎧 On the decks:
Bar: @Sarra Wild, @NourPalestina and @Lana Mawlood
Basement: @1000raks, @Persia Joon and @Sonsonic
 
+ some surprise special guests 👠
 
Brought to you by @3EIB, @NAFS, @Bledi and new-on-the-scene @Pusswana ~ taking you on a sexy sonic journey across the SWANA soundscape.
 
📍 Dalston Superstore
Thursday April 10
10pm – 2:30am

SAPPHIC SOUNDS is back, and this time we've collaborated with NAFS نَفْس and The QPOCPROJECT to bring you an evening of live music celebrating queer talent from the SWANA (south west Asia and North Africa) diaspora

On our absolutely incredible lineup, we have:

✯ ETAF - Kuwaiti singer-songwriter & multi-instrumentalist. Genre-defying and unapologetically ICONIC, Etaf has carved out a distinct musical identity that is as daring as it is innovative. Expect playful, uplifting and powerful energy

✯Rita L’Oujdia - Moroccan singer-songwriter, musician and producer. Taking inspiration from her multicultural upbringing, her music blends global rhythms and genres, creating a unique sound that defies boundaries

✯ anonymous - our third and final artist wishes to keep their identity a secret, a mirage coming from afar to deliver a message that will almost reach you, but not quite. She dances between the lines until the whole page blurs and nothing is left but the illusive margins. We promise, you won’t be disappointed

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NAFS نَفْس is a platform dedicated to celebrating and uplifting Queer SWANA (South West Asia and North Africa) creatives. Through exhibitions, workshops, and cultural events, we create spaces for our community to connect, express, and advocate for change

The QPOCPROJECT is an organisation and community space for all black and brown queer people

Venue access: Bar Doña is on basement level and is accessed via one flight of stairs

Join us to launch Shubbak Festival 2025 with 3EIB in collaboration with Creative Space Beirut, Nol Collective and Trashy Clothing & Nafs Space

We kick off with a celebration of the bold creativity of SWANA fashion with 3EIB in collaboration with Creative Space Beirut, Nol Collective and Trashy Clothing. The People’s Catwalk brings together SWANA designs showcased in an alternative public fashion show featuring members of the Arab and SWANA community of all ages, shapes, sizes, and (dis)abilities. Bodies and fashion come together in an embodied conversation around the role of design in preservation, education and intentional connection.

This event will also feature a performance choreographed by Fadi Giha, accompanied by a soundscape and video installation designed by Sarah Boom - curated by Dania Arafeh.

Following this is a night curated by Nafs Space. More information on the line up to come including a special guest appearance!

Commissioned by Shubbak Festival. Curated by 3eib and Nafs Space. In partnership with Creative Space Beirut and Nol Collective.

NAFS is proud to collaborate with Shadow Sisters, a grassroots collective dedicated to providing self-defense training for marginalized communities. Through this partnership, we’ve hosted self-defense workshops tailored for Queer SWANA individuals, creating a space where our community can build confidence, reclaim their power, and learn practical tools for protection.

Yalla Visa was a vibrant fundraiser celebrating queer artistry, resilience, and collective action. This special event brought together a diverse lineup of talented queer musicians in support of singer-songwriter ETAF, helping them secure a global talent visa to stay in the UK.

The night was filled with electrifying performances, powerful storytelling, and a shared commitment to uplifting queer talent. 85% of proceeds went directly toward ETAF’s visa application, ensuring they could continue sharing their music with the world, while 15% was donated to Operation Olive Branch, standing in solidarity with those resisting oppression.

More than just a fundraiser, Yalla Visa was a celebration of community care, mutual aid, and the power of collective support. It was a testament to the strength of the Queer SWANA community—coming together to fight for visibility, belonging, and creative freedom.

In collaboration with SWANA Healing, NAFS hosted a deeply moving in-person healing session centered on grief, reconnection, and reclaiming traditions as a form of self-regulation and collective care. Facilitated by SWANA healing, the session provided a sacred space for the community to meditate, express, and create together.

Through shared moments of reflection, laughter, tears, and artistic expression, we explored the ways our cultural practices can sustain us through loss and resilience. This gathering was a testament to the power of coming together—to grieve, to heal, and to honour our roots.

A collaborative book club by NAFS and PoA, celebrating literature by and for Queer SWANA voices. Each session explores powerful texts that reflect our histories, identities, and resistances, fostering deep conversations on storytelling, representation, and cultural memory. More than just a book club, this is a space for community, reflection, and collective learning—where our narratives take centre stage.

Description goes hereIn collaboration with SPACE 4 SWANA, NAFS hosted a powerful exhibition that showcased the incredible work of Queer SWANA artists. The opening night marked a vibrant celebration of resistance, culture, and self-expression, bringing together a community of creatives and supporters. We are grateful to everyone who attended, and to the talented artists who contributed their work, as well as @3eib for providing the space. This event is a testament to NAFS’ commitment to elevating Queer SWANA voices and creating spaces for artistic and cultural dialogue.

Stay tuned for more events, exhibitions, and opportunities to engage with the dynamic world of Queer SWANA art.

NAFS was honored to host an immersive event at SPACE 4 SWANA by @3eib, bringing together the Queer SWANA community for a day of connection, creativity, and cultural celebration. Attendees experienced a rich blend of activities, including dolma making, art healing, and film screenings, all designed to foster healing, community engagement, and artistic expression.

We extend our deepest gratitude to the artists, performers, and facilitators who made this event possible, and to everyone who participated and attended. This event reflects NAFS’ ongoing mission to create dynamic spaces where Queer SWANA voices can thrive and share their stories

A celebration of resilience, chosen family, and queer defiance, WE ARE FAMILY spotlights short films from the SWANA diaspora, exploring themes of migration, exile, and belonging. Too often told we don’t belong—neither here nor at home—our filmmakers challenge this notion, carving out space for love, resistance, and connection on their own terms.

Presented in collaboration with FRINGE, this screening highlights the ways in which Queer SWANA individuals navigate alienation and prejudice, both in the region and the West, while finding strength in community, identity, and self-determination.

Because no matter where we are, we are family. 🧿💚🧿

Through art, performance, and community, we honor the full spectrum of our experiences, embracing both grief and joy as acts of resistance and resilience.

As part of Southbank Centre’s You Belong Here program, in collaboration with Counterpoints Arts, we curated a powerful day of dance, music, spoken word, and performances, centering Queer SWANA voices. With an incredible lineup of artists, DJs, and speakers, this event was a testament to the strength of our community—a moment of collective healing, expression, and solidarity.

At NAFS, we continue to create spaces where our stories take center stage, where we reclaim our narratives, and where we remind each other: we belong here.

A day of togetherness, reflection, and action as we explore how grief can be transformed into love, resistance, and change. Through a carefully curated program of talks, vendors, and a special screening of Michel Khleifi’s Maloul Remembers its Destruction, we honor our histories while looking toward collective healing and solidarity.

The day will culminate in a transformative performance featuring 15 artists, uniting to channel sorrow into strength, grief into love, and pain into actionable change—embodying the very essence of this gathering.

Join us as we come together to hold space, create, and build a future rooted in care, resilience, and defiance.