ARTISTS/IDEAS/NOW—Patriarchy and the Climate Crisis

Liverpool Arab Arts Festival presented ARTISTS/IDEAS/NOW—Patriarchy and the Climate Crisis livestreaming on the commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Tuesday 23 November at 10 a.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 12 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 1 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5) / 6 p.m. GMT (London, UTC +1) / 19:00 CET (Berlin, UTC +2).

This autumn the Liverpool Arab Arts Festival in collaboration with Creative Destruction is producing a series of online conversations titled ARTISTS/IDEAS/NOW. This series is part of LAAF’s four-month festival focused on the climate crisis, and invites leading creatives, activists, and thinkers to explore the complexities surrounding the climate emergency.

Our final event looks at the connection between patriarchy and the climate crisis. How is the climate crisis impacting women and people of marginalized genders? Are there feminist solutions to the crisis—perhaps rooted in cultural traditions and practices which have been upended by consumerist habits? How can artists help illuminate the parallels between society's treatment of women and nature?

The panel will be made up of artists who have contributed to the 22 project.

Ala Buisir is a documentary photographer born in Ireland with Libyan roots. A graduate with a BA in photography from TU Dublin. Then an MA in journalism from DCU and currently doing a PhD by practice in UL. Her work documents the social and political tension around us today. The aim is to raise awareness by presenting events through different perspectives in hopes that it may also bring about change. Website: www.alabuisir.com

Juliana Yazbeck is an award-winning actor, writer, and musical artist. As an actor, she is best known for her roles as Niqabi Ninja in Sara Sharaawi’s play Niqabi Ninja, Roza Salih in Glasgow Girls (National Theatre of Scotland) and Yara in the Emmy-winning series Shankaboot (BBC World Service). Juliana’s debut record SUNGOD was awarded PRS Foundation’s Women Make Music Award. Juliana recently played a sold-out show at London’s Electric Ballroom (2020). In 2019, Juliana played London’s ULU alongside Sudanese icon AlSarah, headlined the National Theatre River Stage and Liverpool Arab Arts Festival, and was nominated for the Arab British Centre’s Award for Culture. Juliana also writes regularly. Her words feature in gal-dem magazine and on Medium.com. Twitter: @julianayaz

Maha Alasaker is a visual artist based in Kuwait. She is a 2014 graduate from the International Center of Photography. Through her artwork, Maha tries to gain a deeper understanding of herself while attempting to engage issues of culture and identity. Her curiosity centers around how a woman’s upbringing affects identity and self-worth. Maha's projects have been displayed in numerous exhibitions in New York City and London, as well as the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. Magazines such as Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, Marie Claire, and Rolling Stone have featured her work. In 2019, Maha published her first photo book, Women of Kuwait, which was then acquired by the Getty Research Institute and the Thomas J. Watson Library at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.