The UK’s longest running festival of Arab arts and culture returns in July for its 23rd edition. Featuring the best UK and international Arab artists, the multi-artform programme of live and online events explores the complexities of the climate emergency in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region today.

Highlights of the launch programme include Eating The Copper Apple, a one-woman show exploring identity, culture and displacement by poet Lisa Luxx; and Grounds for Concern, a new installation by artist Jessica El Mal that questions the concept of land ownership and the boundaries enforced by human-made borders.

In August, Youcef Hadjazi’s poweful new performance film, Trauma Then, Trauma Now, will be shown at Liverpool’s Royal Standard. Taking as its subject the Algerian Civil War, it looks at collective and transgenerational trauma in post-colonial nations.

Not in Liverpool? Listen to What Happened in Baghdad, a new podcast by Kamel Saeed featuring creatives that once called the Iraqi capital home. There’s also a rich film programme to sink your teeth into.

The full schedule of events for September, October and November has yet to be released, but highlights include a new LAAF commission that brings together 22 Arab artists, activists and creatives from across the MENA region; and Threads, a new multidisciplinary performance and digital work that explores stories of migration, disability and the passage of time. With so much to see and do, it’s worth planning ahead. Enjoy!