Abstract

The programme includes poetry readings by Ahmed Masoud and Hattie Ball, a short

screening by Adan Abu Dalu, a conversation with Ahmed Masoud, Hattie Ball, Karim

Sultan and Adan Abu Dalu, followed by a live sound performance by Karim Sultan and

Hattie Ball and a brief audience reflection.

Session and activities

The Story as a Space is a performative education event that brings together reading, screening, conversation and live performance as different ways of learning together, rather than taking the form of a conventional panel.

The session explores storytelling, poetry, moving image and sound not only as artistic forms, but as ways of teaching, remembering and sharing knowledge. It responds to conversations around creative education, ethics, authorship and global challenges, and asks how creative practice can open space for memory, care and critical dialogue.

The session asks:

What can a story, poem, image or sound teach that a lecture cannot?

How can creative institutions make space for Palestinian and diasporic voices without reducing them to trauma, evidence or crisis?

The programme includes poetry readings by Ahmed Masoud and Rose Bell, a short screening by Adan Abu Dalu, a conversation with Ahmed Masoud, Rose Bell, Karim Sultan and Adan Abu Dalu, followed by a live sound performance by Karim Sultan and a brief audience reflection

Concept

The Story as a Space is a performative education event led by Palestinian writer,
theatre-maker and educator Ahmed Masoud, developed with curator and researcher Adan Abu Dalu.
The event explores storytelling, poetry, moving image and sound as forms of creative education. It asks how memory is carried through voice, performance, image and music, especially in contexts shaped by displacement, diaspora and political erasure.
Rather than taking the form of a conventional panel, the event brings together reading,screening, conversation and live performance as different ways of learning together. It responds to CEdFest’s focus on creative education, ethics, authorship, global challenges and new pedagogical formats.
The event asks: what can a story, poem, image or sound teach that a lecture cannot? How can creative institutions make space for Palestinian and diasporic voices without reducing them to trauma, evidence or crisis?

Connection to UAL and CEdFest

This event responds directly to CEdFest’s focus on creative education, ethics, authorship,
global challenges and new formats for learning.
The Story as a Space treats storytelling, poetry, moving image and sound not only as
artistic forms, but as ways of teaching, remembering and sharing knowledge. It connects to
UAL conversations around decolonising the arts, ethical storytelling, diasporic practice,
community knowledge and the responsibilities of creative institutions when engaging with
politically urgent material.
The event is relevant to CEdFest because it moves beyond a standard panel format and
offers a multi-modal session where audiences learn through listening, watching, discussion
and reflection. It asks how creative education can hold difficult histories without reducing
them to trauma, evidence or crisis, and how creative practice can open space for memory,
care and critical dialogue

Ahmed Massoud
Ahmed Masoud is a Palestinian writer, poet, theatre-maker, director and educator based in
the UK. He is the author of the acclaimed novels Vanished – The Mysterious Disappearance
of Mustafa Ouda and Come What May. His work spans fiction, theatre, radio and
performance, often exploring Palestinian memory, displacement, storytelling and political
imagination. His theatre and radio credits include The Shroud Maker, The Florist of Rafah,
Passports, Application 39, Jinn, Mo Salah and Other Complicated Things, and Escape from
Gaza for BBC Radio 4. He is the founder of Al Zaytouna Dance Theatre and recently
launched PalArt Collective. For CEdFest at UAL, Ahmed leads this event as the invited
artist-educator, bringing his practice in writing, performance and storytelling into conversation
with creative education.

Adan Abu Dalu
Adan Abu Dalu is a Palestinian architect, curator and researcher from Jerusalem, currently
based in London. Her work explores memory, displacement, language, archives and spatial
practice, with a focus on how creative and curatorial methods can hold fragmented histories
with care. She holds an MA in Curating Contemporary Design from Kingston University and
the Design Museum, and will begin a PhD at UAL’s Decolonising Arts Institute.

Hattie Ball
Hattie Ball is an audiovisual artist from London whose work combines moving image, sound,
and site-responsive practices, exploring how layered histories and ecological relationships
are embedded in landscapes. She works collaboratively with sound artist Rose Bell and the
Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability to develop interactive exhibits
highlighting palestinian ecology and natural history for their Museum in Bethlehem

Karim Sultan
Karim Sultan is a curator and artist based in London, and is curator at Bethlem Gallery.
Karim has worked on and developed international exhibitions and programmes focusing on
modern and contemporary art often left out of the picture. His areas of work and interest
include: modern art and architecture in the Arabic-speaking world, music and sound
practices, critical approaches to animation and games, and issues around art and mental
health