participants

Dina El Wedidi

is a singer and composer. Singled out for the originality of her voice and style, Egyptian Dina El Wedidi has made her mark on her country’s music scene over the past six years. Her songs are infused with the political concerns of Egypt. From 2007 to 2010, El Wedidi worked as a singer and actress with the El Warsha Theatre Troupe, exploring Egyptian folklore and performing in such unlikely places as a Cairo prison. During this period (2009 to 2010), she also performed classical Egyptian and Arab songs with the Habayebna band, before establishing her own band in 2011. El Wedidi performed at Cairo’s Jazz Festival in 2013 with her mentor Gilberto Gil.

Rim Banna

a Palestinian singer, lyricist and composer. A human right activist and freedom fighter. Rim Banna’s songs express the suffering of the Palestinian people, their dreams and visions, their hopes, joys and sorrow. Represented Palestine in more than 30 countries.
Received many badges & awards, the last award was Ibn Rush for freedom thoughts in 2013 in Berlin. Released 12 albums, the latest album “Revelation of Ecstasy & Rebellion”, produced by the well known  pianist Bugge Wesseltoft

Basem Abuarab

Booking agent for Arabic independent music at eka3, an independent organization dedicated to creating and empowering the market infrastructure necessary for quality independent Arabic music to grow. eka3:s culture is based on artistic integrity, constant learning and improvement, transparency, cooperation, seriousness, and creativity. 

Maya Zbib

is a theatre director, performer, writer and founding member of Zoukak Theatre Company. Her work including The Music Box and Silk Thread has been presented in festivals in the Middle East, Europe, the United States, Africa and South Asia, where she has also taught in academic and non-academic contexts. She has been commissioned to create work for NYU-AD’s Performing Arts Center, UAE; Krefeld/Monchengladbach City Theaters, Germany; Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center, University of Houston, Texas; Shwindlefrie Festival, Mannheim, among others. She was artist in residence at Goldsmiths University, London; Williams College, Massachusetts; LIFT, London, among others. Since 2008, Maya leads Zoukak psychosocial interventions within marginalized communities across Lebanon, focusing on youth, women and gender issues. Since 2013 she cocurates Zoukak Sidewalks, a year-long international performance platform. 

Adel Abdelwahab

works as a theatre director, curator and cultural manager. Born in Alexandria, Egypt. He is the founder and artistic director of the Hewar Independent Theatre Company, which realised various theater projects in Alexandria and Cairo, including "The Dream" (2005,  Alexandria), "Mountain Language: Speak it or live it" (2007, Alexandria Contemporary Art Forum, Townhouse Gallery, Cairo, and at the 2009 Biennale of Young Artists, Skopje, Macedonia), "Political Manifesto" (2012, Rawabet Space for Arts, Cairo). In March 2012, he initiated together with the Hewar Independent Theatre Company, "Theatre is a Must" forum in Alexandria, which he has since managed and curated. Theater Is A Must Is forum is an independent international theater forum, which focuses on political and socio-political contemporary theater from the Arab region and Europe.  

Shermine Sawalha

is a visual and performance artist, producer, manager of arts and culture, entrepreneur. Founder of “Ctrllab: Montreal Art House” [Canada] and “Malahi Entertainment Inc.” [Jordan]. Shermine helped in reviving the ‘almost dead’ nightlife of Amman by hosting local, regional, and international acts. Her extensive study of the entertainment industry in the region helped cater for the drives and needs of the artists and the audience, building a playground for the
underground culture to thrive in while educating the public about the independent culture growing in the region through entertainment.

Rola Shamas

is an independent Iranian-Lebanese film maker. She has travelled to over 50 countries researching music, traditions, costumes, rituals, art and incorporating them in musical theatre and film. Her work includes films made under mentorship of Abbas Kiarostami and Asghar Farhadi, (experimental) video art and documentaries. Currently she is pursuing an MA in Creative documentary and editing.

Ramy Essam

is best known for his appearances in Tahrir Square in Cairo during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. His song Irhal, in which then Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was urged to resign, gained great popularity among the demonstrators. It became internationally known through YouTube, and is referred to as the anthem of the revolution. In 2011, it was selected by Time Out as the third-most world-changing song of all time. He currently sings hard rock songs, one of the few singers in Egypt to sing rock. On 9 March 2011, when the Egyptian Army forcibly cleared the square, he was arrested and tortured. In October 2014, Essam was offered safe city residence for two years by the Malmö Municipality of Sweden. He is the first musician who has been offered this by Malmö.

Oscar Rosén

is currently working on founding an arabic speakting theatregroup in Sweden. Have worked as municipality head of the cultural sector, head of marketing at the The Royal Dramatic Theatre, Sweden’s National Theatre, and at Dansens Hus, Swedens largest venue for contemporary dance and closely related performance art from Sweden and around the world.

Katrin Ambertsson

is currently Senior Producer at Re:Orient, the cultural and music event organizer in Sweden that hosts the DXF-workshop. Katrin is responsible for production, co-ordination and project communication. Before this post she was Events Manager at Södra Teatern, Sweden’s foremost international venue for music, theatre and debate, worked in PR as a consultant and Press Co-ordinator at music television channel MTV. Katrin have overseen more than 500 events ranging international music festivals, film festivals, cultural festivals, tour-leading, concerts featuring international artists and club nights. 

Peter Wilgotsson

is Manager of international relations, programme and artistic manager at Musik i Syd, a regional music institution in the south of Sweden. The mission of Musik i Syd is to promote a rich, active and varied music life in the region. As music producer and arranger, Musik i Syd plays a coordinating role and makes a strong contribution to development of music life. Musik i Syd also works as a partner in – and often the initiator of – a number of projects and festivals. In addition to public concerts and projects, Musik i Syd arranges many concerts at daycares, schools, hospitals and residential care homes. In one year, Musik i Syd arranged more than 2 000 concerts in close collaboration.

Jonas Jarl

is theaterdirector, playwright and chief programme manager at Moriska Paviljongen, the place for the DXF-workshop. Jonas is also the founder of Södra Community - a theater basing it´s plays on real peoples testimonials. He is now planning a development where the community theatre plays a more active and mobilizing part in empowerment and self-esteem among young people in the south of Sweden. 

we work with dxf

Mikael Olsson Al Safandi

Project Coordinator DXF
Mikael has for more than 30 worked a journalist, primarily in the Swedish Television (SVT) and Swedish Radio. At SVT Mikael was in charge of the newsdesk throughout the 90s, then regional and finally the national program director. Since then he has worked as the main producer and host of societal and cultural programs in Swedish
Radio P1.

karin delin

Workshop Fascilitator
Karin Delin works as a consultant for organizational development and change. Her main area of work is to support organizations in strategic planning processes applying methods that generate wide stakeholder buy-in and commitment. Karin has an extensive experience as trainer and facilitator after having planned and conducted more than 200 workshops and seminars. She has worked with civil society actors, government agencies and security sector institutions in more than 30 countries in the MENA region, Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa.

tia korpe

Workshop presenter
Tia is a cultural producer and entrepreneur for social change. She has worked with Turning Tables for over 5 years and is the program director for the MENA region. Travelling between Copenhagen, Paris and Amman, she has spent the past decade in the music and art industry. Recently she produced the first urban festival (Hip Hop,
graffiti, etc.) ever in Jordan. Late in the evening is Tia herself a DJ that creates global sound images. In the daytime also a consultant on creative strategies and projects for a number of other artists and institutions such as UNESCO and the Danish Center for Culture and Innovation.

Tania Saleh

Tania Saleh is a Lebanese singer/songwriter/visual artist who has been paving her own path in the Arabic independent musical scene since 1990. Her voice is a soft mix between the traditional Arabic music she was raised on and the western sounds she chose to follow. She also have a passion for visual arts, illustration and animation. By mixing both music and interesting imagery, Tania Saleh is reinventing herself in every way. She has recently several albums- The latest, "A Few Images", is in collaboration with Norwegian producer Erik Hillestad from Kirkelig Kulturverksted.

Mohammed Antar

Antar is his artist name. He grew up in the Gaza strip and started his career as a child actor at the theater. Now he is a musician and solo rapper but started in 2004 as one of the "darg team" for six years and released three albums and toured in Europe. Since then Mohammed Antar has issued a set of political songs within the popular movement to end the Palestinian divisions. In 2013, Antar did a tour of Brazil. Since 2014 he is residing in Cairo, working on his album.

Sawsan Habib

Sawsan Habib is musician, composer and music arranger. In 2004 she consolidated all her attributes to her purpose of developing and harnessing the artistic and music cultural scene in Jordan through establishing OrangeRed, a music and cultural event management company in Amman.  Since then Sawsan has helped develop local talents, polish and nourish them, as well organizing top of the line quality cultural events that had positive impact in Jordan and abroad.  Sawsan has produced, composed, and arranged several sound tracks for films, theatrical releases as well as for established and well known Jordanian artists.

Sondos Shabayek

is a writer, storyteller and theatre director. Sondos Shabayek have been working as the director of The BuSSy project (performance of stories of gender stories from women and men in the community) since 2007. She has also acted as director for another storytelling performance; Tahrir Monologues  (performance of stories from the revolution) in 2011 and 2012. And in 2013 she wrote and directed her first short film (Girl). 

Reem Hatem

is the Deputy Executive Director at Darb 1718 Contemporary Art & Culture Center. A graduate of English Literature from Cairo University (2008), she is an aspiring actress; and theater performer and director. Her experience in theatre includes both practice and education. She has directed three contemporary plays – “Bebasata Keda: Stories of the Revolution,” “Men Gher Asamy [Nameless],” and “Qos Qazah [Rainbow]” - which while simple, have a depth that explores a myriad of layers. She experiments with convention and constantly pushes the envelope to turn it into a contemporary piece.

Mu'ath Isaeid

Program, & Communications Director at Al-Balad Theater in Jordan. Al Balad theatre is a multi-purpose artistic and community space.  Al Balad theatre carries out many activities such as:  organizing theatre, dance, and music performances as well as film and video screenings, hosting training workshops in the performing arts, promoting independent artistic and cultural production and exchange. With a grounding in digital arts, Animation & CGI, Mu'ath has been a passionate advocate and organizer for cultural and art awareness & development. Mu'ath is also a PR & social media consultant for Nawa Recordings, a UK based record label. 

Hicham Hayeedd

Film director and programs coordinator at Arab Resource Center For Popular Arts/ AL-JANA (www.al-jana.org) also theatre director “Jana Mobile Theatre”. Coordinator of AL-JANA's film festivals “Palestine in the New Cinema” & “Jana Int. Film Festival For Children & Youth”. Facilitated various workshops for children and youth to stimulate them to express themselves and their realities via creative means of multimedia. Films produced have participated in numerous festivals worldwide, and won several prestigious international awards.

Khalid Albaih

Khalid is a Romanian born Sudanese political cartoonist based in Doha, Qatar. Khalid considers himself a virtual revolutionist, publishing his political cartoons about life in the Arab world on various blogs and websites.

johanna huss

Johanna is a theatre director, play wrighter and theatre teacher based in Stockholm, working all over Sweden. She is the artistic leader of Enskedespelet since 2001. Enskedespelet is a theatergroup performing in a big circustent and the ensemble is always really big, 150 people! Kids from 6 years old, youths and adults are working togheter in the hole process of making the performance. In 2014 Johanna made a music theathre play for kids based on Oum Kulthums life, a collaboration with Re:Orient.

Helen Al Janabi

is an actress with exam from Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in Damaskus 2001-2005. She has had roles in a several film-, TV- and theatreproductions. Since 2009 she works in Sweden both with readings for children in arabic in Stockholm and as an actress on the theatrestage. During the autumn of 2015 Helen Al Janabi works at Malmö City theatre with the play "I came to see you" - a drama about the problems of returning to the homecountry from exile.

Nasreen Al Janabi Larsson

is dancer and choreographer. Born in Damascus, Syria, living in Sweden for nine years. Believing in art as it can create identity, and dance as an all artistic instrument of expressing, exchanging, researching and documenting. For now practising journalism at Swedish Radio.   

Henrik Lillsjö

is the international manager for Ramy Essam, above. And is working on programming of artists from mena-region, tour productions etc. One of the founders of Kiyou Managment and his own company Noo Jazz. Also works as producer, organizer and consultant in programming, festivals, tourplanning coordinating musical projects. Worked within several genres; worldmusic, pop, rock, musical and artists like Salif Keita, Amadou & Mariam, Oumou Sangare etc.

Christian Glasnovic        

operational manager and producer at Media Avenue Öresund, a non-profit organization decicated at giving a voice to young people through film, music, events, seminars and debates. "Learning by doing" is the recipe and Media Avenue has succesfully managed both musical talent contests, filmprojects and controversial debates. Media Avenue will also document central parts of the Democratic Exhange Forum workshop on film and make it accesible for participants on the web.

Robin Pihl       

project coordinator and producer at Media Avenue Öresund (se above).

Rana Daoud

is project manager for Arrangörsskolan, a non-profit organization that works with teaching young people how to formulate, arrange, organize and produce their own shows, activities, festivals and events.

cecilia hörnell sunar

Initiator DXF
Cecilia is the Co-Director of Re:Orient and has a long experience in international and intercultural work; with
Sida's cultural desk, as senior producer at Södra Teatern, etc. She has over many years been - together with Ozan Sunar - been the driving force for Re:Orient, parallelled with her work as a therapist.

ole reitov

Workshop presenter
Ole Reitov manage Freemuse ever since he initiated the "1st World Conference on Music and Censorship "in 1998. He tours the world in constant talks and engagements concerning censorship of music, cultural policy and cultural diversity. Ole has been a media and music consultant in Mali, India, Gabon, Botswana and Bhutan and former journalist in over 40 countries for Danmarks Radio. He is the former Chairman of the EBU's "World Music Workshop"  and advisor to the Danish Centre for Culture and Innovation as. Ole has also, as a consultant to several UN agencies, signed the background to the first UN report on artistic
Freedom.

Erik Hillestad

Collaborate Partner
Producer, cultural entrepreneur and head of Kirkelig Kulturverksted, a norwegian recordcompany and eventorganization. Erik has the during decades been a central person in norwegian musial life. He has also inspired and taken a lot of initiatives to introduce, produce and publish musical traditions from different part of the world. He has worked with musicians from Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Amerika and Europe. And produced their records.