Brighton Festival Brings the Riwaq, a Type of Arabic Colonnade, to the Hove Seafront, in the UK

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Syrian architects Marwa Al-Sabouni and Ghassan Jansiz bring an Arabic-inspired architectural element to the seafront of Hove as part of this year’s Brighton Festival. The temporary pavilion is built in the shape of the traditional arcade called The Riwaq. Conceived as a place that brings people together, the installation will host free cultural and community events, all organized as part of England’s largest annual multi-arts festival. Established in 1967, the Brighton Festival celebrates music, theatre, dance, art, film, literature, debate, and outdoor events in various locations across Brighton, Hove, and East Sussex.

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A Riwaq, the Arabic word for colonnade, is an arcade or portico specific to Islamic architecture and garden design. Open on at least one side, the structure often serves as a transitional space between interior and exterior spaces. It provides shade, adjustment to sunlight, or cover from the rain. Many mosques and madrasas employ this architectural element to define the contour of courtyards. In this case, it is used as a covered circulation path and ritual circumambulation. Riwaq arcades surround the narrower sides of the Great Mosque of Algiers courtyard and the Umayyad Mosque courtyard in Syria. The arcade element is also found along principal walkways of significant bazaars, like the Bazaar of Kashan, in Iran.

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The Riwaq at the Brighton Festival 2022 is a horseshoe-shaped structure, another representative shape of Islamic architecture, spanning 30 meters in diameter. It serves as a transitional creative threshold between the surrounding city and the outdoors. By welcoming a wide array of events, from Iranian storytelling to screen printing workshops to Bhangra dance sessions, it hopes to become a space of exchange between cultures and bring communities closer together.

Author and architect Marwa Al-Sabouni is a Brighton Festival 2022 guest co-director, alongside Tristan Sharps, Artistic Director of theatre-makers dreamthinkspeak. Together they have chosen the theme of Rebuilding as the inspiration for this year’s program, exploring it from various perspectives. Marwa Al-Sabouni reflects on the role of architecture in constructing a future with more hope, and less conflict, a sentiment based on her experiences explored in the autobiographical book, The Battle for Home (2016). The book was written as an act of resistance following the war that broke out in Syria in 2011 when Marwa decided not to run.

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The Riwaq is often figuratively used in Arabic traditions as a referential space for culture and knowledge: the Riwaq of poetry, the Riwaq of culture, etc. At Brighton Festival, The Riwaq will represent this transitional space of exchange. It will embrace the wonderful performances and events that will take place on its stage and host a wide array of great and exciting activities under its roof. The Riwaq will be buzzing, filled with visitors contributing and transforming it into a beautiful meeting spot on the charming seafront of Hove - Marwa Al-Sabouni.

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Marwa Al-Sabouni is based in the Syrian city of Homs and was named on the BBC’s 100 Women list 2019. Her first book, The Battle for Home, was chosen by The Guardian as one of the best architectural books of 2016. Her second book, Building for Hope, was published by Thames & Hudson in April 2021.