Welcome to Sawa, a digital platform documenting all things fashion and art from the Middle East, North Africa and the Arab diaspora.

Being British and Palestinian, I’ve been caught between Cambridge and Nazareth culturally and creatively; both places are rooted in their wildly different, yet incredibly rich histories. Growing up in Cambridge, engaging in culture and creativity meant going to the Fitzwilliam Museum, collecting copies of Vogue, and spending countless hours in the art department working on projects and researching European art histories. Equally inspiring me, at home, I was surrounded by Palestinian textiles and carved wooden pieces resembling Palestinian landmarks and icons that sparked a fascination for creativity across cultures.

Based on this, the past three years studying fashion journalism at Central Saint Martins turned into an era of exploration and inquiry. I began to use my developing journalistic skills and curious character to engage with the creative side of my heritage in a new way. Early interviews with contemporary Arab fashion designers developed my interest in the current design scene in the MENA region and diaspora. Alongside this, my immense fascination with art - born from my hobbies of painting, drawing, reading and visiting museums - propelled me into learning about the history of Arab art and its contemporary counterpart, which I had neither been taught or learnt about myself previously. Little by little, I began to realise there was so much to discover and be proud of. This exploration of heritage pushed me into an era of self-discovery and has uncovered a passion for global curation, conversation and culture.

This personal journey I’ve been on is mirrored in the ethos of Sawa and the variety of interviewees and collaborators. On a mission to champion Palestinian creatives is musician Saint Levant, whose interview will remain one of the most memorable. A personal favourite story of mine is that of Aline Deschamps, a Thai-French photographer breaking boundaries and challenging the status-quo through photography. Collaboration with friends, old and new, has been a huge part of Sawa; in the arts section, you’ll see this manifest in a joint review of Insitut du Monde Arabe’s Parfums D’Orient exhibition, co-written with my good friend, Morgan Holdsworth.

Ahla W Sahla, Bienvenue and Welcome to Sawa.