Art & Identity

This event explores art as a medium for expressing identity, society and culture. Artists from across SWANA will share their process and approach to art making, and critical reflections of the role of the arts especially in times of beauty and anti-beauty,

Join us for a night of discussion and performance.

Introduction: Alissar Chidiac

Alissar Chidiac lives in Burramatta on Dharug Country. She has been working in diverse contexts and capacities for over 45 years, as a community arts worker, performer, dramaturg, curator and creative producer. Her experience of cultural action and culture making is founded in collectivity and collaboration.

From Creative Australia, the national arts funding body, she received a community arts Fellowship (in 2005) to document Arab Australian contemporary arts, and the Ros Bower Award (in 2010) which acknowledges a life time contribution to community arts and cultural development. 

Since 1991 she has worked across Arab Australian arts, heritage and cultural production. Some of Alissar’s initiatives and long term developments in local Arab cultural work include: Café Hakawati with Death Defying Theatre; Taqa Theatre in the decade of the 90s; major programs at the Powerhouse Museum through the wattan project; Auburn Poets and Writers Group, and the Arabic calligraphy programs with ACDN; No Added Sugar, the national Australian Muslim Women’s Arts Project with Casula Powerhouse; Burra Wa Ba’eed, bilingual theatre for community health; and now over a decade of Arab Theatre Studio. 

Panel Facilitator: Lena Nahlous

Lena Nahlous is an Arab Australian arts leader, social change advocate, and CEO and Executive Producer of Diversity Arts Australia. With more than 25 years’ experience across arts, cultural, and media sectors, she is widely recognised for advancing racial equity and cultural diversity in Australia’s creative industries. 

Nahlous has led major initiatives that support artists and creatives from culturally and linguistically diverse, refugee, and migrant backgrounds, helping them develop sustainable careers and amplify underrepresented voices. Her work combines research, advocacy, and capacity-building programs to drive systemic change across the arts sector. 

Through her work, Lena Nahlous continues to shape a more inclusive, representative, and equitable national creative sector. Lena is a Churchill Fellowship recipient and the winner of the Premier’s 2024 Arts and Culture Medal in honour of Carla Zampatti!


in conversation with

Maya Ghattas

Maya Ghattas is a Lebanese-Australian multidisciplinary Producer based in Sydney, on unceded Wangal Country. Her practice sits at the intersection of culture, care, community and conscience. With a background in social sciences, she works across intercultural spaces, combining analytical and conceptual thinking with care-centered communication to deliver creative and strategic work. She brings a sociological imagination and experience working with grassroots organisations, cultural institutions, government, and corporate sectors to her roles as Producer at GARUWA, a First Nations-owned storytelling agency, and Program Manager at SHIFTING GROUND, an Aboriginal-owned and women-led consultancy, where the work of decolonisation is more urgent than ever.

Maya's work is built on relationships first, and a deep belief that narrative is one of the most powerful tools we have for remaking the world, and that stories, when placed in the right hands and the right context, can shift the structures that shape our lives. Her screen credits include Motherhood in the Colony (Best Achievement in Indigenous Filmmaking, St Kilda Film Festival), Power to Country (shortlisted for the Sustainable Future Award, Sydney Film Festival), and the forthcoming Firekeepers with Screen Australia and Network 10. At GARUWA, she produces the annual First Nations Impact Lab, developed by GARUWA, in partnership with Screen Australia and Doc Society, and is proud to share Still Becoming: Our Anti-Racist Future, an anti-racism campaign developed in partnership with the Race Discrimination Team at the Australian Human Rights Commission.



Ghassan Saaid

Sudanese born Ghasan Saaid is a Sydney‑based contemporary visual artist whose practice spans diverse artforms, including experimental visual media, mixed‑media works and concept‑driven installations. His work engages with broad social and emotional terrains such as identity, displacement and belonging within a wider exploration of human experience, memory and connection.

An award‑winning artist with exhibitions in Australia and internationally, Ghasan is recognised for a layered visual language that invites reflection and dialogue. As both an artist and curator, he develops collaborative projects that amplify diverse perspectives and foster cultural exchange.

Alongside his studio and curatorial practice, Ghasan contributes to community arts through his role at SSI, supporting creative programs for people from refugee and migrant backgrounds. He holds a Master’s in Studio Arts from the University of Sydney, complemented by further studies in arts and community services. 

Hazem Shammas

Palestinian actor and producer Hazem Shammas has an award-winning career across stage and screen, as well as writing, producing, and advocacy. Born in Palestine and raised in Sydney, Hazem is classically trained actor and draws on decades of experience working with community and major screen, theatre, and arts companies across the country. A co-founder of Poetry In Action, a national touring theatre-in-education company, Hazem’s work includes experimenting with independent art and performance utilising poetry, movement, video and photography.  With work that includes research on creating dialogue between his Palestinian heritage and migrant experience and First Nations legacy, Hazem joined Marrugeku in 2025 as a Projects Producer, travelling to Indonesia and Western Australia.



with performances from acclaimed artists

Hemat Malak
Hemat Malak is an accountant and poet from Picton, NSW. Winner of the 2025 Bruce Dawe National Poetry prize, a Pushcart and Best New Poets nominee, she’s been shortlisted for the ACU and Robert Gray Poetry Prizes and longlisted for the Liquid Amber and Ros Spencer Poetry Prizes.

Her poetry has appeared in journals including Rattle and Rochford Street Review, and anthologies from 5 Islands Press, One Art, WestWords and WA Poets. Her debut collection, Shelf Life, will be published by 5 Islands Press in mid-2026.

Ayşe Göknur Shanal
Ayşe Göknur Shanal is a soprano celebrated for her performances across opera, recital and symphonic repertoire.

Drawing deeply on her family’s cultural roots, including her heritage and ancestry from Aleppo, she brings Middle Eastern musical traditions and storytelling into her concert work.

She has worked with Opera Australia, Opera Queensland, and has appeared regularly at the Sydney Opera House and with major Australian symphony orchestras throughout her career.

Known for combining technical brilliance with emotional depth, Shanal continues to build bridges between cultures through music and performance. She is a staunch activist for Palestine, First Nations and human rights, in general.